presented by FIRES (FEZANA Information Research Education System)

In memory of David Stronach  

Nushi-I Jan I: The major buildings of the Median Settlement
by David Stronach and M. Roaf
British Institute of Persian Studies, London, 2007

This published fascicule of the Final Report on the excavations at Tepe Nush-i Jan, in western Iran, provides a summary log of the five seasons of excavation conducted between 1967 and 1977 as well as a comprehensive description of the nature of the monumental, exceptionally well preserved buildings of the site’s main Median occupation. The excavations at Tepe Nush-i Jan were sponsored by the British Institute of Persian Studies and the present account is co-authored by David Stronach, who directed the project from its inception. At a time when most of the colorful Herodotean version of Median history is being increasingly doubted, and at a moment when even the existence of a unified pre-Achaemenid Median kingdom is being seriously questioned, Stronach contends that one of the best guides to the contributions that the Medes themselves made to the history, religion and material culture of Iran in the 7th and 6th centuries BC is likely to come from the identification and excavation of further sites from western and northern Iran that can be shown to share certain of the more distinctive characteristics of the extensively excavated Median settlement at Tepe Nush-i Jan.

David Stronach, eminent archaeologist and founding Director of the British Institute of Persian Studies (1961-79) passed away peacefully on June 27, 2020. One of the world’s leading scholars in the field of ancient Near Eastern Art and Archaeology, with particular expertise in first millennium BC empires in Mesopotamia and Iran, Stronach led excavations in some of the most significant archaeological sites in Iran, including Pasargadae, the capital of the Persian King, Cyrus the Great; Nush-i Jan, a Median religious site; and Shahr-i Qumis, an early Parthian capital.

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FEZANA Information, Research and Education System (FIRES) is a centralized collection of books, manuscripts, literature, magazines, and scholarly research materials in print and electronic form, primarily pertaining to Zarathushti faith, culture, and history.

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