Persian and Iranian Studies

A nineteenth-century immigrant from Persia narrates tales about the 'manners, customs, and peculiarities' of his people. He depicts Persian social life, talks of the Shah and his court, and relates legends and tales from Persian history and literature.

No anthropologist has conducted fieldwork among the Mandaeans, not even in recent decades and therefore Drower remains a singular figure. Scholars, students, and aficionados regard her book as the work that brings the people alive.

Layard relates fascinating tales of his adventures in Persia and Mesopotamia before the discovery of Nineveh.

A detailed grammar, with extensive vocabulary, of the Neo-Aramaic dialect as spoken in Urmia, by a missionary of the American Board in Persia.

This collection of Oriental manuscripts was presented to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in March, 1913, by Mr. Alexander Smith Cochran. All of the codices, handsomely illuminated and adorned with beautiful miniatures, will be of interest to students of art, literature, and history.

Gives a travelogue and a journal of his missionary activities in the Middle East between 1834 and 1841, primarily with the Church of the East.

This book gives the biography of William Ambrose Shedd (1876-1918), written by Mary Lewis Shedd, the wife of his last years. W. A. Shedd was an American Protestant missionary who was born in Urmia, Iran, and spent most of his life there among the Assyrian Christians of northwestern Iran. He received his education in Princeton.

This written travelogue of Ella Sykes’ historic first journey across central Asia has been considered a classic of women’s studies as well as a historic travel account. Detailing the impressions of Sykes while traveling with her diplomat brother through central Asia in the nineteenth century, this illustrated volume has a wide appeal to those interested in Iran as it used to be.

A fascinating travelogue through southern and central Iran, this early nineteenth-century account is written with wit and insight; the polymathic Copley Amory Jr. proves an able tour guide. The reader is taken from Tehran to Kerman and back, along a trail that highlights ancient sites of historical importance. Along the way, the culture of “tribes and tents” is described, as well as a plucky misadventure involving encounters with camel caravans and excessive automobile troubles. Written in a witty and engaging style, this account of a classic journey contains an education in the history and customs of a vanishing way of life.