Boston Area Classics Calendar
May 2022
Samra E. Azarnouche (École Pratique des Hautes Études – PSL,
Paris)<https://classics.fas.harvard.edu/boston-area-classics-calendar?tr…
Fri., May 6, 3 – 4:30 p.m.
HARVARD UNIVERSITY (on Zoom)
"Creation and Procreation: The Zoroastrian Doctrine of Ontogenesis and the Late
Antique Sciences"
Abstract:
The Zoroastrian cosmological discourse is characterized by a systematic reference to the
natural and life sciences. The Bundahišn, a Middle Persian encylopaedic compendium on the
creation of the world, devotes an entire chapter (chapter 15) to human procreation, in
which the different phases of ontogeny are described. Read alongside other Middle Persian
texts on procreation and the physiology of generation (Bundahišn 1.57; Anthology of
Zādspram 29.1-3, 30.17-23, 30.35; Dēnkard III.157.19; Dēnkard VIII.34), it brings to light
the framework of a full-fledged Zoroastrian doctrine of embryology. This paper explores
the status of procreation within the doctrine of creation by highlighting five major
themes in classical ontogeny: pangenesis, embryonic development, gender determination,
foetal animation, and the thesis known as the “wind theory.” The comparative approach
allows us better to understand the influence of the Greek and Indian medical traditions,
the adaptations brought about by Late Antique Iranian authors, and the innovations
specific to Zoroastrian thought.
Sponsors: The Mahindra Humanities Center & The Aga Khan Fund for Iranian Studies at
Harvard
Mahindra Humanities Center Seminar: Persian and Persianate
Studies<https://mahindrahumanities.fas.harvard.edu/persian-and-persianat…
harvard.zoom.us…<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__ha…
Justine Landau
[Samra E. Azarnouche (École Pratique des Hautes Études - PSL, Paris)]
Oisín Ó Muirthile (Harvard
University)<https://classics.fas.harvard.edu/boston-area-classics-calend…
Fri., May 6, 5 – 6:30 p.m.
Boylston Hall 335
A leopard "Cant" change its spots: On the dating and development of Irish
Travellers' Gammon-Cant (Shelta) and its relationship to other Gaelic-based argots.
GSAS Workshop "Indo-European and Historical
Linguistics”<https://linguistics.fas.harvard.edu/pages/indo-european-wor…
tamishaltan@g.harvard.edu<mailto:tamishaltan@g.harvard.edu>
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