"Mithraic Societies: From Brotherhood to Religion's Adversary" by Abolala Soudavar

Abolala Soudavar completed his university education at the Ecole Polytechnique, Paris (1963-67), Stanford University (1967-68) and the Ecole des Hautes Etudes Pratiques, Paris (1980-81). As a businessman he was involved in Iran from 1969 to 1982, when he moved to the USA and established Mirak Inc. He was Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Tehran University from 1970 to 1977. He is/was a member of the Visiting Committee for Islamic Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art - New York (since 1983), of the Board of Trustees of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (1978 to 1994), Centre for Middle Eastern Studies, University of Chicago - Visiting Committee - (1995-7), Arthur M Sackler Gallery- Visiting Committee, Smithsonian Institution (1995-2003), Harvard University Museums-Collection Committee (1997- present). His publications include Art of the Persian Courts (1992), The Aura of Kings: Legitimacy and Devine Sanction in Iranian Kingship (2003),Decoding Old Masters: Patrons, Painters, and Enigmatic Paintings of the 15th Century (2008), Mithraic Societies: From Brotherhood to Religion’s Adversary” (2014).