Publications
Eschatology in the Indo-Iranian Traditions
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Eschatology in the Indo-Iranian Traditions traces the roots of the belief in life after death from the earliest religious beliefs of the Indo-European people, through its first textual emergence among the Indo-Iranians. Tracing the Indo-Iranian concepts of the nature and constitution of man, with special reference to the doctrine of the Soul and its transmigration, the book demonstrates the profound nature of the physical, ethical, spiritual, and psychological ideals embodied in these thought systems as preserved in the Indian and Iranian scriptures. The central issue was death and the journey to the afterlife. Exploring the characteristic features of Indo-Iranian religions provides a better understanding of the development of eschatological beliefs in later religions in the same way that the Zoroastrian apocalyptic beliefs point to genetic historical relations among Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam. This comparative study enriches our understanding of the antecedents of afterlife beliefs and creates enthusiasm for further in-depth research into the Indo-Iranian religion as a system, acknowledging its genetic historical connections with both earlier and subsequent traditions. Eschatology in the Indo-Iranian Traditions has wide-ranging appeal to upper undergraduate and graduate courses in comparative religion, Asian studies, philosophy, and Indian and Iranian studies.
Systematic Guide to Reading and Writing Persian Language
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Systematic Guide to Reading and Writing Persian Language is a comprehensive guide to reading and writing the script of contemporary Persian. Drawing on years of classroom experience, Mitra Ara introduces and gives detailed instructions to reading, writing, typing, various handwriting forms, cursive writing, vowels, signs, and pronunciation. She also explains the most important scripts, Naskh and Nasta‘liq. Lesser used styles such as Kufic are also covered. This book is an excellent resource for students and teachers. It includes numerous exercises and writing practices which help reinforce the student’s ability to learn the language.
A Lexicon of the Persian Language of Shiraz
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Those teaching and learning Modern Persian outside the language s native homeland (Afghanistan, Iran, and Tajikistan), with its myriad dialects and accents, will benefit from this exclusive presentation of Standard Modern Persian next to its nonstandard equivalent, as well as their multilingual translations. This is the first and only polyglot Shirazi-Persian-English and English-Persian-Shirazi translation guide in one volume, featuring over 37,000 entries, including word pronunciations and translations.