Touraj Daryaee

Touraj Daryaee "was born in Tehran, Iran in 1967. His elementary and secondary schooling was in Tehran, Iran and Athens, Greece. Daryaee took his Ph.D. in History at the University of California, Los Angeles in 1999. He specializes in the history and culture of Ancient Persia. His most recent articles include: “History, Epic, and Numismatics: On the Title of Yazdgerd I (Rāmšahr),” Journal of the American Numismatic Society, vol. 14, 2002(2003), pp. 89-95; “Gayōmard: King of Clay or Mountain? The epithet of the First Man in the Zoroastrian Tradition,” Paitimāna, Essays in Iranian, Indo-European, and Indian Studies in Honor of Hanns-Peter Schmidt, Mazda Press, 2003, pp. 339-349; “Sight, Semen, and the Brain: Ancient Persian Notions of Physiology in Old and Middle Iranian Texts,” The Journal of Indo-European Studies, vol. 30, nos. 1&2, 2002, pp. 1-26; “The Changing ‘image of the World’: Geography and Imperial Propaganda in Ancient Persia,” Electrum, Studies in Ancient History, vol. 6, 2002, pp. 99-109. His books include Šahrestānīhā ī Ērānšahr, A Middle Persian Text on Late Antique Geography, Epic, and History, Mazda Publishers, Costa Mesa, 2002; History & Culture of the Sasanians, Qoqnoos Press, Tehran, 2003; and Mēnōg ī Xrad: The Spirit of Wisdom, Essays in Memory of Ahmad Tafazzoli, Mazda Publishers, Costa Mesa, 2003. He is also the editor of the Nāme-ye Irān-e Bāstān, The International Journal of Ancient Iranian Studies."

"Dr. Daryaee’s research has focused on ancient and early medieval history of Iran, specifically the Sasanian Empire. He has worked on Middle Persian literature, editing and translating several texts with commentary on geography, dinner speech, chess and backgammon. He is also interested in the history of Zoroastrianism in Late Antiquity and its encounter with Islam. He is the editor of the Name-ye Iran-e Bastan: The International Journal of Ancient Iranian Studies as well as the electronic journal, Bulletin of Ancient Iranian History and the director of Sasanika: Late Antique Near East Project. His articles have appeared both in English and Persian in Iranian Studies, Iran, Iranistik, Studia Iranica, Res Orientalis, Historia, Electrum, Indo-Iranian Journal, Journal of Indo-European Studies, Iranshenasi, Iran Nameh, Name-ye Baharestan, Farhang and Name-ye Iran-e Bastan." CV

His personal website is http://www.tourajdaryaee.com/


 * Director, Iranian American Scholarship Fund
 * Executive Committee (2006-08), International Society for Iranian Studies