Dandamaev, M.A. 1928–

(Muhammad A. Dandamaev)

PERSONAL:

Born September 2, 1928, in Unchukatl, Daghestan, USSR (now Russia); son of Abdulkadir (a school teacher) and Patimat (a homemaker) Dandamaev; married Margaret Ugoleva (a schoolteacher); children: Mariam. Ethnicity: "Lak." Education: Attended Leningrad Pedagogical Institute, 1948-52; Institute of History, Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 1954-58, Ph.D., 1959. Religion: "Agnostic." Hobbies and other interests: Collecting books of fairy tales, travel, and animals.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Ulitsa Akad. Orbeil 20, kv. 33, St. Petersburg 194223, Russia. Office—Oriental Institute, Dvortsovaja Nab. 18, St. Petersburg 191186, Russia. E-mail—orinst@mail.ru.

CAREER:

Russian Academy of Sciences, chief research fellow of Oriental Institute. Columbia University, member of advisory committee and consulting editor of Encyclopedia Iranica; member of editorial boards of Iranica Antiqua, Gent, Belgium, and Vestnik Drevnej Istorii, Moscow, Russia.

MEMBER:

Russian Academy of Sciences (corresponding member), American Oriental Society (honorary member), Centre de Documentation des Droits Antiques (Paris, France), Corpus Inscriptionum Iranicarum (London, England), Istituto Italiano per in Medio ed Estremo Oriente (Rome, Italy).

AWARDS, HONORS:

Ghirshman Prize, Académee des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, Paris, France, 1976; State Prize of the USSR, 1987.

WRITINGS:

Persien unter den ersten Achämeniden, Reichert (Wiesbaden, Germany), 1976.

Slavery in Babylonia from Nabopolassar to Alexander the Great (626-331 B.C.), translated by Victoria A. Powell, Northern Illinois University Press (De Kalb, IL), 1984.

(With Vladimir G. Lukonin) The Culture and Social Institutions of Ancient Iran, Cambridge University Press (Cambridge, NY), 1989.

A Political History of the Achaemenid Empire, translated by W.J. Vogelsang, E.J. Brill (New York, NY), 1989.

Iranians in Achaemenid Babylonia, Mazda Publishers (Costa Mesa, CA), 1992.

Author of books published in Russian.

SIDELIGHTS:

M.A. Dandamaev wrote Slavery in Babylonia from Nabopolassar to Alexander the Great (626-331 B.C.). Pierre Briant, reviewing the book in the Times Literary Supplement, described it as "directed not only towards orientalists; it is also intended for all those interested in the structure and dynamics of economic and social formations in antiquity." Jacob Neusner, a reviewer in American Historical Review, called Slavery in Babylonia from Nabopolassar to Alexander the Great (626-331 B.C.) a "masterful work." Neusner noted that Dandamaev "presents a synthesis based on his own mastery of more than ten thousand documents." Neusner claimed that Dandamaev's "work provides a definitive account of a subject crucial to the understanding of society."

In collaboration with Vladimir G. Lukonin, Dandamaev wrote a book titled The Culture and Social Institutions of Ancient Iran. A.D.H. Bivar, a reviewer in the Times Literary Supplement, stated that the book "constitutes the most valuable and complete single volume reference … available" at the time of its publication. William L. Hanaway, a reviewer in American Historical Review, considered the book "elegantly produced, with maps and numerous illustrations. It should remain the standard source for the history of the Median and Achaemenid periods for a long time to come." Benjamin R. Foster, a reviewer in Classical World, called the book "an accessible, thoroughly documented, and richly illustrated work that may now be considered standard in the field and can be recommended to any serious reader."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Historical Review, December, 1985, Jacob Neusner, review of Slavery in Babylonia from Nabopolassar to Alexander the Great (626-331 B.C.), p. 1170; June, 1991, William L. Hanaway, review of The Culture and Social Institutions of Ancient Iran, p. 922.

Classical World, September-October, 1991, Benjamin R. Foster, review of The Culture and Social Institutions of Ancient Iran, pp. 50-51.

Times Literary Supplement, October 17, 1986, Pierre Briant, "Chattel-owning Chattels," p. 1173; October 6, 1989, A.D.H. Bivar, "Leading the World," p. 1096.