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Book Review

The Culture and Social Institutions of Ancient Iran

State administration, agrarian relations, monetary systems, trade…

Sunday 4 February 2007, by Raham ASHA

Iran is a country with an ancient and highly developed civilization. Its inhabitants were among the first on the path of historical progress, having already developed their own written language and state formations in the early third millennium B.C. Despite an historical destiny that has been far from painless, the people of Iran (the Perso-Aryans) have retained and developped their culture without interruption over the course of many millennia, exerting favourable influence on neighbouring and distant countries and, in turn, borrowing the achievements of these same societies.

During the past decades many works devoted to the ancient history and cultures of Iran have been published. Most of these works are from the “Western” point of view. The authors of the present book belong to the “Soviet” scholars. The original Russian edition of the book appeared in 1980.

The present book is devoted to the culture and social institutions of Iran from the appearance of the Iranian tribes on the Iranian plateau until the end of the Achaemenid period (the eleventh to the fourth centuries B.C), have attempted to recreate an integral picture of the history of the Medes and the Persians based on archaeological remains, the cuneiform archives, and other sources.

Muhammad A. Dandamaev, Vladimir G. Lukonin
The Culture and Social Institutions of Ancient Iran
Cambridge University Press; New Ed edition (September 28, 2004)
ISBN-10: 0521611911
ISBN-13: 978-0521611916

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