Bulletin of the Society for Near Eastern Studies in Japan

data

King's law in the Persian empire

Susumu SATO

1985 Volume 28 Issue 2 Pages 1-16
Published: 1985
Released on J-STAGE: March 12, 2010

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.5356/jorient.28.2_1

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Darius I was the first king who ruled over the world under a unified law; he did it by data. It is remarkable that data is mentioned in all the Achaemenid inscriptions (DB, DNa, DSe, XPh) which refer to reestablishment of the order of empire. data (<da- ‘set, make, create’) is the law ‘set’ by Ahuramazda to maintain the order restored from the chaos of draoga (‘the Lie’). This conception is old Iranian and we find a parallel in the Avesta (the Gathas). In the royal inscriptions data appears two-sided: ‘my data’ is coercive, while ‘data which Ahuramazda has set down’ is gracious. Babylonian and Aramaic sources show that there is a double system of laws in the empire, and that the king's law is superior to local laws, yet not applied to intracommunal matters of the population. Introduction of an imperial law-code by Darius is questioned under such conditions as co-existence of different laws in conquered lands on one hand, an early stage of legal development among the ruling class (e. g. a legal conception of religio-ethical character, legistration in a way of administrative decision, etc.) on the other hand. Persian kings prefer to permit the status quo, to order codification of local laws, and to settle matters necessary for keeping the imperial peace as occasion arises. Thus, data, always in the singular, represents not only a collective of king's decisions or ‘the law of the Medes and the Persians, which is not to be altered’ (Daniel 6: 9), i. d. what king's decisions have been formalized by a given procedure, but a legal principle of divine origin that gives ground for king's decision.

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The Iconographic Study on the Islamic Throne Scene: Mandil

YAMANLAR, Minako MIZUNO

1985 Volume 28 Issue 2 Pages 17-34
Published: 1985
Released on J-STAGE: March 12, 2010

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.5356/jorient.28.2_17

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The Mandil is one of the elements which characterize the throne scene of the islamic art. The posture that the ruler himself has the Mandil in his hand appears only in the islamic throne scene.
The most common type of the representation of the Mandil in the throne scene is that the Mandil itself is folded in two pieces and the ringlike top of it is shown from the back of the hand of the ruler, and the ruler put the hand on his knee. From 10th to 17th century, through the periods, the artists of the islamic lands had kept the traditional iconographic feature of the Mandil very strictly.
The reasons that the Mandil became an important element of the islamic throne scene and was held by the ruler himself are presumably related with Tiraz. Tiraz was a sign ('alamah) of the islamic rulers. The fact that the Mandils of early periods bear the decorations like Tiraz means that the Mandil was the object which represented the sovereignty of the islamic ruler.
The form of the Mandil and the way of its holding seem to be borrowed from the way of holding the clothes in Parthian, Roman and Byzantine arts. In those arts the people held the handful cloths of the costume by the hand, forming the ring-like top upon the back of the hand.
After the Mongol conquest the traditions of Tiraz as 'alamah of the ruler had disappeared, but the Mandil has remained as a symbol of the ruler on the throne scene in the islamic art.

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Some Reflections on BAST (Sanctuary and Act of Taking Sanctuary)

The Research on a Religious Practice in Modern Iran

Takamitsu SHIMAMOTO

1985 Volume 28 Issue 2 Pages 35-49
Published: 1985
Released on J-STAGE: March 12, 2010

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.5356/jorient.28.2_35

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The practice of BAST is an interesting aspect of Qajar history (1779-1924) in Iran. The criminals and the oppressed who took sanctuary at such places as shrines of the Imams and their relatives, mosques, residences of the respected mojtaheds and sayyids, royal stables, and so forth, could be immune from any official punishments until some agreement was reached.
Since it was most generally observed during the Constitutional Period (1905-1911), when characteristically thousands of people rushed into the precinct of British Legation in order to attain their political goal, this practice seems to have been looked upon as essentially political, not as socio-religious one. However, if we scrutinize many examples of BAST scattered in the official histories written in the latter half of the 19th century, it will be known that in the understanding of this practice socio-religious elements are of crucial importance for in most cases the places chosen had something to do with those popularly regarded as “sacred and religious.”
In this paper, the author, while admitting the politico-legal elements as important determinants of BAST, will reflect its meanings from socioreligious aspects by putting particular emphasis on such factors as popular awe, belief, and social consensus toward it.

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A Report on some Middle Iranian fragments in Sogdian Script from the Otani Collection

Yutaka YOSHIDA

1985 Volume 28 Issue 2 Pages 50-65
Published: 1985
Released on J-STAGE: March 12, 2010

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.5356/jorient.28.2_50

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Theosophy and the Parsis

Akinori OKADA

1985 Volume 28 Issue 2 Pages 66-77
Published: 1985
Released on J-STAGE: March 12, 2010

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.5356/jorient.28.2_66

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Studies on the History of Logic in Iran

Takashi IWAMI

1985 Volume 28 Issue 2 Pages 78-89
Published: 1985
Released on J-STAGE: March 12, 2010

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.5356/jorient.28.2_78

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Said Amir Arjomand The Shadow of God and the Hidden Imam: Religion, Political Order, and Social Change in Shi'ite Iran from the Beginning to 1890 (Chicago; The University of Chicago Press, 1984)

Keiko SAKURAI

1985 Volume 28 Issue 2 Pages 90-96
Published: 1985
Released on J-STAGE: March 12, 2010

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.5356/jorient.28.2_90

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[title in Japanese]

[in Japanese]

1985 Volume 28 Issue 2 Pages 97-98
Published: 1985
Released on J-STAGE: March 12, 2010

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.5356/jorient.28.2_97

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[title in Japanese]

[in Japanese]

1985 Volume 28 Issue 2 Pages 99-100
Published: 1985
Released on J-STAGE: March 12, 2010

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.5356/jorient.28.2_99

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[title in Japanese]

[in Japanese]

1985 Volume 28 Issue 2 Pages 100-101
Published: 1985
Released on J-STAGE: March 12, 2010

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.5356/jorient.28.2_100

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[title in Japanese]

[in Japanese]

1985 Volume 28 Issue 2 Pages 102-103
Published: 1985
Released on J-STAGE: March 12, 2010

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.5356/jorient.28.2_102

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[title in Japanese]

[in Japanese]

1985 Volume 28 Issue 2 Pages 103-105
Published: 1985
Released on J-STAGE: March 12, 2010

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.5356/jorient.28.2_103

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[title in Japanese]

1985 Volume 28 Issue 2 Pages 106-121
Published: 1985
Released on J-STAGE: March 12, 2010

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.5356/jorient.28.2_106

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