Early Iran

About seventy years ago, the American Iranologist George G. Cameron wrote a book on pre-Achaemenid Iran that was later translated into Persian under the title Iran at the Dawn of History. We chose the same title for the first volume of Sayan Publishing’s Illustrated History of Iran series.

The first volume begins with the geology of Iran and then moves to the Paleolithic period and the earliest human communities in the Iranian plateau. It continues through the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods, tracing the gradual emergence of settled communities and increasingly complex societies. The chapters on the Bronze and Iron Ages examine some of the best-known archaeological sites associated with these periods. None of these three chapters appears in Cameron’s book.

The narrative then moves slightly back in time to explore the remarkable civilization of Elam, before turning to the arrival of the Aryan peoples and the confederation of Median tribes, which formed the immediate background to the rise of the Achaemenid Empire.

The wide range of subjects covered in this volume is accompanied by nearly one thousand images and digital reconstructions of around forty scenes from the lives of Iran’s earliest inhabitants, turning the book into a visual museum of the beginnings of Iranian history. Its numerous image portfolios, detailed reconstructions, and rich graphic design are intended to take the reader directly into the dawn of this land’s history.

Volume 1

Chapter 1: From Earth to Humankind

Edited by: Dr. Fereidoun Biglari

Authors:

Dr. Fereidoun Biglari (Lower Paleolithic and Middle Paleolithic)

Fatemeh Shafiee Sarvestani (Geology)

Dr. Sonia Shidrang (Upper Paleolithic and Epipaleolithic)

Academic Editors:

Dr. Erfan Khosravi

Kaveh Faizollahi

Dr. Majid Mirzaei-Ataabadi

Dr. Majid Naderi

Chapter 2: From Village to City

Edited by: Dr. Jebrael Nokandeh

Authors:

Fatemeh Shafiee Sarvestani

Dr. Leila Makvandi (Pre-Writing Counting Devices and Cylinder Seals)

Academic Editors:

Dr. Fereidoun Biglari

Dr. Javad Hoseinzadeh Sadati

Dr. Hossein Davoudi

Dr. Mohammad Hossein Azizi Kharanaghi

Dr. Marjan Mashkour

Dr. Abbas Moghaddam

Dr. Ramin Yashmi

Chapter 4: Elam: From Susa to Anshan

Author:

Dr. Kamyar Abdi

With contributions by:

Dr. Hamidreza Peyghambari (Music in Elam)

Dr. Leila Makvandi (Music in Elam and Elamite Rock Reliefs)

Ehsan Nazem Bekai (design of the Chogha Zanbil special feature)

Chapter 5: The Aryans and the Medes: From Dispersion to Empire

Author:

Dr. Mehrdad Malekzadeh

With contributions by:

Ehsan Rezaei

Dr. Yousef Hassanzadeh (Ziwiye)

Dr. Leila Makvandi (Archaeogenetic Studies)

Volume 2

Achaemenid Iran

Edited by:

Yazdan Safaee

Author of the Foreword and “Cyrus in Ancient Inscriptions” section:

Dr. Shahrokh Razmjou

Designer of the Special Features:

Ehsan Nazem Bekai

Achaemenid Susa Special Feature:

Loghman Ahmadzadeh Shouhani

Volume 3

Seleucid and Parthian Iran

Author:

Fatemeh Shafiee Sarvestani

Academic Advisor:

Dr. Reza Ordu

Foreword:

Dr. Mostafa Dehpahlavan

Academic Advisors for the Religion Section:

Dr. Shervin Farridnejad

Dr. Nina Mazhjoo

Volume 4

Sasanian Iran

Author:

Ehsan Rezaei

Academic Advisor:

Dr. Esmaeil Matloubkari

Foreword:

Dr. Touraj Daryaee

With special thanks to:

Dr. Shervin Farridnejad

Dr. Khodadad Rezakhani

Academic Board

Reza Ordu

PhD in Ancient Iranian History, University of Tehran

Fereidoun Biglari

PhD in Archaeology, University of Bordeaux; Head of the Paleolithic Department, National Museum of Iran

Hamidreza Peyghambari

PhD in Ancient Iranian History, University of Tehran; Faculty Member, Persian Gulf University

Yousef Hassanzadeh

PhD in Archaeology, University of Tehran; Head of the Research Center, National Museum of Iran

Javad Hoseinzadeh Sadati

Faculty Member, Department of Archaeology, University of Kashan

Touraj Daryaee

PhD in History, University of California, Los Angeles; Director of the Dr. Samuel M. Jordan Center for Persian Studies and Culture, University of California, Irvine

Mostafa Dehpahlavan

PhD in Archaeology, University of Tehran; President of the Research Institute of Cultural Heritage and Tourism

Shahrokh Razmjou

PhD in Archaeology, University of London; Faculty Member, University of Tehran

Khodadad Rezakhani

PhD in Late Antique History, University of California, Los Angeles; Faculty Member, Leiden University

Yazdan Safaee

PhD Candidate in Iranian Studies, École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), Paris

Kamyar Abdi

PhD in Anthropology, with a specialization in Archaeology, University of Michigan; Faculty Member, Shahid Beheshti University

Shervin Farridnejad

PhD in Ancient and Middle Iranian Philology and Zoroastrian Studies, University of Göttingen; Professor, University of Hamburg

Nina Mazhjoo

Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Wrocław, Poland

Esmaeil Matloubkari

PhD in Ancient Iranian History, University of Tehran

Leila Makvandi

PhD in Archaeology, University of Tehran; Faculty Member, Department of Archaeology, University of Kashan

Mehrdad Malekzadeh

PhD in Archaeology, Tarbiat Modares University; Faculty Member, Iranian Center for Archaeological Research

Majid Mirzaei-Ataabadi

PhD in Vertebrate Paleontology, University of Helsinki, Finland; Faculty Member, University of Zanjan

Jebrael Nokandeh

PhD in Archaeology, Freie Universität Berlin; Director General, National Museum of Iran