E¯ RA¯NŠAHR: UOMO, AMBIENTE E SOCIETÀ NELL’IRAN ARSACIDE E SASANIDE. TESTIMONIANZE SCRITTE, CULTURA MATERIALE E SOCIETÀ DA ARSACE A YAZDEGARD III*

Abstract

The article presents the results of the first year of work of the national research project on E¯ ra¯nšahr
in Parthian and Sasanian times, carried out by three research teams of Sapienza – University of Rome,
University of Bologna and University of Turin (PRIN 2017PR34CS “Eranshahr: uomo, ambiente e società
nell’Iran arsacide e sasanide. Testimonianze scritte, cultura materiale e società da Arsace a Yazdegard III. Tre
casi studio: Pars, Pahlaw e Khuzestan”). The project was born to investigate the relations between man, political
power and territory in Iran during the Arsacid and Sasanian periods (III BC - VII AD), a millennium
of history set between two political transitions of considerable importance: the first between the dynasty of
Seleucids and that of the Arsacids; the second between the Sasanian Empire and the Islamic Caliphate. In
this framework, we intend to analyse the elements of continuity and discontinuity that have contributed to
shaping the Iranian identity. The research considers two categories of documents, namely written sources
and those more closely related to material culture, to study three nodal areas of ancient Iran, each one linked
to the specific research interests of one of the three teams: the central-northern plateau between the historical
regions of Ma¯d and Pahlaw (Sapienza), Pa¯rs (Bologna) and Khuzestan (Turin). The project embraces deep
interdisciplinarity and provides for the involvement of three complementary units operating with different
methodological approaches. We, indeed, believe sharing different disciplinary skills in a transversal perspective
to be essential to adequately address one of the most significant cultural contexts of the ancient world.