Iraj Afshar
Emeritus Professor Iraj Afshar of the University of Tehran is one of the leading scholars in Iranian Studies. Since the first half of the twentieth century, Afshar has endeavored to study and promote Iranian civilization in its widest sense. He has written on a variety of topics, including manuscript studies, textual editing, local histories, inscriptions and biographies. Afshar has worked with and helped Iranists for the past six decades and is held in highest esteem by both Iranian and non-Iranian scholars alike. Recently the International Society for Iranian Studies awarded him the Life Time Achievement Award at the University of London, School of African and Oriental Studies.
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 (Ramšahr),” Journal of the American Numismatic Society, vol. 14, 2002(2003), pp. 89-95; “Gayomard: King of Clay or Mountain? The epithet of the First Man in the Zoroastrian Tradition,” Paitimana, 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 Šahrestaniha i Eranšahr, 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 Menog i Xrad: The Spirit of Wisdom, Essays in Memory of Ahmad Tafazzoli, Mazda Publishers, Costa Mesa, 2003. He is also the editor of the Name-ye Iran-e Bastan, The International Journal of Ancient Iranian Studies.