Four Treasures Reference Database
Record No. 27666
L'archéologie du Fars à l'époque hellénistique Quatre leçons au Collège de France, 8, 15, 22 et 29 mars 2007
Book
Callieri, P. (2007) L'archéologie du Fars à l'époque hellénistique Quatre leçons au Collège de France, 8, 15, 22 et 29 mars 2007. Paris, De Boccard, 179 pp.
Sinkankas/Born No.: NIS/NIB | not seen
gems, glyptic, engraved gems, agate, cameo, intaglio, seals, cylinders, beads, jewelry, ancient gems, ancient jewelry, Gandhara, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Central Asia, India, Indo-Aryan
Daniel T. Potts: Callieri provides a well-documented, thoughtful, and comprehensive survey of Fars province during the post-Achaemenid, pre-Sasanian centuries in which the region was subject to Macedonian, Seleucid, and finally Parthian domination. Originally delivered as a series of four lectures at the Collège de France, the published text retains the same structure. The approach taken, however, is not to provide a straightforward historical narrative coupled with a geographically organized or chronological overview of sites, monuments, and finds. Rather, Callieri has adopted a much more interesting mode of setting out his thoughts: Leçon 1: “Habitats anciens et fondations hellénistiques du plateau iranien: Les témoignages littéraires, épigraphiques et archéologiques concernant la région du Fārs” (11–48); Leçon 2: “Bâtiments religieux et cultes de l’Iran à l’époque hellénistique” (49–86); Leçon 3: “L’apport hellénistique à la production artistique et artisanale du Fārs, des Achéménides aux Sassanides” (87–114); and Leçon 4: “Le Fārs sous les règnes des souverains locaux: Les témoignages archéologiques et épigraphiques” (115–146). In addition to discussing historical problems of broad interest to a wide variety of archaeologists, ancient historians, and classicists, Callieri brings a wealth of unpublished or largely inaccessible archaeological material from Fars to bear on his treatment of the region. Much of this is illustrated, and the majority can only be seen by visiting Iran, and even then with considerable difficulty. Many of the finds illustrated are not in museums. Some are still at their findspots, others in the courtyards of municipal authorities. To say that Callieri has performed an invaluable service by discussing and illustrating such material, much of it for the first time in the West, is an understatement. For this reason alone his book is essential reading for anyone interested in post-Achaemenid Iranian archaeology.
