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On the Seclusion of Women in Antiquity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Siamak Adhami
Siamak Adhami*
Affiliation:
Siamak Adhami is an independent scholar living in California
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Abstract

Summary: The study of the feminine in ancient Iran is an area which deserves much greater attention than it has thus far received. By utilizing a number of primary sources, textual and otherwise, a few observations are offered here which concern the rites of women through the centuries. These evolving rites, which are described by the doctors of the then-dominant religion of Zarathustra, deal with the preservation of purity through seclusion of women in a world which is under constant attack from the demonic, polluting forces. Throughout the essay, the different means of fighting this battle are explored and suggestions for further research in the field are made.

Keywords

AntiquityIranWomenPurityZoroastrianismMiddle PersianQal'e Dukhtar
Type
Articles
Information
Iranian Studies , Volume 49 , Issue 2: Sasanian Iran and Beyond: A Special Volume in Honour of Michael G. Morony and His Contributions to Late Antique History , March 2016 , pp. 291 - 300
Copyright
Copyright © The International Society for Iranian Studies 2016

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Footnotes

He received his Ph.D. in history from UCLA and has published widely on topics dealing with Western Asia, Central Asia and the Indian Subcontinent. Siamak_adhami@yahoo.com

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