Abdi, Kamyar

6047 Silsby Hall
Hanover, NH 03755
Phone: 603-646-1849
Fax: 603-646-1140
kamyar.abdi@dartmouth.edu

A native of Iran, I received my B.A. in Archaeology from Tehran University before attending the University of Chicago for my M.A. in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, and the University of Michigan for my Ph.D. in Anthropology.

My geographic area of interest is the Near East (alternatively called the Middle East by scholars in modern fields), i.e., the vast region from the eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea in the west to the Iranian Plateau in the east. From the ancient Near East we have the earliest known evidence for some of the most important developments in human history, including sedentism, food production (agriculture and pastoralism), urbanism, state formation, and writing, to name but a few.

I have a wide range of research interests pertaining to the ancient Near East, especially:

1. Social and economic developments in the intervening era from the origins of sedentary life and food production in the Early Neolithic period (ca. 8000 B.C.E.) and the rise of early political formations in the Late Chalcolithic period (ca. 3500 B.C.E.). I am particularly interested in the origins of nomadic pastoralism as a specialized socio-economic formation in the Zagros Mountains in the Middle Chalcolithic period (ca. 4500-4000 B.C.E.), and the role of nomads in early political developments in the Near East.
2. Organization and operation of imperial formations from the third millennium B.C.E. to the rise of Islam in the seventh century C.E.
3. The nature and mechanism of interaction between people of different ethnic backgrounds in the Achaemenid Empire (550-330 B.C.E.).

I am currently engaged in archaeological surveys and excavations in the western and southern Zagros mountains in Iran. In the western Zagros mountains I have been conducting a long-term project of regional surveying and excavations in the Islamabad Plain. In the southern Zagros I recently resumed fieldwork at the important urban site of Malyan.

Go to the Malyan website.

Sample of recent publications:

• Archaeological Research in the Islamabad Plain, Central Western Zagros Mountains: Preliminary Results of the First Season, 1998. Iran 37 (1999): 33-43.
• Bes in the Achaemenid Empire. Ars Orientalis 29 (1999): 111-140.
• Nationalism, Politics, and the Development of Archaeology in Iran. American Journal of Archaeology 105/1 (2001): 51-76. Article (pdf)
• Malyan 1999. Iran 39 (2001): 73-98.
• Archaeozoology and the Question of Nomadic Campsites: The Case of Tuwah Khoshkeh. In Archaeozoology of the Near East Vol. V. Edited by H. Buitenhuis et al. Groningen: ARC Publication, 2002. (With Marjan Mashkour)
• Yeki Bud, Yeki Nabud: Essays on Iranian Archaeology in Honor of William M. Sumner. Philadelphia and Los Angeles: American Institute of Iranian Studies and the Institute of Archaeology of the UCLA, 2003. (Co-edited with Naomi F. Miller)
• Tuwah Khoshkeh: A Middle Chalcolithic Mobile Pastoralist Campsite in the Islamabad Plain, West Central Western Zagros Mountains. Iran 40: 43-74. (With G. Nokandeh, A. Azadi, F. Biglari, S. Heydari, D. Farmani, A. Rezaii, and M. Mashkour)
• Notes on Iranianization of Bes in the Achaemenid Empire. Ars Orientalis 32 (2002): 133-162.
• Fars Archaeology Project 2003: Excavations at Toll-e Bashi. Iran 41 (2003): 339-344. (With Susan Pollock and Reinhard Bernbeck) Article (pdf)
• Reconsidering the Neolithic at Toll-e Bashi (Iran). Near Eastern Archaeology 66/1-2: 76-78 (with Reinhard Bernbeck and Susan Pollock). Article (pdf)
• The Early Development of Pastoralism in the Central Zagros Mountains. Journal of World Prehistory 17/4 (2003): 395-448. Article (pdf)
• Khushk-e Hezar: A Mushki-Jari Site in Kur River Basin. Iran 42 (2004): 25-45 (with John Alden, Ali Azadi, Fereidoun Biglari, and Saman Heydari)
• Fars Archaeology Project 2004: Excavations at Malyan. Iran 43 (2005): 39-47 (with John Alden, Ali Azadi, Holly Pittman and Gary Beckman).
• The Name Game: Persian Gulf, Archaeologists, and Politics of Arab-Iranian Relations. In Selective Remembrances: Archaeology in the Construction, Commemoration, and Consecration of National Pasts. Philip Kohl, Mara Kozelsky, and Nachman Ben-Yehuda, eds. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2007. Article (pdf)
• From Pan-Arabism to Saddam Hussein's Cult of Personality: Ancient Mesopotamia and Iraqi National Ideology. Journal of Social Archaeology 8/1 (February 2008): 3-36. Article (pdf)
• The 'Daiva' Inscription Revisited. International Journal of Ancient Iranian Studies 11-12 (2008): 45-74.