ササン朝帝国の歴史：方法論的批判
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The History of the Sasanian Empire: A Methodological Critique
JAMES RUSSELL (HARVARD UNIVERSITY)
I. Introduction
The history of the Sasanian empire has been written and rewritten many times in the past century and a half. The present study is not intended to be yet another such attempt, but rather an examination of the methods used by historians of the period, with particular attention to the problems posed by the sources.
The primary sources for the history of the Sasanian empire are few and often problematic. They include inscriptions, coins, seals, and a limited number of literary texts in Middle Persian, Parthian, and other languages. These sources must be interpreted with caution, as they were often produced for specific political or religious purposes and may not reflect historical reality accurately.
In addition to these indigenous sources, we have accounts from neighboring civilizations, including Roman, Byzantine, Armenian, Georgian, Syriac, Arabic, and Chinese writers. While these external sources provide valuable information, they also introduce biases and inaccuracies that must be carefully evaluated.
This paper will explore the challenges faced by historians of the Sasanian empire and propose some methodological approaches to overcome them. It will argue that a multidisciplinary approach, combining textual analysis with archaeological evidence and comparative studies, offers the best chance of reconstructing a more accurate picture of this important period in Iranian history.