Encyclopaedia Iranica Online

Persian word meaning “water.” A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 1, pp. 27-39 ĀB i. The concept of water in ancient Iranian culture Zoroastrians, it has been said, could as justly be termed worshippers of water as of fire; and in revering this element they plainly continued an even more ancient tradition. The ancient Iranians respected water as the source of life, which nourished plants, animals, and men. In their cosmology water was the second of the seven “creations” (Pahl. dahišnān) into which the world was divided. Water filled the lower half o…

(in Arabic, also ʿabāʾa and ʿabāya), a loose outer garment, generally for men, worn widely throughout the Middle East, particularly by Arab nomads. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 1, pp. 50-51 ʿABĀʾ (in Arabic, also ʿabāʾa and ʿabāya), a loose outer garment, generally for men, worn widely throughout the Middle East, particularly by Arab nomads. In Iran the ʿabāʾ is used almost exclusively by religious scholars. In its most common form, that prevalent in Syria and Arabia, the ʿ abāʾ has the form of a loose cloak; open in the front, it is kept clo…

“Eternity a parte post,” Arabic theological term meaning “eternity a parte post” (already in early Muʿtazilite theology); it corresponds to Greek atéleuton. It sometimes also serves as a general term for unlimited time ( dahr). A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 1, pp. 51 ABAD, Arabic theological term meaning “eternity a parte post” (already in early Muʿtazilite theology); it corresponds to Greek atéleuton. It sometimes also serves as a general term for unlimited time ( dahr). Abad and its opposing term, azal (“eternity a parte ante”) represent differen…

Name of (1) a small town in northern Fārs province, and (2) a medieval town near the northern shore of Lake Baḵtegān in Fārs.A version of this article is available in printVolume I, Fascicle 1, pp. 51i. Town in Northern FārsThe name of a small town in northern Fārs province, lying to the northeast of the chaîne magistrale of the Zagros at an altitude of 2,011 m/6,200 ft in 52°40 ′ east longitude and 31°11 ′ north latitude. It is on the easterly (formally the winter, now the all-weather) main Isfahan-Shiraz highway, 204 km from the former and 280 km fr…

island and city in the ostān (province) of Ḵūzestān at the head of the Persian Gulf. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 1, pp. 51-57 ĀBĀDĀN i. History In medieval sources, and up to the present century, the name of the island always occurs in the Arabic form ʿAbbādān; this name has sometimes been derived from ʿabbād “worshiper.” Belāḏorī (d. 279/892), on the other hand, quotes the story that the town was founded by one ʿAbbād b. Ḥosayn Ḵabeṭī, who established a garrison there during the governorship of Ḥaǰǰāǰ (75-95/695-714)…

“Settlement, inhabited space,” Persian term usally applied to the rural environment; in colloquial usage it often refers to towns and cities as well. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 1, pp. 57-58 ĀBĀDĪ, Persian term meaning “settlement, inhabited space;” it is applied basically to the rural environment, but in colloquial usage it often refers to towns and cities as well. The Persian word derives from Middle Persian āpāt, “developed, thriving, inhabited, cultivated” (see H. S. Nyberg, A Manual of Pahlavi II, Wiesbaden, 1974, p. 25); the Middle Pe…

Ossetic-Russian Iranologist and general linguist. ABAEV, VASILIĬ IVANOVICH, Ossetic-Russian Iranologist and general linguist (b. K’obi, Georgia, 15 December 1900; d. Moscow, 18 March 2001; Figure 1). Life and works. From 1910 to 1918, V. I. Abaev pursued Russian-based secondary education in the Sixth Classical Gymnasium of Tiflis (now Tbilisi). Soon after graduating, he joined the newly founded Ossetic Historical and Philological Society, and for a while he combined amateur research with teaching in the primary school of h…

Zoroastrian of the 9th century A.D. who apostatized to Islam. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 1, pp. 58 ABĀLIŠ, a Zoroastrian of the 9th century A.D. who apostatized to Islam (hence his epithets in Pahlavi , “accursed” [ gizistag/guǰastag] and “heretic” [ zandīg]). His original name was Day-Ohrmazd, and he apparently adopted an Arabic one after his conversion. Its precise form is disguised by the ambiguous Pahlavi spelling ʾbʾlš (or ʾbʾlh, etc.), which is transcribed in Pazand by the otherwise unattested “Abālīš.” Suggested explanations…

Middle Persian term meaning “the waters” (Av. āpō). In Indo-Iranian the word for water is grammatically feminine; the element itself was always characterized as female and was represented by a group of goddesses, the Āpas. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 1, pp. 58 ĀBĀN, Middle Persian term, “the waters” (Av. āpō). In Indo-Iranian the word for water is grammatically feminine; the element itself was always characterized as female and was represented by a group of goddesses, the Āpas. These evidently represented water a…

ABANAGAN, the name used by Bīrūnī ( Āṯār, p. 224) for the Zoroastrian feast-day dedicated to the Waters, which was celebrated on the day Ābān of the month Ābān. See further under ĀBĀN MĀH.EIr.

late 2nd/8th century poet. He was of a Persian family, originally from Fasā, which had settled (probably at an early date) in Baṣra. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 1, pp. 58-59 ABĀN B. ʿABD-AL -ḤAMĪD B. LĀHEQ, called LĀHEQĪ, late 2nd/8th century poet. He was of a Persian family, originally from Fasā, which had settled (probably at an early date) in Baṣra. Abān was born there, and he flourished in the period of the Barmakīs. By his own account, he was of average and graceful stature, with a handsome f…

"Water reservoir,” a term commonly used throughout Iran as a designation for roofed underground water cisterns. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 1, pp. 39-43 ĀB-ANBĀR i. History The term āb-anbār is common throughout Iran as a designation for roofed underground water cisterns. In Turkmenistan the term sardāba is found for similar structures (see, e.g., N. S. Grazhdankina, Stroitel’nye materialy sardob Turkmenistana, Izvestiya Akademii Nauk Turkmenistanskoi SSR, 1954, no. 4; G. Pugachenkova, Puti razvitiya arkhitektury yuzhnogo Turkmenista…

Character in the prose romance Dārāb-nāma of Abū Ṭāher Moḥammad b. Ḥasan b. ʿAlī b. Mūsā al-Ṭarsūsī, a storyteller of the Ghaznavid period. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 1, pp. 61 ĀBĀNDOḴT, character in the prose romance Dārābnāma of Abū Ṭāher Moḥammad b. Ḥasan b. ʿAlī b. Mūsā al-Ṭarsūsī (q.v.), a storyteller of the Ghaznavid period. A lengthy tale, which includes a version of the Iranian Alexander romance, the Dārābnāma probably took its present written form in the 6th/12th century. It purports to recount the adventures of Dārāb and…

the eighth month of the Zoroastrian year, dedicated to the waters, Ābān. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 1, pp. 59-60 ĀBĀN MĀH, the eighth month of the Zoroastrian year, dedicated to the Waters, Ābān. From the 5th to the beginning of the 11th century A.D., as a result of the second Sasanian calendar reform (see Calendar, Zoroastrian), Ābān Māh became the twelfth month of the religious “leaping” ( wihēzag) year, with five epagomenae, the Gāthā days, set between it and Āḏar Māh (q.v.). The last five days of Ābān Māh were accordingly cel…

Middle Persian name of the fifth hymn among the Zoroastrian hymns to individual divinities. It is the third longest, with 131 verses. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 1, pp. 60-61 ĀBĀN YAŠT, Middle Persian (Pazand) name of the fifth among the Zoroastrian hymns to individual divinities. It is the third longest, with 131 verses (only Farvardīn and Mihr Yašt are longer). Although the name indicates that the hymn is devoted to the Waters (Ābān), the Lady Ardvīsūr (Bānū Ardvīsūr) is invoked in the Middle Persian preliminaries; and the Avestan xšnūman (dedicatio…

(or ABAḠA, “paternal uncle” in Mongolian; ABĀQĀ in Persian and Arabic), eldest son and first successor of the Il-khan Hülegü. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 1, pp. 61-63 ABAQA (or ABAḠA, “paternal uncle” in Mongolian; ABĀQĀ in Persian and Arabic), eldest son and first successor of the Il-khan Hülegü (Hūlāgū). He was born of Yesüṇčin Ḵātūn in Jomādā I, 631/February, 1234 in Mongolia, and accompanied his father on his great expedition to the west. At the outbreak of war with Berke of the Golden H…

a large Persian and Arabic work by Mīr Ḥāmed Ḥosayn b. Moḥammad-qolī b. Moḥammad b. Ḥāmed of Lucknow on the legitimacy of the imamate and the defense of Shiʿite theology. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 1, pp. 63 ʿABAQĀT AL -ANWĀR, a large Persian and Arabic work by Mīr Ḥāmed Ḥosayn b. Moḥammad-qolī b. Moḥammad b. Ḥāmed of Lucknow on the legitimacy of the imamate and the defense of Shiʿite theology. The book, arranged in two parts, is one of several refutations of Toḥfa eṯnāʿašarīya (specifically chap. 7) by ʿAbd-al-ʿAzīz Fārūqī Dehlavī (d. 1239/1823…

Late Sasanian name of Qešm island in the Straits of Hormoz. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 1, pp. 63-64 ABARKĀVĀN, late Sasanian name of Qešm (q.v.) island in the Straits of Hormoz. It occurs in this form (Balaḏorī, Fotūḥ, p. 386) and as Abarkāfān ( Nozhat al-qolūb, p. 186), Barkāvān (Ebn Ḥawqal, p. 183; Ebn al-Aṯīr, III, p. 41), Banū Kāvān (Masʿūdī, Morūǰ I, p. 240; Ebn al-Balḵī, pp. 113-14), etc. (For a more ancient name of the island, see Broḵt; see also Lāft.) The form of the name may be compared with those of Abarqobāḏ, Ab…

ABAR NAHARA, Aramaic name for the lands to the west of the Euphrates—i.e., Phoenicia, Syria, and Palestine (Parpola, p. 116; Zadok, p. 129; see ASSYRIA ii). These regions apparently passed from Neo-Babylonian to Persian control in 539 B.C.E. when Cyrus the Great conquered Mesopotamia. See EBER-NĀRĪ.

Ancient town of lower Iraq between Baṣra and Vāseṭ, to the east of the Tigris, in the region adjacent to Ahvāz, known in pre-Islamic and early Islamic times as Mēšūn (Mid. Pers. form) or Maysān/Mayšān (Syriac and Arabic forms). A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 1, pp. 64 ABARQOBĀḎ, an ancient town of lower Iraq between Baṣra and Vāseṭ, to the east of the Tigris, in the region adjacent to Ahvāz, known in pre-Islamic and early Islamic times as Mēšūn (Mid. Pers. form) or Maysān/Mayšān (Syriac and Arabic forms). The correct form of the town name is given by Dīnavarī ( al-…