Mehrdad Bahar

Who was Mehrdad Bahar?

Mehrdād Bahār was a prominent Iranist, linguist, mythologist and Persian historian.

Mehrdad Bahar, was the youngest son of Persian poet Mohammad Taghi Bahar. He held a PhD degree in Persian literature and Ancient Iranian languages from Tehran University. He received an MA degree in "Ancient and Medieval Persian history" from the University of London where he studied with Professor Mary Boyce at the School of Oriental and African Studies. He began his career as a linguist with focus on Middle Persian. Later in his career he became interested in Persian mythology. His theories on the ancient roots of many aspects of Persian culture are well accepted among the mythologists.

His works on Persian mythology are mainly focused on major non-Aryan/Iranian influences, most of all Mesopotamian mythologies.

Mehrdad Bahar's most notable work is his translation of the most famous Middle Persian text, Bondahesh. His other prominent work, A Research on Persian Mythology consists of a collection/compilation of different Zoroastrian Middle Persian texts and a systematic analysis of their roots. The second volume, however, was incomplete when Bahar died in 1994. His closest colleague, Katayun Mazdapour, completed the editing task the following year.