Domenico Agostini (PhDs EPHE/Paris and Sapienza University/Rome) is an Associate Professor of Ancient History, specializing in the history, religion, literature and languages of Pre-Islamic Iran (Achaemenian, Parthian and Sasanian) and their interaction with the Jewish and Mediterranean traditions in Antiquity and Late Antiquity. His career spans three countries: Italy, France, and Israel. He served as teaching fellow at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (2010-2015) and as visiting professor at the “La Sapienza” University of Rome (2013). He was research fellow at the French Institute of Research in Iran (2005) and at the Accademia dei Lincei, Rome (2010-2011). He has been the recipient of the Prix Pirasteh in Persian Studies at the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, Paris (2008) and the Polonsky fellowship for Outstanding postdoctoral researchers (2013-2017). He served as fellow at the Young Scholars Forum on Abrahamic Religions directed by Guy Stroumsa and funded by the Israeli Academy of Sciences and Humanities (2013-2015). He was also the assistant editor and coordinator of the Middle Persian Dictionary project directed by Shaul Shaked and funded by the Israel Science Foundation (2009-2016). He was invited lecturer at various leading International academic institutions (e.g., Austrian Academy of Sciences, Berkeley, EHESS, Oxford, Sorbonne III). For his publications, see below.
Prof. Domenico Agostini
General Information
CV
ADDRESS
Dept. of History
Tel Aviv University
P.O.B.39040, Ramat Aviv
69978 Israel
E-mail: agostini@tauex.tau.ac.il
EDUCATION
1998-2003 “Laurea” degree (BA + MA) cum laude in Arts, Sapienza University of Rome.
2003-2008 PhD cum laude in Philological and Literary Studies of the Ancient Near East and Pre-Islamic Iran, Sapienza University of Rome.
2004-2008 PhD cum laude in History, Texts and Documents, École Pratique des Hautes Études, Paris.
ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS
2009-2013 Postdoctoral Fellow in Iranian Languages and Zoroastrianism, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
2010-2015 Teaching Fellow (עמית הוראה) in Middle Persian, Zoroastrian Literature and Dante’s Divina Commedia, Department of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies et alia, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
2010-2011 Research Fellow in Sasanian Iran and Zoroastrianism, Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Rome.
2013-2017 Polonsky Research Fellow in History and Religion of Ancient and Late Antique Iran, The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute.
2016-2017 Teaching Fellow (עמית הוראה) in Iranian Studies, Department of Middle Eastern and African Studies, Tel Aviv University.
2017-2021 Senior Lecturer in Ancient History [tenure-track], Department of History, Tel Aviv University.
2020- Associate Professor of Ancient History, Department of History, Tel Aviv University.
PRIZES, GRANTS AND FELLOWSHIPS
2022 Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award, Humboldt Foundation.
2021 Kadar Family Award for Outstanding Research (junior category) at Tel Aviv University.
2021 Italian National Scientific Habilitation for Full Professor, Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR).
2019-2022 Personal Research Grant, Israeli Science Foundation (ISF), 360,000 ILS (3 years).
2018 Iranian Heritage Foundation Academic Grant [with S. Thrope], London.
2017 Italian National Scientific Habilitation for Associate Professor, Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR).
2014-2016 Van Leer Foundation Grant for Outstanding Research in Humanities.
2013-2017 Polonsky Fellowship (five years) for Outstanding Postdoctoral Researchers in Humanities and Social Sciences, Polonsky Foundation.
2011 Iranian Heritage Foundation Academic Grant [with S. Thrope], London.
2010-2011 Raffaele Pettazzoni Fellowship in Religious Studies, Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei.
2009-2013 Fellowship for Postdoctoral Research, Israel Science Foundation and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
2008 Prix Pirasteh in Persian Studies. Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, Institut de France.
2007-2008 Research Fellowship for Outstanding PhD Students in Humanities, Sapienza University of Rome.
2005-2008 Leonardo da Vinci Fellowship for Outstanding PhD Students in Humanities, French - Italian University of Turin and Grenoble.
2003-2007 PhD Fellowship for Outstanding Students in Humanities, Sapienza University of Rome.
Research
- History, culture and thought of pre-Islamic Iran
- History of Zoroastrianism and other Iranian Religions
- Old and middle Iranian literature and epigraphy
- Cross-cultural contacts and interactions between Iran and the Jewish, Greek and Roman/Byzantine traditions in Antiquity and late Antiquity
Publications
Books
1) Ayādgār ī Jāmāspīg, un texte eschatologique zoroastrien (Biblica et Orientalia 50), Gregorian and Biblical Press [Pontifical Biblical Institute], Rome, 2013.
2) [with S. Thrope] The Bundahišn. The Zoroastrian Book of Creation, Oxford University Press, New York, 2020.
Articles
1) “Rediscovering the Jāmāspi: a walk in four steps.” Iranian Studies 45/2, pp. 169-180, 2012.
2) “Luoghi mitici e popoli fantastici nel memoriale zoroastriano di Jāmāsp.” Quaderni asiatici 104, pp. 5-26, 2013.
3) “Popular apocalyptics in Pahlavi Literature Context: the Jāmāsp-Nāmag revisited.” Studia Iranica 42, pp. 43-56, 2013.
4) [with E. Kiesele, E. and Sh. Secunda] “Ohrmazd’s Better Judgment (meh-dādestānīh): A Middle Persian Legal and Theological Discourse.” Studia Iranica 43, pp. 177-202, 2014.
5) “Encountering a Beautiful Maiden: On Zoroastrian dēn in comparison with Dante’s Beatrice.” Bulletin of the Asia Institute 24, pp. 15-23, 2014.
6) “Eschatological seers and otherworldly travellers in Zoroastrianism.” Journal Asiatique 302/1, pp. 47-73, 2014.
7) “Pehlevi, Pâzand et Pârsi: trois systèmes d’écriture au service de Zoroastre.” Eurasian studies 12, pp. 177-188, 2014.
8) “La conquête arabe et la chute du Zoroastrisme : processus eschatologique ou réalité historique ? Une réponse d’après les sources pehlevies.” In Aubin-Boltansky E. and Gauthier C. (eds.), Penser la fin du monde, CNRS Editions, Paris, pp. 147-165, 2014.
9) “On Iranian and Jewish Apocalyptics, Again.” Journal of the American Oriental Society 136, pp. 495-505, 2016.
10) [with S. Stark] “Zāwulistān, Kāwulistān and the land Bosi – On the question of Sasanian court-in-exile in the Southern Hindukush,” Studia Iranica 45, pp. 17-38, 2016.
11) “Greek Echos in Pahlavi Literature. A Preliminary Survey of Calques and Foreign Terms,” Linguarum Varietas 5, pp. 13-24, 2016.
12) “ʻThis earth will be uncrowned, without depression, flat.ʼ An Edition and an annotated Translation of the Iranian Bundahišn 34.” Annali Sezione Orientale 77, pp. 116-133, 2017.
13) [with Sh. Shaked] “Two Sasanian Seals of Priests.” Bulletin of the Asia Institute 27, pp. 99-105, 2017.
14) “Their Evil Rule Must End! A Commentary on the Iranian Bundahišn 33:17-28.” In Amirav H., Grypeou E. and Stroumsa G. (eds.), Apocalypticism and Eschatology in Late Antiquity: Encounters in the Abrahamic Religions, 6th-8th Centuries, Peeters Publishers, Leuven, pp. 21-41, 2017.
15) “Luhrāsp and the Destruction of Jerusalem. A Note on Jewish-Iranian Syncretism.” In Rubanovich J. and Herman G. (eds.), Irano-Judaica 7, Ben-Zvi Institute, Jerusalem, pp. 297-309, 2019.
16) "Half-human and Monstrous Races in Zoroastrian Tradition." Journal of the American Oriental Society 139, pp. 805-817, 2019.
17) "Non-Iranian historical lands in Pahlavi literature." Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 82, pp. 453-472, 2019.
18) "On Jerusalem and Luhrāsp: A Closer Look." Dabir 7, pp. 1-6, 2020.
19) "Reassessing the Zoroastrian Other World." Journal Asiatique 308/2, pp. 205-213, 2020.
20) [with S. Thrope] “What is the Bundahišn? Genre and Zoroastrian Literature.” Iran and the Caucasus 24, pp. 378-393, 2020.
21) "On the Emergence of the Iranian Apocalypse between the Sixth and Seventh Centuries." Iran and the Caucasus 26, pp. 32-50, 2022.
22) "The Perception of Romans (hrōmāyīg) in the Sasanian and Zoroastrian Traditions." Mediterranean Historical Review 37, pp. 1-18, 2022.
23) "Some Observations on Ahriman and His Miscreation in the Bundahišn." Journal of Persianate Studies 14/1-2, pp. 95-110, 2022.
24) "Kangdiz in Pahlavi Literature." AION (Annali, sez. Orientale) 82, pp. 224-239, 2022.
25) "Some Observations on the Ayādgār ī Jāmāspīg 15." In Abēbīm "Fearless, by A. Panaino, Milano, Mimesis, pp. 197ß208, 2022.
