The Death of Jesus in Persian Quran Translations until the 12th Century 1 Seyed Hossein Morakabi 2 , Masoud Pourahmadali Tochahi 3 Introduction The history and culture of religions have always experienced fluctuations, with many cultural artifacts from early periods being obliterated by developments in subsequent eras. The discovery of material evidence from earlier cultural epochs, which demonstrate varying trends in the development of an idea across different cultures, is among the most common and captivating tasks of religious studies. For instance, the Ethiopian Christianity, which can be traced back to the first century A.D. and has remained relatively independent from later developments in the Near East, continues to garner significant interest and respect from theologians today (Britannica 2021). In a similar fashion, Iran has been receiving more attention regarding its culture and language during the early centuries of Islam, as material evidence from an earlier period is available—long before the Arab civil wars and Christian crusades that shaped much of the historical narrative. Today, Muslims of all sects believe, based on Surah 4, verse 157, that Jesus was not crucified but was taken up to heaven. However, this verse allows for different interpretations, and even a literal translation does not yield a clear outcome. In the following, we will attempt to demonstrate, through quotations from the earliest Quran translations into Persian, that Jesus’ death was assumed up to the 12th century. When translating from Arabic, significant linguistic differences between Arabic and Persian emerged, prompting religious authorities to develop Persian versions of the Arabic religion of Islam. For example, the official Quran translation, known as the translation of Tabari's commentary 4 , commissioned by the Samanid court, which has survived in good condition, is used here. Of significant value to the image of Islam in the early centuries is also the cataloging, over a period of 29 years, of 142 manuscripts from the Āstān-e Qods-e Rażawī library. 1 Translated edition of: Morakabi, Seyed Hossein; Tochahi, Masoud Pourahmadali. Der Tod Jesu in persischen Koranübersetzungen bis zum 12. Jahrhundert. in: Spektrum Iran 3 (35), p. 153-166. 2 M.A. in Philosophy of Religion at University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran, Email: morakabi@ut.ac.ir 3 Assistant Professor at Allameh Tabataba'i University, Department of German Studies, Tehran, Iran. Email: mptochahi@atu.ac.ir 4 In the early centuries of Islam, Quran translations were embedded within extensive commentaries, and there was no such thing as a translation solely dedicated to the text of the book itself. Therefore, we refer to the translation of Tabari's 'Tafsir' (commentary).