Volume 3 covers the period from the death of Alexander to the advent of Islam.

List of plates; List of line drawings; List of maps; Part V. Institutions: 18. Iranian society and law A. Perikhanian; 19. Political, social and administrative institutions: taxes and trade V. G. Lukonin; 20. Geographical and administrative divisions: settlements and economy Christopher Brunner; 21a. Time-reckoning E. Bickerman; 21b. Iranian festivals Mary Boyce; Part VI. Religious History: 22. Development of religious thought Carsten Colpe; 23. Zoroastrian religion J. Duchesne-Guillemin; 24. Jews in Iran J. Neusner; 25. Christians in Iran J. P. Asmussen; 26. Buddhism among Iranian peoples R. E. Emmerick; 27a. Manichaeism and its Iranian background G. Widengren; 27b. Mazdakism Ehsan Yarshater; Part VII. Art History: 28. Parthian art Daniel Schlumberger; 29a. Sasanian art Dorothy Shepherd; 29b. Sasanian silver Prudence Harper; 30. The development of the arts in Transoxiana Guity Azarpay; Part VIII: Languages and Literature: 31. Parthian writings and literature Mary Boyce; 32a. Zoroastrian Pahlavi writings J. P. de Menasce, O.P.; 32b. Manichaean Middle Persian writings Mary Boyce; 32c. Middle Persian inscriptions Phillippe Gignoux; 33. Sogdian language and literature Mark Dresden; 34. Khotanese Saka literature H. W. Bailey; 35. Khwarazmian language and literature D. N. Mackenzie; 36. Bactrian literature Ilya Gershevitch; 37. Sources of Parthian and Sasanian history G. Widengren; Bibliographies; Index; Index of Greek words.