Pedram Khosronejad is a Research Fellow in the Department of Social Anthropology at the University of St Andrews, Scotland. He obtained his PhD at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) in Paris. His research interests include cultural and social anthropology, the anthropology of death and dying, visual anthropology, visual piety, devotional artefacts, and religious material culture, with a particular interest in Iran, Persianate societies and the Islamic world. He is the editor of several forthcoming publications: War in Iranian Cinema (I.B.Tauris); Women's Rituals and Ceremonies in Islamic Societies (C.I.U. and I.B.Tauris); and Unburied Memories: Martyrs' Grave Photographs and Funerary Memorial Objects (special issue of the Journal of Visual Anthropology on Iran). He is also chief editor of the Journal of Anthropology of the Middle East and Central Eurasia.

• PrefacePedram Khosronejad, University of St AndrewsIntroductionJames W. Allan, University of OxfordIcon and Contemplation: Between Popular Art and Sufism in Im?mi Shi'ism Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi, Ecole Pratique des Hautes EtudesThe Votive Image in Iranian Shi'ismIngvild Flaskerud, Centre for Peace Studies, University of TromsøThe Horse of Imam Hossein: Notes on the Iconography of Shi'i Devotional Posters from Pakistan and IndiaJürgen Wasim Frembgen, Museum of Ethnology, MunichPrayer and Prostration: Im?mi Shi'i Discussion of Al-Sujud 'Al?al-Turba Al-HusayniyyaRobert Gleave, Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of ExeterWhen Nubuvvat Encounters Vel?yat: Safavid Paintings of the Prophet Mohammad's Mi'r?j, ca.1500-1550Christiane Gruber, Indiana UniversityFrom Orality to Visuality: Lions' Representation in Bakhtiari Oral Tradition and Material CulturePedram Khosronejad, University of St AndrewsThe Pictorial Representation of Shi'i Themes in Lithographed Books of the Qajar PeriodUlrich Marzolph, Georg August UniversityCalligraphic Lions Symbolizing the Esoteric Dimension of 'Ali's NatureRaya Shani, Haifa UniversityThe Iconography of 'Ali as the Lion of God in Shi'i Art and Material CultureFahmida Suleman, The Institute of Ismaili StudiesTalismans from the Iranian World: A Millenary TraditionZiva Vesel, French National Research CentreThe Lion of 'Ali in Anatolia: History, Symbolism and Iconology Thierry Zarcone, GSRL, French National Research Centre