The Third Berkeley Workshop on Middle Persian Documents and Sealings will be held online via Zoom on September 4–5, 2026.

The workshop is organized by the Open Archive of Middle Persian Documents, with the support of the Bita Daryabari Presidential Chair in Iranian Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.

The workshop brings together scholars to discuss, analyze, and advance the study of collections of Middle Persian documents and sealings dating from the Sasanian period through the early Islamic era and originating from various regions, including Egypt, Central Iran, Tabarestan, and beyond. The first workshop was held in March 2023, followed by the second in October 2024.

On the first day of the workshop, following an opening presentation by Adam Benkato and Arash Zeini, Tommy Benfey will discuss the use of the term āmār in Middle Persian documents and the early Islamic fiscal system. Olivia Ramble will then examine the socio-economic roles and legal status of women based on the Tabarestān and Hastijān documents. Alice Ziegler will discuss camels in Sasanian glyptic art, with a particular focus on the problem of distinguishing between dromedaries and Bactrian camels.

The first day will continue with a presentation by Ibrāhīm Šafiʿī on the Sasanian Middle Persian epistolary tradition in the Caucasus, examining selected examples in early Armenian and Georgian sources. Adam Benkato will also present the latest findings on the cataloging and analysis of the sealings of the Central Iran documents.

The second day of the workshop will open with a presentation by Samra Azarnouche on new epigraphic evidence from Arabia and China and the expansion of Middle Persian beyond Ērānšahr. Hossein Sheikh will then present a new reading of two bullae discovered in northern Iran and discuss the identification of Rūdbār.

Next, Nima Asefi will discuss the possible connections among three Middle Persian documents from the Hastijan Archive. Milad Abedi will offer a re-examination of a Sasanian Papyrus.

The workshop’s final presentation will be given by Mark Gradoni on reconstructing the socio-economic networks of a Late Antique agrarian landscape based on the Berkeley–Berlin Pahlavi documents.

Registration is required to attend the workshop.

Full List of Presentations:

• Introduction
  Adam Benkato & Arash Zeini
• The Term āmār in the Middle Persian Documents and the Early Islamic Fiscal System
  Tommy Benfey
• Wives, Sisters and Daughters: Insights into the Socio-Economic Roles and Legal Status of Women as Recorded in the Tabarestān and Hastijān Documents
  Olivia Ramble
• Camels in Sasanian Glyptics: The Problem of Dromedaries and Bactrians
  Alice Ziegler
• Sasanian Middle Persian Epistolary Tradition in the Caucasus: Studies on Selected Cases in Early Armenian and Georgian Sources
  Ibrāhīm Šafiʿī
• Updates on the Cataloging and Analysis of the Sealings of the Central Iran Documents
  Adam Benkato
• Middle Persian beyond Ērānšahr: New Epigraphic Evidence from Arabia and China
  Samra Azarnouche
• Locating Rūdbār: New Reading of Two Bullae from Northern Iran
  Hossein Sheikh
• From the Mother of Xusrōyān to Xusrō, the King of Kings: Uncovering Links among Three Middle Persian Documents from the Hastijan Archive
  Nima Asefi
• Pahlavi Boat Documents from Sasanian Egypt: Re-examining Papyrus Heid. Pahl. 20
  Milad Abedi
• “From That Which Is in the Bun”: Reconstructing the Socio-Economic Networks of a Late Antique Agrarian Landscape from the Berkeley–Berlin Pahlavi Archive
  Mark Gradoni

Registration:
https://berkeley.zoom.us/meeting/register/eKU3mYtdTwCowdnOI-t1Ew#/registration