Rustam Shukurov, PhD, D.Sc. in History (2012), is a Visiting Scholar at the University of St Andrews. He graduated from Moscow State University in 1984 and worked there for more than 30 years as a lecturer in Byzantine and Medieval studies. He has published several monographs, translations and articles on Byzantium, Iranian and Turkic History, including The Grand Komnenoi and the Orient, 1204–1461 (Moscow, 2001) and The Byzantine Turks, 1204–1461 (Leiden; Boston, 2016).

• Introduction / Chapter 1. Sacred Persia / Chapter 2. The pre-history of the Magi / Chapter 3. The holy Persians / Chapter 4. Memorizing Persia / Chapter 5. Activating memory / Chapter 6. Vicissitudes of wisdom / Chapter 7. Iranian Actualities / Appendix: A list of some remarkable New Persian borrowings / A Greco-Iranian epilogue

‘Anyone who wishes to research how Byzantines thought about and interacted with Persians should read this book and follow up on the many examples it adduces. Anyone seeking a context for the Persians we encounter in Byzantine sources would do well to consult it’ – The Byzantine Review.

Rustam Shukurov, PhD, D.Sc. in History (2012), is a Visiting Scholar at the University of St Andrews. He graduated from Moscow State University in 1984 and worked there for more than 30 years as a lecturer in Byzantine and Medieval studies. He has published several monographs, translations and articles on Byzantium, Iranian and Turkic History, including The Grand Komnenoi and the Orient, 1204–1461 (Moscow, 2001) and The Byzantine Turks, 1204–1461 (Leiden; Boston, 2016).

• Introduction / Chapter 1. Sacred Persia / Chapter 2. The pre-history of the Magi / Chapter 3. The holy Persians / Chapter 4. Memorizing Persia / Chapter 5. Activating memory / Chapter 6. Vicissitudes of wisdom / Chapter 7. Iranian Actualities / Appendix: A list of some remarkable New Persian borrowings / A Greco-Iranian epilogue

‘Anyone who wishes to research how Byzantines thought about and interacted with Persians should read this book and follow up on the many examples it adduces. Anyone seeking a context for the Persians we encounter in Byzantine sources would do well to consult it’ – The Byzantine Review.

Rustam Shukurov, PhD, D.Sc. in History (2012), is a Visiting Scholar at the University of St Andrews. He graduated from Moscow State University in 1984 and worked there for more than 30 years as a lecturer in Byzantine and Medieval studies. He has published several monographs, translations and articles on Byzantium, Iranian and Turkic History, including The Grand Komnenoi and the Orient, 1204–1461 (Moscow, 2001) and The Byzantine Turks, 1204–1461 (Leiden; Boston, 2016).

• Introduction / Chapter 1. Sacred Persia / Chapter 2. The pre-history of the Magi / Chapter 3. The holy Persians / Chapter 4. Memorizing Persia / Chapter 5. Activating memory / Chapter 6. Vicissitudes of wisdom / Chapter 7. Iranian Actualities / Appendix: A list of some remarkable New Persian borrowings / A Greco-Iranian epilogue

‘Anyone who wishes to research how Byzantines thought about and interacted with Persians should read this book and follow up on the many examples it adduces. Anyone seeking a context for the Persians we encounter in Byzantine sources would do well to consult it’ – The Byzantine Review.