A Review of the Scythian Empire: Central Eurasia and the Birth of the Classical Age from Persia to China

Document Type : Book Review

Author

Department of History, Faculty of Literature and Human Science, University of Tehran

Abstract

The Scythian Empire is a controversial book with a charming title that can attract the attention of any scholar. Christopher I. Beckwith presents claims in this book that accepting each one of them leads us to rethink many previous customary historical beliefs. Some of his theories are novel but most of them are rehabilitation of older obsolete ideas. The book wraps a wide range of specialized topics in the fields of history, archeology, and linguistics; but deals with most of them on a superficial level. Since the Scythians were an Iranian ethnic group, this work is especially recommended for scholars of Iranian history, as unfortunately, the significance of the Scythians in shaping Iranian history has not been recognized as other ancient Iranians such as the Persians. In a broader sense, this work can be also useful for scholars interested in the Iranian world and its relations with neighboring civilizations, Eurasia, Central Asia, and China.   

Keywords

Main Subjects

🔓 © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Tissaphernes Archaeological Research Group, Tehran, Iran. Open Access. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDeriv- atives License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. The ethical policy of Persica Antiqua is based on the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines and complies with International Committee of Persica Antiqua Editorial Board codes of conduct. Readers, authors, reviewers and editors should follow these ethical policies once working with Persica Antiqua. The ethical policy of Persica Antiqua is liable to determine which of the typical research papers or articles submitted to the journal should be published in the concerned issue. For information on this matter in publishing and ethical guidelines please visit www.publicationethics.org.

References

Arnaso, J. P. S; Eisenstadt N & Wittrck, B. (2005). Axial Civilizations and World History, Leiden: Brill.
Arrian. (1883). Anabasis of Alexander, English translation by E. J. Chinnock, Loeb Classical Collection, London: Hodder and Stoughton.
Bellah, Robert N. & Joas, Hans (ed.). (2012). The Axial Age and Its Consequences, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Boyce, Mary. (1975). A History of Zoroastrianism, vol I, Leiden/Koln: Brill.
Eisenstadt, S. N (ed.). (1986). The Origins and Diversity of Axial Age Civilizations. Albany: State University of New York Press.
Herodotus. (1920). Histories, English translation by A.D. Godley, Herodotus (In Four Volumes), America and Great Britain: The Loeb Classical Library.
Kent, Roland G. (1953). Old Persian: grammar, texts, lexicon, New Haven, Connecticut: American Oriental Society.
Ridling, Zaine. (1989). The Bible (New Revised Standard Version), USA: Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America.
Rollinger, Robert. (2014). “Thinking and Writing about History in Teispid and Achemenian Persia”. In Kurt Arnold Raaflaub (ed.), Thinking, Recording, and Writing History in the Ancient World, USA: Wiley Blackwell.
Sancisi-Weerdenburg, Heleen. (1988). “Was There Ever a Median Empire?”. In Amelie Kuhrt & Heleen Sancisi-Weerdenburg  (eds.), Achemenian History III: Method and Theory, Leiden: Nederlands Instituut Voor Het Nabije Oosten. 
Strabo. (1930). Geography, book XI, English translation by Hrace Jones, London: Leonard.
Persica Antiqua
Volume 4, Issue 6
January 2024
Pages 69-77

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 05 March 2023
  • Accept Date: 18 April 2023

Share

How to cite

Statistics