ISSN: 2299-2464 e-ISSN: 2956-6436 DOI: 10.34739/his Punktacja: Ministerstwo Nauki i Szkolnictwa Wyższego (2025) - 40
Reclaiming the Past: Fath ʽAli Shah Qajar, the Ilkhanid Legacy, and Dynastic Legitimacy in Sultaniyya
Sultaniyya emerged as a significant site during the reign of Fath ʽAli Shah Qajar, reclaiming a prominence it had not known since the 14th century. Its favorable climate, proximity to Azerbaijan – then an active front in the war with Russia – and the enduring remnants of Ilkhanid splendor attracted the Shah to the site each summer. The dynamic interplay between ruin and resilience lent Sultaniyya a symbolic allure, making it an ideal setting for royal presence and symbolic reclamation. This paper examines how Fath ʽAli Shah’s engagement with Sultaniyya was shaped by the site’s historical and spatial legacy, and how he reconfigured the site to serve political and cultural purposes. Focusing on his selective appropriation of Ilkhanid heritage through architectural interventions and spatial reconfigurations, this article evaluates how these initiatives transformed the local landscape. Ultimately, the study argues that this reciprocal relationship served broader Qajar ambitions of dynastic legitimacy, historical continuity, and the performative construction of territorial identity.
Prawa autorskie (c) 2026 Historia i Świat https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0
Safavid Epigraphy in Bavanat County, Iran: Architectural and Funerary Inscriptions
One of the most important achievements of humankind is the invention of writing systems that have enabled the recording of information and the transmission of knowledge. Inscriptions and other written materials are important sources for historical and archaeological studies. They provide information about beliefs, ideas, and historical events and are used in the dating of monuments and the study of calligraphic traditions. During the archaeological survey conducted in 2015 in Bavanat County, a collection of inscriptions from the Safavid period was identified. The aim of this paper is to document these inscriptions and analyze their content in order to understand religious beliefs, cultural characteristics of the region, and assist in dating monuments and cemeteries. These inscriptions are classified into two main groups: architectural inscriptions and gravestone inscriptions, and are written in three scripts: Thuluth, Naskh, and Nasta’liq. The Imamzadeh Seyyed Shah Mirhamzeh inscriptions contain information about the construction date, the name of the architect, and Qur’anic verses. In addition to the Qur’anic verses, the gravestones also contain the names of the deceased and the date of death, which can be used in dating cemeteries and studying the historical developments of the region. The results of this study show that the Safavid inscriptions of Bavanat, in addition to their artistic and calligraphic value, are an important source for understanding the religious, social, and historical dimensions of this region during the Safavid period.
A quest for a pest: A Historical and Etymological Exploration of Termite-Related Terms in Modern Persian
This study aims to conduct an etymological and comparative analysis of several terms used to refer to termites in Modern Persian, as well as to explore the naming of this insect and its historical development within Indo-Iranian and Indo-European. Termites have annoyed humans throughout history, primarily due to their role in the destruction of organic materials, particularly wood. Consequently, the terminology associated with this insect not only reflects its biological and behavioral traits but also reveals cultural attitudes embedded in its naming. Employing historical and comparative linguistic methods, this research examines the words used to designate termites in Persian from both structural and semantic perspectives. The data for the study have been sourced from Dehkhoda’s Great Persian Dictionary, historical lexicons, and Indo-European etymological references. The etymological analysis reveals that concepts such as “eating,” “cutting,” and “destruction” are directly inspired by termites’ biological characteristics and are mirrored in their linguistic representation. The findings indicate that some of the terms associated with termites have been shaped by the historical interaction between the Persian language and local dialects. Additionally, the study highlights the influence of ancient religious beliefs on the naming of creatures like termites, which are often perceived as pests. These results illuminate the broader relationship between language and human interaction with nature, contributing to the understanding of historical linguistics and the cultural underpinnings of terminology.
Exploring Everyday Lived Experiences of Polish Deportees in Kazakhstan in 1940 and Policy of Soviet Authorities
The paper examines the Soviet deportation of Polish citizens in 1940 from eastern Poland to the northern regions of the Kazakh SSR, their everyday lived experiences, hardship and deprivation in exile and policy of Soviet authorities towards the deported Polish population. The study draws upon relevant literature and archival data pertaining to the Soviet ethnic deportations and removal of Polish citizens in 1940. To respond to the research questions, the study employs a variety of research methods such as a critical analysis of historical data and archival documents. The concepts of ethnicization and racialization theoretically and conceptually guide the study and allow for understanding ethnic dimensions of the Soviet deportations in the 1930s-1940s. The results of the study show that deportation and punishment of ethnic Poles by the Soviet regime were shaped by historical animosity and hatred of Poland and the Polish nation deeply rooted in Russian history. In this regard, the study has established continuity between anti Polish sentiment of tsarist Russia and anti-Polonism of the Soviet state. The peculiarity of the Soviet animosity towards Poland and the Poles was that the regime targeted the whole nation and all categories of Poles. The paramount goal of the Soviet regime was to erase and exterminate Poles as a distinct ethnic group through physical elimination and terror. Besides, extermination of Poles was carried out by the Soviet regime through erasing Polishness, ethnic and cultural identities of Poles and subjecting them to cultural assimilation and Russification. For that reason, the Soviet regime deliberately and systematically dismantled, fractured and marginalized ethnic Poles, reducing them to a small vulnerable minority. An analysis of archival data and documents has shown that deported Poles and their families in the regions of Kazakhstan were deliberately exposed to hardship, privation and destitution, being deprived of access to welfare and social protection by Soviet authorities. Moreover, the study has revealed that anti-Polish sentiment and prejudices permeated all segments of Soviet society, both Soviet authorities and ordinary people systematically exploited the vulnerability and helplessness of the deported Polish population.
Interethnic Developments in Utik-Gardmank (“North Artsakh”) and The Ethnic Conflict over Armenian Village Khachisar-Chardakhlu (1900-1990s)
During the Armenian-Tatar wars, Khachisar-Chardakhlu was the administrative staff of the Elizavetpol province of the Elizavetpol region. Armenians of Chardakhlu stood out with their unique courage and invincible fighting behavior in Armenian-Tatar collisions of 1905-1906. According to the tradition, there was a huge bell on Khachisar mountain on the south of the Gandzak mountains, which warned the inhabitants of neighboring villages about the attacks of enemies. In the fight history of the village, the active participation of inhabitants of Chardakhlu in defense and heroic battles of far regions is remarkable. The policy of the micro genocide of the heroic Armenian Chardakhlu, Atabek, and many other Armenian villages reached its end. However, since the end of 1987, the Armenian-Azerbaijani ethnopolitical clash in the Armenian village of Khachisar-Chardakhlu has had far-reaching consequences. Thousands of Armenians forcibly displaced from the Shahumyan region of Artsakh, Shamkhor, Gandzak, Dashkesan, and other Armenian settlements were provided only with certain financial, material, and additional assistance. Conditions were created, and it seemed to be forgotten that in Chardakhlu and hundreds of other Armenian settlements, their ancestors lived for many centuries, millennia, distorting the real content of historical and ethnic-political processes and choosing the most suitable, correct, and especially perspective options for their development.
The Role of American and English Humanitarian Organisations in Stabilising the Socio-Economic Situation of Soviet Armenia in the Early 1920s
This research examines the role of humanitarian organisations in newly Sovietized Armenia during the early 1920s, focusing on the American Near East Relief (NER) and the English Relief Committee (Anglcom). It assesses their contributions to stabilizing socio economic conditions, with contemporary relevance given Armenia’s recurring challenges, such as the plight of internally displaced persons from Nagorno-Karabakh. Amid historical crises like famine, epidemics, and mass homelessness during the transition to a new political system, these organisations played a critical role. Using methods including scientific abstraction, induction, and archival analysis, key findings reveal: (1) Soviet Armenia’s leadership relied on foreign aid to prevent catastrophic outcomes for orphans and refugees, and (2) NER and Anglcom’s initiatives significantly influenced the success of the New Economic Policy, relieving the government of social burdens and enabling economic recovery. This analysis offers valuable insights into managing severe socio economic crises.
Urban Resilience of Ganja/Elizavetpol: Environment, Economy, and Multiethnicity from the Middle Ages to the Early Twentieth Century
Drawing on Armenian, Persian, Ottoman, Russian, and European sources, this article examines the long-term urban resilience of Ganja (Gandzak/Elizavetpol) as one of the principal urban centres of the South Caucasus from the late Middle Ages to the early twentieth century. Its central argument is that urban resilience in Ganja was shaped by three structural factors: inter-ethnic economic interdependence, environmental constraints, and the city’s position within shifting imperial networks-rather than by imperial modernisation or administrative integration alone. The analysis shows that Ganja’s urban continuity rested on adaptive reconfiguration rather than institutional stability. The earthquake of 1139, the Ottoman-Safavid conflicts, and the Russian imperial transformation each remolded the city’s economic and social foundations without dismantling them entirely. Resilience was rooted in multiethnic coexistence, which sustained trade networks, craft production, and horticultural systems throughout repeated episodes of political upheaval. At the same time, the article foregrounds the structural limits of that resilience. The collapse of the imperial order between 1917 and 1923 dismantled the regulatory framework that had sustained inter-communal interdependence, converting multiethnicity from a source of urban stability into a vector of conflict. The result was a rapid demographic and socio economic contraction that reveals the conditional character of resilience in imperial borderlands. More broadly, the evidence from Ganja suggests that urban development in the South Caucasus was shaped by the long-term coexistence of heterogeneous economic forms rather than by a linear transition from ‘traditional’ to ‘modern’ systems, thereby challenging received models of modernisation.
The influence of the monastic reforms and the Investiture Controversy in hagiography: Shaping the profile of a canonized 12th-century bishop, Otto of Bamberg
This article focuses on the hagiographic profile of the twelfth-century bishop Otto of Bamberg. Two hagiographies dedicated to him were written by different authors in the same place within a short time. However, the way the two describe Otto’s life and activity after his death follows different narratives. This study discusses these narratives in the context of the disputes on the implementation of the monastic reform and the conflict between the Church and the Empire in the German lands.
Onomastics, religion and society at Sicca Veneria (El Kef, Tunisia). II. Onomastics of Sicca Veneria
Based on an epigraphic collection as rich as it is varied, composed mainly of pagan Latin epitaphs, we conduct an onomastic study of the inhabitants of the colonia Iulia Veneria Cirta Nova Sicca, in proconsular Africa, today El Kef in northwestern Tunisia. This study proposes to study the onomastics, the names and the family strategies of the Siccenses in the Roman period. Several families have been identified whose origins can be identified (indigenous or non-native), and the cognomina and unique names of the Siccenses are revealing clues about the origins of the inhabitants of the entire region.
Reassessing the Orans Pose in Roman Egyptian Funerary Art: Two Unpublished Stelae from Mendes
This study presents, for the first time, two funerary stelae from ancient Mendes (Dakahlia) while aiming to date and interpret them. It also compares these stelae with similar examples from Kom Abu Bellou and Roman-era sarcophagi, tracing their origins and examining the continuity of their design into the Coptic and Christian artistic contexts. The research explores the intended meaning of the raisedhand gesture of the deceased on these stelae, emphasizing the orans posture and relating it to the prevailing religious beliefs of the time. The analysis indicates that the owners of the two stelae were not necessarily Egyptian; however, they were clearly influenced by ancient Egyptian religious concepts, including the depiction of funerary deities such as Anubis. Furthermore, the study shows that the orans posture served as a visual tool, expressing the moral identity of the deceased and their successful passage through divine judgment, in line with Greco-Roman notions of pietas. This approach reflects a hybrid strategy, preserving Egyptian funerary ideology while visually adapting it to be comprehensible within a multicultural environment. In conclusion, the artistic culture in Mendes during the Roman period maintained the continuity of Egyptian funerary practices through the conscious adaptation of traditional symbols and techniques. This reflects a productive interaction between local heritage and classical influences in shaping the posthumous identity of the deceased.
Celestial Kingship: The Sasanian King as the Terrestrial Agent of Shahrewar
The Sasanian dynasty sacralized kingship through divine sanction, using royal iconography to legitimize authority. This article aims to study how Sasanian royal iconography served as a visual strategy to legitimize political authority by sacralizing kingship. Moving beyond stylistic analysis, it offers an interdisciplinary approach, connecting art to theological texts and sociological theory. By analyzing rock reliefs, coins, and metalwork alongside Zoroastrian literature and Max Weber’s concept of charismatic authority, the research demonstrates how kings were portrayed as divine warriors. The findings reveal that this imagery deliberately aligned rulers with Shahrewar, the divinity of justice and rulership, casting them as his earthly agent and executive representative. This strategy not only justified Sasanian rule but also fostered political unity, underscoring the powerful role of visual culture in shaping ideological and collective identity.
Armenian-Iranian Oikumene and the Turco-Mongolian Order: Cultural Synthesis and the Chronology of the Toponym Qarabagh
The toponym Qarabagh is traditionally translated as “black garden”, yet this interpretation remains debatable and insufficient: the component qara in the Turkic-Mongolian tradition possesses a developed polysemy (“black”, “dark green,” “dense,” “large,” “abundant”), and the toponym itself has not until now been examined as part of a unified areal system. The goal of the article is to establish the etymology, semantics, and chronology of the toponym Qarabagh within the context of Turco-Mongolian imperial expansion of the 11th-14th centuries and to reconstruct its semantic evolution among nomadic and sedentary speakers. The toponym Qarabagh represents a structural calque of the Persian model bāgh-e siyāh, which emerged in the Oghuz-Turkic linguistic environment no later than the 11th century in the zone of Turkic-Persian cultural synthesis in Khorasan and Afghanistan; the Mongol expansion of the 13th-14th centuries ensured its transcontinental dissemination and administrative consolidation in the Caucasus. Qarabagh is the result of prolonged interaction among several cultural-historical layers: the ancient Iranian agricultural civilization, the Armenian garden-agricultural substrate, the Kurdish intermediary stratum, and the Turkic-Mongolian nomadic world. The toponymy of the region constitutes a classic case of medieval polyonymy: the Armenian Baghkʿ, the Persian Bāgh-e Siyāh, and the Turkic-Persian Qarabagh represent three territorially separated but semantically parallel embodiments of a single concept – “a place of gardens / dark green viticultural landscape.”
This article concentrates on the term xūd-šikan. Xūd-šikan is a term in military history in Persian. It means helmet-breaker or piercer. Xūd-šikan (خودشکن ) is formed by combining the Persian words “xūd” (خود ) and “šikan” (شکن ), which is the present tense root of the verb “šikastan” (شکستن ). It appears in two sources, Ādāb al-Harb wa al-Šajā‘a, written by Faxr al-Dīn Mubārak Šāh, and Hedāyat al-Ramy, written by Sayyid Mīr-‘Alawī. According to what we understand from the sources, this term refers to weapons used against helmets and armour made of iron.
Kavad and the Huns: Conflict and Cooperation with the Nomads of the Steppe
Kavad’s reign (488-496, 498/9-531) was a turning point for the Sasanian Empire. Although many aspects of his rule have been discussed in detail by scholars, his attitude, strategies, and policies regarding the steppe nomads have been somewhat overlooked. In this paper, the authors have used the descriptive-critical-analytical approach to examine the scattered information regarding Kavad’s interactions with the Hephthalites and several steppe tribes for providing an analysis of his eastern affairs.
Geometric Proportions in the Structure of Mazey Arches in the Sasanian Period Vaults
The Sasanian period of architecture is regarded as one of the most brilliant artistic and engineering construction periods in pre-Islamic Iranian history. This era, which began in the 3rd cen- tury CE, not only inherited the engineering knowledge of its predecessors, such as the Achaemenids and Parthians, but also introduced significant innovations in spatial and structural design. One of the most prominent architectural features of the Sasanian period is the use of massive and tall vaulted arches with semi circular arches, allowing architects to create vast spaces without columns. The design of these arches, especially in large iwans and massive domes, required mastery of geometric and mathematical principles. The main objective of this research is to identify the arches used in Sasanian-period vaults to uncover the hidden geometry in the design and construction of these structures. This study employs a descriptive-analytical method with an emphasis on the application of geometry in architecture to examine the arches used in buildings from this period. The results indicate that the arches employed during this period are of the “mazey” type, utilizing geometric ratios of 2:1, 3:2, and 4:3 in their plan designs. Additionally, circular geometry and geometric curvature principles were applied in the design of these arches to optimize load distribution. Therefore, these structures are not only regarded as a technical achievement but also demonstrate a visual representation of order, symmetry, and balance through the use of precise geometric proportions. Ultimately, it can be stated that Sasanian period architecture extensively utilized geometry in the design and construction of buildings, particularly concerning ratios, scales, and complex structures, with engineers and architects possessing complete mastery of geometric principles to achieve stability and beauty in their constructions.
Return to Naqsh-e Rostam: Archaeological Excavations to Investigate Water Management in an Achaemenid Site
The Achaemenid royal necropolis, along with a structure known as the Kaʿba-ye Zartosht is located at the site of Naqsh-e Rostam, approximately 7 kilometers northwest of Persepolis. This large archaeological complex contains 23 historical features, including royal tombs, the Kaʿba-ye Zartosht , rock reliefs, and inscriptions. From a spatial and geographical perspective, the two major Achaemenid sites of Naqsh-e Rostam and Persepolis were closely interconnected during the Achaemenid period. Naqsh-e Rostam was actively managed during this era, and the Achaemenids, aware of the faults and water-related challenges such as floods, deliberately selected this area for constructing the Kaʿba-ye Zartosht and their royal tombs. They established a system for channeling, managing, and controlling seasonal waters. After the unfinished excavations conducted by the University of Chicago, this significant archaeological site was left unattended. In recent years, due to rainfall, numerous sinkholes, cracks, and cavities have emerged throughout the area. To address the water crisis at Naqsh-e Rostam, the archaeologist has aimed to identify, excavate, and restore the water management and drainage systems from the Achaemenid period. Through these archaeological excavations, a portion of the Achaemenid water management system has been identified, and strategies for the preservation of the site have been proposed.
Mortuary Practices in Neolithic Central Asia: New Evidence from the Zardali Site, Uzbekistan
The Neolithic period was accompanied by fundamental changes in the lifestyles, subsistence strategies, social structures, and belief systems of human societies. One of the most important reflections of these developments can be observed in burial rituals and behaviors related to death. Archaeological excavations at the Zardali Neolithic site in Uzbekistan have led to the identification of Neolithic cultural layers and a human burial, which has become the main subject of this research due to its importance in the study of the prehistory of Central Asia. The aim of this research is to introduce the Zardali site and examine the characteristics of mortuary practices and death-related rituals in the late Neolithic period of Central Asia. The excavations revealed a human burial in a simple pit grave lacking funerary architecture, in which the skeleton was buried in a flexed position on the left side. Comparing the Zardali burial with other Neolithic burials in Central Asia shows that this burial is more similar to the burial tradition of the Hissar culture in terms of body position, simplicity of the grave, and lack of grave goods. Direct dating of this burial helps refine the chronological framework of Neolithic burials in Central Asia and allows for a more detailed examination of the chronology and variability of burial traditions in the region. The results of this study also indicate that differences in burial rituals were likely related to differences in subsistence strategies, social organization, and environmental conditions of Neolithic societies in the region; such that the agricultural communities of Jeitun, the mountain and intermontane communities of the Hissar Culture, and the groups associated with the riverine and wetland environments of Kelteminar each developed different mortuary traditions.
Between Gods and Empires: Commagene, Parthia, and the Personal Cosmology of the Orontid Dynasty
The hierothesion of Antiochus I on Mount Nemrud is conventionally interpreted through the lens of political theology – as a frontier ruler's calculated synthesis of Greek and Iranian religious traditions designed to legitimise dynastic power between Rome and Parthia. The dominant scholarly tradition, spanning from Theresa Goell and Friedrich Karl Dörner to Margherita Facella, reads Nemrud primarily as an instrument of political pragmatism. This article proposes a complementary, deeper reading: behind the public façade of syncretic cosmology lies a profoundly personal project – a small kingdom’s existential response to the condition of permanent in-betweenness. Drawing on the Greek inscriptions of Nemrud and Arsameia, the funerary complex at Karakush, and classical narrative sources from Cassius Dio to Appian and Plutarch, the author argues that the Orontid rulers of Commagene constructed not merely a political theology, but a personal mythology of power, wherein narcissism, eros, and thanatos are inextricably bound to the dynastic programme. The analysis centres on two monuments: the hierothesion on Mount Nemrud, where Antiochus I enthroned himself among the gods as the living synthesis of Achaemenid, Seleucid, and Hellenistic legacies, and the tumulus of Karakush, raised by Mithridates II over the remains of his sister Laodice, the Queen of Parthia who perished at the court of Ctesiphon. These two monuments are read as the twin poles of a singular cosmological system: axis mundi and axis mortis – the defiant desire for eternity balanced against the sacred obligation of memory.
A reverse of a unique coin of Shapur I in the context of the Sasanian-Roman peace treaty of 244
The Sasanian king Shapur I held a series of victorious campaigns against the Roman Empire. They were described in an inscription at Ka’be-ye Zardosht in Naqsh-e Rostam, and their visual display are the victory reliefs made on his order in Western Iran. The interludium of the wars was the peace treaty of 244 concluded by the Shahanshah Shapur I and the emperor Philip the Arab. The article aims in re-analysing of the reverse of a unique gold double dinar of Shapur I, first published by Michael Alram, in perspective of iconography compared with the royal reliefs and its legend in historical context.
Prawa autorskie (c) 2025 Authors https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0
Report from the scientific conference “Sweet sleep, good conscience – This is happiness, this is good wealth. The Importance of Sleep and Rest in the History, Culture, and Literature of the 17th Century” (Kazimierz Dolny, November 22-23, 2024)
A report on the scientific conference on the importance of sleep and rest in the history, culture, and literature of the 17th century, which was held in Kazimierz Dolny on November 22-23, 2024.
Jeffrey Kotyk, Sino-Iranian and Sino-Arabian Relations in Late Antiquity. China and the Parthians, Sasanians, and Arabs in the First Millennium. Leiden: Brill, 2024, ISBN: 9789004695436
Duel Between Rostam and the White Div: An Allegorical Critique of War in Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh in Ghazniavi Context
Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh was written during the reigns of two very different ethnic dynasties. The Samanids created an ideal climate for a scholar of the history of pre-Islamic Iran, which made it easier for Ferdowsi to begin his work, but the change in the ruling dynasty meant that his work did not receive the reception he had hoped for. In the article I hypothesize that the main reason for this was the poet's anti-war criticism of the policies of Mahmud of Ghazni, specifically his expedition to India in the years 1000-1001. For his own safety, Ferdowsi hid the criticism under a historical allegory and placed it in the initial, non-historical part of the poem – Kay Kavus’ expedition to Mazandaran. The duel between Rostam and White Div, which is the climax of the expedition, is also the culmination of the anti-war message. Despite hiding the criticism in literary fiction, it was read by Mahmud and his court, resulting in his strong negative reaction. To prove my hypothesis, I cite evidence showing that Ferdowsi drew inspiration from contemporaneity in creating other elements of the Shahnameh.
Uzbekistan’s Strategy of Preserving and Displaying the Afrasiab murals “Development for Sustainable Preservation”
The country owns a rather diverse experience of establishing the antiquities and museums and according to it, the museum is the place that accumulate the quantity of the exhibits and valuable things, and it serves as the keeper of cultural values and achievements of the peoples through the centuries. Uzbekistan has a rich collection and many options to exhibit its antiquities and history and since the museums play a crucial part in exhibiting the antiquities and human history especially in context with Afrasiab museum in Samarkand which has many artifacts along with the methods of preserving the murals of Afrasiab. Considering the technological development in this era, there is a need to more development in a future strategic vision for the project to sustainable preserving and displaying Afrasiab murals in the Afrasiab museum in Samarkand according to international standards.
Development for Sustainable Preservation
Metallurgy and Ancient Mining in Tujerdi District of Fars Province, Iran
The production of metal artifacts, as one of the earliest forms of industry and craftsmanship, has long attracted scholarly attention. Iran has historically been one of the primary centers for metal production across various periods. The geology of Fars Province reveals rich mineral resources that have supported mining activities since ancient times. This study is based on archaeological surveys conducted in the Tujerdi district of Sarchahan County, located in eastern Fars. During these surveys, one mine and nine slag sites were identified. Further surveys are expected to uncover additional sites related to ancient mining and metallurgical activities. The investigation also contributes to understanding the role of mining in the formation and economy of past societies. Based on the findings, it appears that copper and iron were the main metals extracted in the region. Pottery collected from the surveyed sites suggests chronological spans ranging from the Parthian to the Sasanian and Islamic periods.
The burial tradition of Zoroastrians in southern Fars: Baghān, Khonj
Fars province, located in the southern part of Iran, was the center of Zoroastrianism during the Achaemenid and Sasanian periods. The traditions and rituals of this religion were institutionalized in Fars over a millennium, and with the advent of Islam, the people of this region sought to continue these Zoroastrian traditions. The Zoroastrian burial ritual was one of the religious customs of the Zoroastrian community in this region, continuing well into the Islamic medieval period, particularly in the southern part of Fars. In this religion, the body, or “nesu”, had to be kept away from sacred elements such as earth, water, fire, and plants. For this reason, many Sasanian burials were placed in rock-hewn tombs located in mountainous regions. These burial sites are now commonly known as Ostoudan and Dakhmak. In this field study, for the first time, a number of lesser-known Ostoudan examples from the Zoroastrian tradition in southern Fars, specifically in the Baghān region of Khonj, have been identified and are introduced here.
Kłosowski Roman, Sobolewski Piotr Stanisław Zygmunt Konstantynowicz
Biographies of people born or related to activities in the area of Southern Podlasie and Eastern Mazovia.
ŚWIADKOWIE PRZESZŁOŚCI ZIEMI SIEDLECKIEJ (BIOGRAMY)
The fate of Polish officers imprisoned in the NKVD prisoner-of-war camp Kozelsk “2” in the light of the account of Lieutenant Paweł Delalicz de Laval
The document presents the conditions in which Polish officers captured by the NKVD in the summer of 1940 from internment camps in Lithuania were held in the prisoner-of-war camp in Kozelsk. The author included in his account his own impressions and observations regarding everyday life in the camp, as well as the Soviet personnel.
Ideological Resistance in Early Soviet Azerbaijan: A Textual Analysis of a Unique Archival Document
The article analyses the anti-Soviet sentiments and movements in Soviet Azerbaijan in the late 1920s and early 1930s on the basis of Strictly Confidential documents received to the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Azerbaijan SSR. Particular attention is paid to the reflection of anti-Russian sentiments on the basis of an analysis of both the document and two interesting poems, which show the perception of Russians both among the anti-Bolshevik-minded segments of the population associated with parties operating underground and among young people. Textual analysis of this document shows that anti-Bolshevik sentiments often acquired a pronounced anti-Russian character. All these circumstances were manifested in the dissatisfaction of various strata of Azerbaijani society with the Soviet regime, which, along with anti-Russian sentiments, also acquired the character of pro-Turkish movements.
Tony McArthur, Rome’s Armies to the Death of Augustus. Havertown: Pen & Sword Military, 2024, ISBN: 9781399080071