M. Rahim Shayegan Explained

M. Rahim Shayegan
Native Name:رحیم شایگان
Native Name Lang:fa
Birth Place:Pahlavi Iran
Education:University of Cologne,
University of Paris,
University of Göttingen,
Harvard University
Occupation:Historian, scholar, educator
Employer:University of California, Los Angeles
Known For:Iranian Studies
Notable Works:"Arsacids and Sasanians: Political Ideology in Post-Hellenistic and Late Antique Persia" (2011)
Father:Dariush Shayegan
Awards:Guggenheim Fellowship

M. Rahim Shayegan (; born 1966) is an Iranian-born American ancient historian, scholar, and educator. He is the Eleanor and Jahangir Amuzegar Professor of Iranian Studies, the founding director of the Pourdavoud Institute for the Study of the Iranian World,[1] and the Head of the Department of Iranian Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles (from 2014).[2] He also is a foreign corresponding member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (2022), a fellow of the Academia Europaea (2019) and the American Oriental Society and a Guggenheim fellow (2013, for writing the book Arsacids and Sasanians: Political Ideology in Post-Hellenistic and Late Antique Persia).[2] [3]

Biography

Son of Dariush Shayegan,[2] Rahim Shayegan moved in the United States with his fater after the Iranian Revolution.[4] He received his B.A. from the University of Cologne, Germany, and his M.A. from the University of Sorbonne (now University of Paris), France, followed by Ph.D. work at the University of Göttingen, Germany, and received his Ph.D. at Harvard University like a Junior Fellow at Harvard Society of Fellows (2000, thesis name Aspects of early Sasanian history and historiography).[5]

Shayegan focused of his research in the Iranian philology and epigraphy, religion and the history of Iran, primarily the history of Achaemenid, Arsacid, Seleucid, and Sasanian periods.[6]

Shaegan most quoted and authoritative book Arsacids and Sasanians: Political Ideology in Post-Hellenistic and Late Antique Persia (2011) was to be translated into Persian, but the intended translator died shortly after starting the work. It is a study of the relations of the Iranian empires with Western states,[2] political crises of the Parthian era and Sasanian rise to power,[7] and speculation as to whether the Sassanids were aware of Iran's Parthian past.[2] Arsacids and Sasanians: Political Ideology in Post-Hellenistic and Late Antique Persia received mixed reviews from professional iranists. According to this book is a 'differentiated, thorough, lively, inspiring, and ambitious study'.[8] According to Polish historian this is a provocative book and 'an engaging and vibrant piece of historical writing', but he noted that Shayegan appeared to have difficulty defining precisely the scope of his research, and this uncertainty was evident in the coherence and content of the book. At the end of the review, Olbrycht notes that on the one hand, Shayegan’s book is remarkable for its erudition and detail of its reasoning; but, on the other hand, it disappoints with its contradictions and shortcomings in methodology and partly in the way it analyzes sources. His fundamental hypotheses about the role of Babylonian scribes and Pontic ideology turn out to be untenable in the light of the available sources.[9]

Selected publications

Books

Iranica articles

Notes and References

  1. Web site: M. Rahim Shayegan . . April 10, 2024 . April 11, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240411074107/https://www.hup.harvard.edu/authors/14967-shayegan-m-rahim . live .
  2. Web site: پسر شایگان رئیس کرسی ایران‌شناسی دانشگاه کالیفرنیا شد . April 24, 2014 . April 10, 2024 . Asriran . https://webcitation.org/6P7oXhdqM?url=http://www.asriran.com/fa/news/331396 . April 26, 2014 . live . fa . Son of Dariush Shayegan Was Appointed to the Position of Head of the Department of Iranian Studies.
  3. Web site: M. Rahim Shayegan . April 10, 2024 . Austrian Academy of Sciences . September 25, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230925221621/https://www.oeaw.ac.at/en/m/shayegan-m-rahim . live .
  4. News: Iranian philosopher Dariush Shayegan dies at age 83 . Karimi . Nasser . March 22, 2018 . September 23, 2024 . .
  5. Web site: M. Rahim Shayegan . April 10, 2024 . . October 3, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231003000047/https://www.gf.org/fellows/m-rahim-shayegan/ . live .
  6. Web site: M. Rahim Shayegan . Global Antiquity . April 10, 2024 . UCLA . April 11, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240411074108/https://globalantiquity.ucla.edu/person/rahim-shayegan/ . live .
  7. Web site: با رحیم شایگان در باب تاریخ‌نگاری ایران باستان و نگاه بیگانگان . November 1, 2011 . July 1, 2024 . . Katuzyan . Amir Mosaddyk . fa . With Rahim Shayegan about historiography of Ancient Iran and the perspective of foreigners . audio conversation.
  8. Book Review: [''Arsacids and Sasanians. Political Ideology in Post-Hellenistic and Late Antique Persia''. By M. Rahim Shayegan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011. Pp. xxix + 539 + 7 maps + 9 figs + 15 tables. $114 (cloth)] . . Müller . Sabine . 1 . 73 . 158-160 . . 10.1086/674912 . 2014 . en . 0022-2968 . 1545-6978 . 10.1086/674912.
  9. Review of: [R. Shayegan, ''Arsacids and Sasanians'', Cambridge, 2011] ]. . Olbrycht . Marek Jan . 8 . 84 . 717-722 . . 10.17104/0017-1417_2012_8_717 . 2012 . Munich . en . 0017-1417 . 23497761 . . registration.
  10. Web site: Cyrus the Great. Life and Lore. Ilex Series. M. Rahim Shayegan, Cyrus the Great. Life and Lore. Ilex Series. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2019. 250. ISBN 9780674987388. $24.95 (pb) . January 5, 2020 . April 10, 2024 . . McCunn . Stuart . live . April 10, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240410051405/https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2020/2020.01.50/ .

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