Encyclopaedia Iranica Online

(1853-1938), Swiss classicist and scholar of Indo-European and Indo-Iranian studies. His scholarship in the field of Old Indo-Aryan is best reflected in his large-scale Altindische Grammatik, a work of fundamental significance for Indo-Iranian and Iranian studies. WACKERNAGEL, JACOB, Swiss classicist and scholar of Indo-European and Indo-Iranian studies (b. Basel, Switzerland, 11 December 1853; d. Basel, 22 May 1938; Figure 1), the son of Wilhelm Wackernagel (1806-1869), professor of German Language and Literature in Basel from 183…

regnal title assumed by Karim Khan Zand (r. 1164-93/1751-79) after he established himself at Shiraz in 1765. It is recorded in variants wakil-al-raʿiya, wakil-e raʿiat, and wakil-al-ḵalāʾeq, all meaning “deputy of the people.” WAKIL-AL-RAʿĀYĀ, well known regional title assumed by Karim Khan Zand (r. 1164-93/1751-79) after he established himself at Shiraz in 1179/1765. It is recorded in variants wakil-al-raʿiya, wakil-e raʿiat, and wakil-al-ḵalāʾeq, all meaning “deputy of the people,” and marked a significant change of polarity in the wording of Karim Khan’s title from wakil-al-…

(1868-1939), a prominent merchant and the Majles deputy of Hamadān, who, in October 1906, was the first provincial deputy to take his place in the First Majles (parliament) to be established after the Constitutional Revolution. WAKIL-al-RAʿĀYĀ, Ḥāji Shaikh (Moḥammad) Taqi Irāni (b. ca. 1285/1868, d. 1318 Š./1939), a prominent merchant and the Majles deputy of Hamadān, who, in October 1906, was the first provincial deputy ( wakil-e majles) to take his place in the First Majles (parliament) to be established after the Constitutional Revolution (Browne, p. 131). W…

(b. Dallas, Texas, April 13th 1943-d. Columbus, Ohio, July 8th, 1996), scholar of Islamic history. WALDMAN, Marilyn (b. Dallas, Texas, 13 April 1943; d. Columbus, Ohio, 8 July 1996), scholar of Islamic history. Waldman received her BA from Radcliffe College, where she specialized in African Studies, and her MA (1966) and PhD. (1974) from the University of Chicago, where she studied under the noted historian of Islamic Civilizations, Marshall Hodgson. In 1974 she joined the faculty of the Department of History o…

(1897-1985), Indologist whose research focused on Sanskrit manuscripts in the Turfan collection and co-authored a couple of probing contributions to Manichean Studies. WALDSCHMIDT, ERNST (b. L�nen, Westphalia, Germany, 15 July 1897; d. G�ttingen, 25 February 1985), Indologist. His research focused on Sanskrit manuscripts in the Turfan collection, but, with the Iranian studies scholar Wolfgang Lentz, he also co-authored a couple of probing contributions to Manichean Studies. WALDSCHMIDT, ERNST i. Life Ernst Waldschmidt (Figure 1) was the only child of Ernst and Eli…

a charitable endowment. See also AMLĀK, ḴĀṢṢA.

an archeological site to the north of Čavār in Ilām Province (Pošt-e kuh, Lorestān). Two hundred and three individual tombs of a large plundered graveyard (more than 1,000 tombs estimated to have been plundered) were excavated in 1965 and 1966. They all date to the Iron Age III (ca. 800/750-600 BCE). WAR KABUD, an archeological site to the north of Čavār in Ilām Province (Pošt-e kuh, Lorestān). Two hundred and three individual tombs of a large plundered graveyard (more than 1,000 tombs estimated to have been plundered) were excavated in 1965 and …

See SŪDGAR NASK AND WARŠTMĀNSR NASK.

(1485-d. 1551-1566), Persian memoirist, historian, and poet. WĀṢEFI, ZAYN-AL-DIN MAḤMUD (b. Herat, 890/1485; d. between 1551 and 1566), Persian memoirist, historian, and poet. Wāṣefi was born into an urban middle-class family, all of whose members were, by his own account, well educated. His father was probably a high state functionary, who seems to have intended his son for a similar career. In any case, Wāṣefi’s home environment encouraged learning, and at an early age he taught himself to read and write and began to study Persian and Arabic grammar, history, Islamic jurisprudence ( f…

a literary term meaning “description;” but it can carry several other connotations, including “quality,” “attribute,” “characterization,” “distinguishing mark,” and “adjective.” WAṢF , a literary term meaning “description;” but it can carry several other connotations, including “quality,” “attribute,” “characterization,” “distinguishing mark,” and “adjective,” (Sumi, 2004, p. 5), which are also relevant to the analysis of descriptive poetry in Persian. One has to bear in mind that in a specific context, the poet or …

See ĀB.

See ĀSIĀ.

bilingual poet, philologist, and prose writer in Persian and Arabic, as well as a high-ranking official of the Khwarazmian court in the 12th century. WAṬWĀṬ, RAŠID-AL-DIN Moḥammad b. Moḥammad ʿAbd-al-Jalil al-ʿOmari, commonly known as Rašid(-e) Waṭwāṭ (d. 578/1182), bilingual poet, philologist, and prose writer in Persian and Arabic, as well as a high-ranking official of the Khwarazmian court in the 12th century. There is considerable data on his biography, with the Dictionary of Learned Men by Yāqut (d. 1229) as the earliest source (see Yāqut, Moʿjam al-odabāʾ VII, pp. 91-95); s…

The vast majority of Iranian bloggers write in Persian, although other languages – chief among them English – are also used. WEBLOGS, or ‘blog’s, websites consisting of regularly updated entries or “posts” that normally appear in reverse chronological order, with the newest entries on top. Most blogs are maintained by a single individual, called a “blogger,” but there are also “group blogs,” as well as blogs administered by corporations, political parties, music artists, radio and television networks, and government…

Evidence for ancient standards is provided by examination of weights surviving from antiquity, and from inspection of certain specimens of ingot currency. There are six surviving, well-preserved Achaemenid weights with inscriptions. WEIGHTS AND MEASURES i. PRE-ISLAMIC PERIOD Units of weight. The standard unit of weight in the ancient Middle East was the shekel ( šiqlu), best known from that of the Babylonian standard. It was enforced throughout the Achaemenid Empire by Darius I the Great (r. 522-486) around 515 BCE. In this system, the shekel stood…

scholar of Biblical studies, who primarily gained renown as an Old Testament scholar and Semitist. WELLHAUSEN, JULIUS (b. Hameln, Germany, 17 May 1844; d. Göttingen, 17 January 1918, Figure 1), scholar of Biblical studies, who primarily gained renown as an Old Testament scholar and Semitist. Following in the footsteps of his father August Wellhausen, who was a Lutheran pastor (d. 1861), he studied Protestant theology in Göttingen from 1862 to 1865, during which time, except for two digressions into German history prior to his ecclesiastica…

(b. Chambersburg, Pa., 31 August 1919; d. Chambersburg, 8 April 1982), diplomat and scholar, expert on the history of technology in the ancient Middle East. WERTIME, THEODORE (b. Chambersburg, Pa., 31 August 1919; d. Chambersburg, 8 April 1982), diplomat and scholar, expert on the history of technology in the ancient Middle East. Upon graduating from Haverford College (Pennsylvania) in 1939, Wertime earned M.A. degree in history from the American University in Washington, D.C. and did additional graduate work in history…