Grenet Frantz
History and Cultures of Pre-Islamic Central Asia

Professor at the Collège de France

History of Central Asia (Antiquity early Middle Ages), from archaeological and textual sources.
Pre-Islamic religions of the Iranian world, in particular Zoroastrianism.
Philology of Middle Iranian languages.

Coordination of the excavation and survey reports of the French-Uzbek Archaeological Mission at Afrasiab, the site of ancient Samarkand, 1989-2007. Personal contributions : sector of the Umayyad palace, sector of the earliest stratigraphic levels of the town (southwestern side of the rampart). Continuation of the direction of the Mission.
Research on Zoroastrian calendars and Zoroastrian iconography in Iran and Central Asia.
Participation in several handbooks on the history of Zoroastrianism and the history of Central Asia.
International activity : board member of the Corpus Inscriptionum Iranicarum (London) ; president of the European Society for Studies of Central Asia and Himalayan Regions (Paris).

« Doctorat de 3e cycle » in Archaeology (1981).
Diploma of Persian at the National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilizations (INALCO) (1976).
Agrégé d’histoire (1975).
École Normale Supérieure (1972-1977).

2013 - Professor at the Collège de France, chair « History and cultures of pre-Islamic Central Asia » (appointment April 2013, first teaching year 2013-2014).
Since 1999 - « Directeur d’études cumulant » at the École Pratique des Hautes Études, Section « Religious Sciences » (chair « Religions of the ancient Iranian world »).
1981 to 2013 - Research fellow in the CNRS (DR 1 2005-2013).
1978 to 1981 - Deputy-director of the French Archaeological Delegation in Afghanistan.

Missions : Dura-Europos (Syria) 1983-84, Rag-i Bibi (Afghanistan) 2004, Kultobe (Kazakhstan) 2006-2007.
Since 1989, director of the French-Uzbek Archaeological Mission in Sogdiana, (main site : Afrasiab-Samarkand).
Ai Khanum (Afghanistan) 1975-78.
Tell Arqa (Liban) 1973-74.