INTERNATIONAL CONFERECE
The Achaemenid Persian Empire and imperial Transformations in the Ancient Near East (7^th c. BC – 3^rd c. BC)
Obergurgl, 3rd – 9th July 2023

The core issue of this conference lies on the transformation processes that occurred during the emergence and fall of the Achaemenid Empire. They are to be gathered on a broad historical basis by utilising the Sargonid end phase of the Neo-Assyrian Empire as a retrospective and the early Seleucid era as a prospect. At the same time, this conference will be embedded in the major international project „New Workshops on Achaemenid Persian History“ (Rollinger/ Shayegan).

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
Vienna, 29 November - 2 December, 2023
The Achaemenid-Persian Empire at its Heyday? The Era between Darius II and Darius III

PROGRAM

The workshop aims at re-evaluating the period between Darius II and Darius III that is generally thought to represent a century of decline and downfall. Thus, traditional views have recently been challenged (see Julian Degen and Robert Rollinger, The “End” of the Achaemenid-Persian Empire: Caesura and Transformation in Dialogue, in: Michael Gehler, Robert Rollinger, and Philipp Strobl (eds.), The End of Empires (Universal- und kulturhistorische Studien / Studies in Universal and Cultural History), Wiesbaden: Springer 2022, 143-190). The workshop intends to further develop such a critical approach on a broader and more interdisciplinary level. The proceedings will be published in an international series.

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
Between and beyond empires: from the Seleucids to the Sasanians (3^rd c. BC – 7^th c. AD)
Wrocław/Breslau, Autumn 2024

PROGRAMM

As a follow-up of the conference in Obergurgl (The Achaemenid Persian Empire and Imperial Transformations in the Ancient Near East, 7th – 2nd c. BCE, July 3-7, 2023) the one in Wrocław will continue to focus on the phenomenon of imperial transformations in the framework of a longue durée perspective and within a transdisciplinary approach. On the one hand, empire as phenomenon should no longer be thought as an organic biological “creature” with a clearly defined beginning and end. Moreover, the various paths of transformation processes that occur in phases of turmoil and crisis ought to be followed. On the other hand, special attention should be drawn on the agency of the vast imperial borderlands as these areas in particular are often entangled actively in these processes of transformation. The central focus of this conference lies on western Afro-Eurasia within a broad chronological framework that runs from the “Hellenistic” period to the early Islamic era. The various contributions are asked to address transformation processes as well as phenomena of imperial heritage and imperial “argumentation” through time and space. Although the Eastern Mediterranean, Western Asia (Near East) and the Iranian highlands are regarded to represent key zones of the inquiry, their outreach towards Central Asia, the Steppe, the Balkans and the Arabian Peninsula is not to be neglected. Therefore, the conference intends to develop a broad and transregional understanding of the various transformation processes involved as well as their spatial and chronological dimensions.

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
The Achaemenid Persian empire and its non-western borderlands: a change of paradigm
Vienna, Spring 2025

The core issue of this conference once again lies on the Achaemenid Empire an those borderlands which have been mainly neglected up until now: the Central Asian East, India and the Indian Ocean in the South East as well as the steppe landscapes in the North and North East. In this context, the topic will be interactions in spatial and chronological dimension and subsequently the systematic assessment of innovations, fractions, and continuities. At the same time, the conference will be embedded in the major project „New Workshops on Achaemenid Persian History“ (Rollinger/ Shayegan).

September 20-25 2027

Kassel: “The Achaemenid Empire as a transcontinental engine of trade and entanglement” (Achaemenid Workshop 5)

The international conference will be organized in cooperation with the Pourdavoud Institute of the Iranian World. It is also an integral part of the project „Achaemenid Workshops“ (vide: pourdavoud.ucla.edu/achaemenidworkshops/) as well as part of the Cluster of Excellence „Eurasian Transformations“ (vide: Home)

2028

Innsbruck/Obergurgl: „Networks of Trust and Confidence. Economic Actors and Empire in a longue-durée Perspective”.

The international conference will be organized in cooperation with the Pourdavoud Institute of the Iranian World (vide: pourdavoud.ucla.edu/). It is also an integral part of the Cluster of Excellence „Eurasian Transformations“ (vide: Home)

2029

Vienna: “Empire, Exchange and the Appropriation of the World”.

The international conference will be organized in cooperation with the Pourdavoud Institute of the Iranian World (vide: pourdavoud.ucla.edu/). It is also an integral part of the Cluster of Excellence „Eurasian Transformations“ (vide: Home)