Arash Zeini
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arashzeini.com
Arash Zeini
@arashzeini.com
2.1K followers 1.3K following 510 posts
Bahari Research Fellow @ AMES, @ox.ac.uk; FRHistS; Iranian Studies, history, philology, late antique Zoroastrianism; Founder of @biblioIranica.info; AIS inaugural Book Prize for Ancient Iranian Studies 2022. My views.
https://linktr.ee/arashzeini
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arashzeini.com
Lovely piece by @timdowling.bsky.social! Don't try to guess the blue book though. Reminded me of Patrick Süskind's 1986 'observation', ‘Amnesie in litteris’, where the narrator also mostly remembers cover colours, but nothing else of the myriad books read. Published by @diogenesverlag.bsky.social
A photo of the front cover of Patrick Süskind's book 'Drei Geschichten und eine Betrachtung' published by Diogenes Verlag. The book is in German, and the cover features a painting of a grand piano with a cat sitting on top of it.
October 8, 2025 at 10:20 AM
arashzeini.com
Took advantage of the @princetonupress.bsky.social's sales and purchased 2 books. One shall remain hidden until it has been referenced in my forthcoming book 🤲🏻 The visible one appears to serve well as a comfort read for the wounded and disillusioned soul of our times!!! #PhilSky #philosophy
The front cover of "The Failures of Philosophy: A Historical Essay" by Stephen Gaukroger, published in 2020 by the Princeton University Press. Underneath this book is hidden another book with a dark blue cover of which we only see the corners. Both books are on a wooden table.
October 7, 2025 at 3:45 PM
arashzeini.com
to transcendence. It’s a set of interconnected essays with plenty of inspiring writing on life and philosophy, as the subtitle suggests. See the images for some examples. I might write more once I’ve finished reading the book.

The Guardian review is here:

www.theguardian.com/books/2025/a...
A passage from 'Transcendence for Beginners' by Clare Carlisle. The text reads: 'II. LIFE WRITING Biography is a humble literary genre, rooted in our natural curiosity about other people. This desire to know already carries the seed of a philosophical quest that arises, according to Plato, in the gap between appearances and reality. I meet someone, see how she presents her-self - and then I wonder, what's she really like? What is she not telling or showing me? But while Socrates went around Athens asking, 'What is a human being?', I want to know who this singular person is.' A passage from 'Transcendence for Beginners' by Clare Carlisle. The text reads: 'Above all, Eliot was interested in the moral power of ordinary lives, like Dorothea's, whose effects are 'not widely visible', though nevertheless 'diffuse'. Such lives can be rendered visible by art. Some feminist readers have criticized Eliot for depicting obscure wives and mothers, such as Dorothea, rather than allowing her heroines to have extraordinary lives like her own. I see this as a philosophical decision, rooted in a radical (and Spinozist) ethic of exemplarity and committed to exploring the disappointment and the hope this entails. Eliot was a poet of mediocrity, a gospel writer of hidden lives. Writing Dorothea's story rescues her from oblivion and bears witness to the fact that the world is better, more beautiful – more kalon – for this one rather unremarkable life having moved through it. Similarly, we are better for...'
September 16, 2025 at 2:13 PM
arashzeini.com
A review in @theguardian.com piqued my interest in 'Transcendence for Beginners' by Clare Carlisle. The preview on @fitzcarraldoeds.bsky.social isn’t representative. There's much more to the book. I skimmed through a copy in a bookshop and was intrigued to read more. Don’t expect a systematic intro
Front cover of 'Transcendence for Beginners' a book by Clare Carlisle, published by Fitzcarraldo Editions. Back cover of 'Transcendence for Beginners' a book by Clare Carlisle, published by Fitzcarraldo Editions.
September 16, 2025 at 2:08 PM
arashzeini.com
Ich weiß nicht worum es geht, aber Bluesky und der Zufall scheinen es zu wissen 🙃
Ein Screenshot einer Nachricht von Magda Birkmann, darunter zwei Posts zum selben Buch.
August 28, 2025 at 7:51 AM
arashzeini.com
Enjoy them! They're wonderful!
Two bowls of fruit, one with figs and one with greengages.
August 15, 2025 at 10:14 AM
arashzeini.com
Saw this book by @emilyherring.bsky.social yesterday, read a couple of pages in the shop, and had to take it home. ‘Electrifying’, as the back cover says, is spot on. Can’t wait to finish it.

#philsky
A photo of the cover of the book 'Herald of a restless world' by Emily Herring.
August 9, 2025 at 3:30 PM
arashzeini.com
Es ist schön, wenn man Bekannte trifft! Gebunden und als Taschenbuch in einem kleinen Buchladen.

@ofmooseandmen.bsky.social @ronanhession.bsky.social
The German cover of "Leonard and Hungry Paul"
July 19, 2025 at 1:33 PM
arashzeini.com
The third session of Dr Khanizadeh's #workshop on #Zoroastrianism is today. See the photo below on how to join.
Photo of information on how to join the workshop on Zoroastrianism by Dr Mehrbod Khanizadeh.
July 13, 2025 at 11:07 AM
arashzeini.com
Habe heute die neue Auflage dieser Bücher gesehen. Den Schrifttyp finde ich sehr schön, zum Umschlag habe ich keine Meinung. Die Buchhändlerin aber fand den nicht schön. Geschmackssache. Jetzt lese ich, dass die Abbildung KI-generiert ist. Nicht cool, @sfischerverlage.bsky.social, nicht cool!!!
Foto vom Umschlag der 2025er Auflage von Thomas Manns politischen Schriften mit dem Titel „Zur Verteidigung der Demokratie“. Es ist ein Fischer Taschenbuch. Foto von der Rückseite von Thomas Manns Buch „Zur Verteidigung der Demokratie“, ein Fischer Taschenbuch.
July 8, 2025 at 7:13 PM
arashzeini.com
Ingenious photo in @theguardian.com to the headline:

'Minister won’t rule out support cuts for children with EHCPs amid Send overhaul – UK politics live – UK politics live'

The photographer deserves a prize!
Photo of a man in a dark blue suit and tie, presumably a minister, with his reflection in the window behind him, which shows a dark, evil looking silhouette with two buttons of light in place of his eyes.
July 7, 2025 at 9:00 AM
arashzeini.com
What a stupid comment to make at a time like this; while millions are worried about their loved ones and a looming conflict.
A screenshot of a post by Catherine Fletcher on Bluesky saying: "Cannot hear the words Massive Ordnance Penetrator without adding a mental 'oo er missus'".
June 22, 2025 at 12:41 PM
arashzeini.com
The second volume of this three volume set is out, continuing with Dasturji's own publications.

Looking forward to the third which will contain newer material.
The cover of the book 'The Collected Scholarly Writings of Dastur Firoze M. Kotwal', volume II. Edited by Firoza P. Mistrer and Cashmirs V. Bengalli.
June 4, 2025 at 10:31 AM
arashzeini.com
Some colleagues take AI very seriously. I explored it initially, but left it as not interested and results too catastrophic. Still, have been bombarded with messages and selected as a participant for a short time! Every email now gets an AI prompt. Scary how they're pushing it as a tool of learning.
Screenshot of a phone drop down notification reading: 'Google Gemini • 22h Your Al assistant for learning Ask complicated questions and get assignment feedback with Gemini Try Gemini'
May 26, 2025 at 11:39 AM
arashzeini.com
Local park's #fox seems to have befriended my dogs. Comes out each night as soon as we arrive, & they seem to play. My dogs don't bark at it, but chase each other with the fox showing up here and there, disappearing in one bush just to reappear through the other. Seems keener than the dogs.
April 25, 2025 at 7:42 AM
arashzeini.com
As we mark a decade of @biblioiranica.info, bibliographic & scholarly updates, we extend our heartfelt thanks to our colleagues & readers. What began small, now reaches around 1000 readers per week. We relaunch the website with a logo by @ammoslehi.bsky.social

www.biblioiranica.info/a-decade-of-...
An image of BiblioIranica's new logo designed by Amir Mahdi Moslehi. The website link is https://www.biblioiranica.info
March 10, 2025 at 2:28 PM
arashzeini.com
Hatty, @hattyrd.bsky.social, has recently joined this platform. I've seen her paintings up close and can confidently recommend following her 👇🏼

bsky.app/profile/rdpa...
A seascape with a calm surface where the waves break against the jagged rocks. Storm sky, low light. A large canvas, painted by Hatty Richmond Dakin, with a tempera and marble dust underpainting to form texture and sense of wild rock formations.
March 6, 2025 at 6:29 PM
arashzeini.com
They are wonderful to watch and listen to. Thanks for making them. I often read Blake in my 2nd hand 1966 reprint of a handy selection. I wonder which edition you use in the video where you show the illustrated poem!
Image shows the cover of 'The Penguin Poets' selection of 'William Blake: Introduced and edited by J. Bronowski', D42.
March 5, 2025 at 10:20 PM
arashzeini.com
Here, enjoy a photo of my dog at the start of a new week.
A beige/blonde dog looking at the camera while taking a nap under curtains.
February 3, 2025 at 8:24 AM
arashzeini.com
FEZANA has an accessible, educational resource on 'The Gāthās and Yasna Haptaŋhāiti':

fezana.org/education/ya...
An image of Zarathushtra, the founder of the ancient Iranian religion known as Zoroastrianism.
January 9, 2025 at 4:20 PM
arashzeini.com
The deadline for submission of PhD applications to be considered for the Moghtader-Mojdehi Scholarship is 15 January 2025.

www.lse.ac.uk/Internationa...
Image of the website giving information about the Moghtader-Mojdehi Scholarship and the deadline for applications, which is 15 January 2025.
November 13, 2024 at 11:49 AM
arashzeini.com
In the past year, Peter Brown and Averil Cameron published their historiographical memoirs. Both historians' works and memoirs relate to Sasanian history, and the books also show the authors' relationship with modern Iran and the region in general.

www.biblioiranica.info/two-memoirs/
An image of the cover of 'Transitions: A historian's memoir' by Averil Cameron. An image of the cover of 'Journeys of the mind: A life in history' by Peter Brown.
October 25, 2024 at 11:43 AM
arashzeini.com
Have been looking forward to this. A celebration of Prof. Dame Averil Cameron's memoirs as a historian.

The OCLA invites:

Transitions: A Historian's Memoir

with Peter Groves & John Haldon
Levine Auditorium, Trinity College, @universityofoxford.bsky.social
12 Nov. @ 5pm & on Zoom
An 'Oxford Centre for Late Antiquity' poster announcing the launch of Prof. Averil Cameron's memoir as a historian.
October 16, 2024 at 8:58 AM
arashzeini.com
Having no design skills, I ask ChatGPT for a logo for @biblioiranica.bsky.social. Some are better, some worse, but spelling is always wrong. When told to correct spelling, it changes design. When complaining about design change & spelling, it promises to correct both. Logos created in that process:
AI generated logo for @BiblioIranica AI generated logo for @BiblioIranica AI generated logo for @BiblioIranica
October 4, 2024 at 11:30 AM
arashzeini.com
When I season a shoulder or leg of lamb on a Sunday, I chop the remaining sage, thyme and rosemary and leave them out to dry. For the next couple of days, the house smells like the meadows and wild walks of my childhood.
A seasoned leg of lamb. Chopped thyme, sage and rosemary on a plate.
September 30, 2024 at 9:06 AM