Socioeconomic Transformation in the Sasanian Empire
Late Antique Central Zagros
- Contextualises the socioeconomic milieu of the Sasanian Central Zagros in the late antique Near East
- Highlights the role of nomadic and transhumant populations in the cultural formation processes of the Central Zagros, along with settled groups and urban societies
- Presents an overview according to an interdisciplinary approach mainly based on material data of various sorts and evidence from primary sources, enriched by parallel attestations from secondary sources
- Engages in recent debates regarding the function of the Sasanian state and offers a new understanding of its economy
Recent studies have demonstrated the diverse character of the socioeconomic dynamics behind the socio-political transformations and infrastructural developments in different territories of the Sasanian and Roman Empires. Notwithstanding its distinct environmental and socio-cultural settings, the cultural landscapes in the Sasanian realm are much less studied than those of the neighbouring empire to the west. Based on an inter-disciplinary approach, this monograph bridges this gap and highlights such diversity on a regional scale in the Central Zagros. Socioeconomic Transformation in the Sasanian Empire provides for a deeper understanding of the actual historical events and long-term cultural processes in the Central Zagros by disclosing the roles of various inter-related cultural and natural factors and the demographic and economic transitions that caused them. Ultimately, this work contributes to debates about the reconstruction of sociopolitical transitions in the late antique world.
List of Illustrations List of Tables Preface and Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations
1. Introduction. A Regional Examination of the Central Zagros during Late Antiquity
2. The Historical Geography of the Central Zagros
3. A System at the Edge of Chaos: Abdanan in the Sasanian Period
4. Pastoral Nomadism in the Iranian Highlands during Late Antiquity: The Case of Farsan
5. The Sasanian Pottery from the Central Zagros: Interactive Local Traditions
6. Conclusion. The Multifaceted Landscape of the Central Zagros during the Sasanian Period and its Socioeconomic Transformation
Appendix 1. List of the Archaeological Sites Examined in Chapter 3 Appendix 2. List of the Archaeological Sites Examined in Chapter 4 Appendix 3. Catalogues of the Pottery Specimens Examined in Chapter 5
Bibliography
The Sasanian Empire rivalled the Roman state in prosperity and military might. An impressively thorough survey of the Central Zagros in Western Iran allows Hossein Habibi to explain this success story. He demonstrates that investment in agricultural lands and population growth on a micro-level underpinned imperial power on a macro-level.
Habibi's book is a most welcome and innovative regional study of the Central Zagros in Late Antiquity. The author's familiarity with the region, its material culture and its ancient socio-political milieu provides him with astute insights into the socio-economic transformation processes brought about by the Sasanian imperial planning framework and landscape investment.
To sum up, Hossein Habibi has presented us with an insightful, deeply researched study that is informative on a macro and micro level. The book contributes to an ever-increasing pool of data on the Sasanian period that is helping to add nuance to the larger and largely external historical narrative of the landscape and the humans who lived in it. For anyone who is interested in the study of Sasanian archaeology, the study provides a template for further and future analysis, and a local perspective of larger geo-political shifts in the late Sasanian Empire. The result is an important contribution to the knowledge and understanding of the Central Zagros itself and a methodological presentation of the ways in which we can approach the human geography of the Sasanian world.
