(Middle Persian ērān, genitive plural of ēr, in Ērān-šahr, ‘land of the Aryans/Iranians’ < Middle Persian ēr, Sassanid inscriptions and Paḫlavī literature of the 9th cent. AD < Old Iranian *arya-, Old Persian ariya-, Avestan airya-).
Although ariya- in itself carries ethnical meaning (the Achaemenids referred to themselves as ariya- ‘Aryan’ or respectively ariyaciça-, respectively ‘of Aryan descent’), the term I. (or respectively Ērān-š…
Cite this page
Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel),
“Iran”, in:
Brill’s New Pauly, Antiquity volumes edited by: Hubert Cancik and , Helmuth Schneider, English Edition by: Christine F. Salazar, Classical Tradition volumes edited by: Manfred Landfester, English Edition by: Francis G. Gentry.
Consulted online on 28 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e527130>