Shirin, the beloved wife of the Persian shah, Chosroes II (b. 628), pulled political strings behind the scenes and supported the Christian minority in Iran. After the fall of Chosroes, Firdausi remembered Shirin in his epic, the "Shahnama." Around 1180, the Persian poet Nizami wrote of her alleged love for the master builder Ferhad in his epic "Chosroes and Shirin," which was often imitated in Persian, Turkish, and Indian literary circles. Shirin became an image of love par excellence, living on even as far as Europe in no less a work than Goethe's "West-östlichen Divan."

Wilhelm Baum, historian, theologian, and philosopher, lives in Austria. In addition to English, his books have been translated into Spanish, Italian, and Slovenian.

"The book adds an interesting perspective to women's studies in early Christianity, an area of research that has attracted considerable attention in recent years, and beautifully traces the transformation of a historic figure into a literary archetype."--Theresia Heimerl, Bücherbord (2004)

"Baum is thorough in his study of literary references to Shirin, and his work will be a valuable research tool to anyone wishing to study the dissemination of the Shirin legend."--Christopher Livanos, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Table of Contents

• Shirin: Christian - Queen - Myth of Love
• Persia in Late Antiquity
• Chosroes II (590-628) and Shirin: The Persian Royal Couple
• The Shirin Myth in Literature and Art
• The Rediscovery of Shirin