Description
Book SynopsisChristian communities flourished during late antiquity in a Zoroastrian political system, known as the Iranian Empire. In placing the social history of East Syrian Christians at the center of the Iranian imperial story, this book helps explain the endurance of a culturally diverse empire across four centuries.
Trade Review"An expertly conceived and beautifully written counterpoint to earlier studies of Christian history in the Sasanian Empire... In his meticulous reading of East Syriac sources and the Middle Persian literatures and histories that underlie them, Payne has substantially contributed to a new body of scholarly studies that is quickly revising our understanding of the place of Christianity in the Sasanian period." Marginalia "Overall, A State of Mixture is an important contribution to the religious situation in the Sasaniden Kingdom and the structural development of the relations between Christians and Zoroastrians prior to Islamic expansion; this research merits close attention." Plekos
Table of ContentsA Note on Names, Translations, and Transliterations Acknowledgments Introduction 1. The Myth of Zoroastrian Intolerance: Violence and the Terms of Christian Inclusion 2. Belonging to a Land: Christians and Zoroastrians in the Iranian Highlands 3. Christian Law Making and Iranian Political Practice: The Reforms of Mar Aba 4. Creating a Christian Aristocracy: Hagiography and Empire in Northern Mesopotamia 5. The Christian Symbolics of Power in a Zoroastrian Empire Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index
