Encyclopædia Iranica

The Encyclopædia Iranica ( also abbreviated EIR or EncIr ) is an English academic specialty Encyclopedia of the Department of Iranian Studies and is published by Ehsan Yarshater. It is a project of the Center for Iranian Studies at Columbia University and the most important and most authoritative reference book of Iranian Studies. The aim of the Encyclopædia Iranica is to create a comprehensive encyclopedia that covers the entire width of Iranian civilization in the Near and Middle East, the Caucasus, Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent from the prehistory and early history of the ancient world to modern times. The focus is on both the geographic Iran and the Iranian peoples, their languages ​​, their cultures, and their interactions with other peoples and communities.

Almost all the existing articles are freely available online, not yet published in the print.

General

The Encyclopædia Iranica - items are arranged alphabetically and are consistently by renowned experts from around the world, but especially from Europe and the United States, written. The work is still in progress, so far 15 volumes have been published, are planned in total 45 volumes. The entries in the Encyclopædia Iranica are written in American English, "to make these available to a wider audience worldwide." A translation into Persian and is planned to be started as soon as the work is completed.

History

The idea for the Encyclopædia Iranica originated in 1969 from a proposal Ehsan Yarshaters, the renowned Encyclopaedia of Islam translate into Persian. However, because the treatment of various topics for Iranian Studies in the Encyclopaedia of Islam was considered insufficient, the proposed translation should contain additional material to correct the deficits - comparable to the Türk Islam Ansiklopedisi. Publications of this expanded Encyclopedia, in the Persian Dānešnāma -ye Īrān wa Islām ( "Encyclopaedia of Iran and Islam" ) called, began in 1975. Fascicle 10 were already published before the project due to the political turmoil in Iran in 1980 had to be adjusted. The work was republished in 1992, although in a new and radically different form, but had the Islamic Revolution, it almost brought to a standstill.

Ehsan Yarshater but had the idea in 1972, at the same time to create an English-language counterpart to Dānešnāma. This should be entirely different from the Encyclopaedia of Islam and only academic papers contain. The first printed fascicles this new - referred to from now on Encyclopædia Iranica - Encyclopedia was published in 1982, the first Libram 1985 The first volumes were by Routledge and Kegan Paul, Ltd.. . published, the subsequent by Mazda Publishers. Especially have the published volumes, quickly established as a scientific reference work is of paramount importance in terms of Persia and Persian culture, the Encyclopædia Iranica. By 2010 already over 7500 articles were completed, which are online for free of cost in the digital Internet Edition, which has been in operation since 1996.

Encyclopedic width

"The Encyclopaedia Iranica is designed as a research tool responding to the needs of scholars, Specialists, and students in Iranian studies and related fields. It AIMS at filling in important gap in the range of available reference sources Which deal with the history and culture of the Middle East. "

The encyclopedic breadth of the Encyclopædia Iranica spans the following disciplines and subject areas:

The articles are written with an overall high scientific standard and achieve by splitting into several subsections partially the length of a book. Some reflect a special " Persian " consideration of a certain area, such as the flora and fauna or the arts. Many of these items are by their specialization for professionals of interest ( for example, the detailed article on ancient " Acts of the Persian Martyrs " as well as modern Persian novel " Buf -e Kur "). Thus speaks the Encyclopædia Iranica primarily students and specialists of the departments of Oriental and Iranian Studies at, but emphasizes that interested readers from other disciplines can also benefit from the work to.

Authors

The Encyclopædia Iranica is produced through international cooperation and refers to the current leading scholars and authors of the respective subject area. To guarantee quality and reliability of the work in the long term. A panel of 38 renowned specialists at the time (consulting editor ) is the editor of advice and controls, or recommends new articles. The entries in the work be requested only by invitation, the quality of the article is then reviewed by peer review by two other experts. This should not only technical reliability, but also objectivity and political independence guaranteed.

Circa 1300 various authors worldwide have participated to date with articles in various original languages ​​, including English, Persian, Russian, Turkish and Chinese, on the Encyclopædia Iranica, the articles were not written in English, translated all. Alone in the first tape 285 different authors were represented.

Among the best known authors include:

Zabihollah Safa in his office in Tehran, ~ 1975

Annemarie Schimmel - glass plate in the Bonngasse (Bonn)

Georg Morgenstierne

Financing

The Encyclopædia Iranica is mainly funded by donations. To this end, the Encyclopædia Iranica Foundation was founded in 1990. About one- third of the funds provided by the U.S. National Endowment for the Humanities. From this the Encyclopædia Iranica is listed as a priority project since 1979. Other sponsors include the Getty Foundation (since 1990), the American Council of Learned Societies (since 1997 ) and the Union Académique International ( since 1997).

Reception

" Encyclopaedia Iranica is indispensable for any scholarly work of Specialists in the fields of Iranian and Islamic Studies. [ It] deserves the highest praise and full support. "

"A real tour de force. There is no project in the Entire Middle Eastern field more worthy of support than the Encyclopaedia Iranica. "

The reactions for Encyclopædia Iranica from the beginning were very positive; she is praised extensively by many Orientalists and Iranisten. Werner Sundermann assessed the value of the encyclopedia in a first meeting with the following words:

" In their importance for the Iranian science, the Encyclopedia can probably only with the" be compared plan of Iranian philology ". [ ... ] It is the sum of an Iranian research in a broader sense, which basically has to do it with all objects on Iranian soil. "

In direct comparison to the Encyclopaedia of Islam is often pointed out that in the Encyclopædia Iranica the field of art and architecture play a far greater role. Special praise receives the work for the wealth of topics to be treated, for the balanced representation of different eras, the high quality of the articles, and the careful drafting and documentation that make these. Critical voices, there are only smaller oversights and errors, but they are unavoidable in such a large project. Virtually all the reviews agree that the Encyclopædia Iranica has achieved its stated goal and is now well established as a critical, indispensable reference work of its faculty.

Publications

Previously printed publications:

Volume 1, AB - Anahid, 1985 Volume 2, ANĀMAKA - Atar AL WOZARĀ ʾ, 1987 Volume 3, ATAS - BEYHAQI, 1989 Volume 4, BĀYJU - CARPETS, 1990 Volume 5, CARPETS - COFFEE, 1992 Volume 6, COFFEE HOUSE - Dara, 1993 Volume 7, Dara (B ) - EBN AL- Athir, 1996 Volume 8, EBN ʿ ayyas - E ʿ TEŻĀD -AL Saltana, 1998 Volume 9, Ethe - FISH, 1999 Volume 10, FISHERIES - GINDAROS, 2001 Volume 11, gioni - HAREM I, 2003 Volume 12, HAREM I - ILLUMINATIONISM, 2004 Volume 13, ILLUMINATIONISM - Isfahan VIII, 2006 Volume 14, Isfahan IX - JOBBĀ ʾ I, 2008 Volume 15, joci - KĀŠḠARI, SA ʿ D -AL- DIN, 2011

299803
de