12th Biennial Conference on Iranian Studies: Ehsan and Latifeh Yarshater

This series of five lectures will take place at the Maison de la recherche (2, rue de Lille – Paris 7th arrondissement) - Georges Dumézil Auditorium

This series of lectures explores the manuscript tradition of Firdawsī’s Shāhnāma and its influence on medieval Persian literature. Through the study of remarkable manuscripts, notably the Timurid codex held at Leiden University, it highlights the diversity of textual and iconographic transmissions of this major work. An initial theme focuses on supernatural figures, notably demons and witches, whose depictions enrich the adventures of Rustam and his descendants. The study of the Shabrangnāma and the Barzū cycle allows for an examination of the relationships between secondary epics, oral traditions and manuscript transmission, whilst the figure of Sūsan sheds light on representations of magic and witchcraft. The cycle then turns its attention to Anūshīrvān, a Sassanid ruler associated with the ideal of justice, and to the Pandnāma-yi Anūshīrvān. A comparison of these traditions with the Shāhnāma reveals the importance of moral counsel and political wisdom in the conception of kingship. Finally, the study of the poem Yūsuf-u Zulaykhā, attributed to Firdawsī, examines the issues surrounding its attribution and the historical and artistic context of its earliest manuscript versions. These lectures thus highlight the vitality of the Persian epic tradition, the interplay between oral and written traditions, and the processes of reworking that have ensured the transmission of this literary heritage over the centuries.

About the speaker

Gabrielle van den Berg is a professor of cultural history of Iran and Central Asia at Leiden University in the Netherlands. A specialist in classical Persian literature, her research focuses on the epic tradition of the Shāhnāmeh, the history of Persian manuscripts, and the oral traditions of Tajik Badakhshan. A PhD graduate of Leiden University, she has also taught and conducted research at Cambridge and in Brussels. Her work explores the fruitful relationships between literature, history, iconography and oral transmission within the Iranian-Persian world. In particular, she has led several research projects devoted to the Persian epic cycle, as well as to the dynamics linking cultural production, territorial construction and imperial ideologies in Central Eurasia.

Programme

Monday 2 November 2026, 5–7 pm

What’s in a Shāhnāma manuscript? Reflections on the Shāhnāma manuscript tradition via the 15^th -century Shāhnāma manuscript copy preserved in Leiden University Library

Friday 6 November 2026, 5–7 pm

Revisiting the Shāhnāma demons: narrative and pictorial patterns regarding the dīv in the Shāhnāma manuscript tradition

Tuesday 10 November 2026, 5–7 pm

Witches, sorcerers, and witchcraft in the Shāhnāma and a closer look at the Barzūnāma manuscript tradition

Friday 13 November 2026, 5–7 pm

The Wise Counsels of Anūshīrvān: The Pandnāma-yi Anūshīrvān in the Safīna-yi Tabrīz and its relation to the episode of Nūshīnravān in Firdawsī’s Shāhnāma

Monday 16 November 2026, 5–7 pm

Firdawsī and the story of Joseph between Shiraz and Herat in the early 15^th century: text and context of an early manuscript of Yūsuf-u Zulaykhā 

Contact

Samra AZARNOUCHE: View e-mail