Ancient Persia

Preface

To many Europeans the word Persia is evocative of beautiful works of art – carpets, tiles, fine ceramics, miniatures and metal – work. Or they might think of Persian poets such as Hafez, Saadi or Omar Khayyam, who are often quoted in translation. Yet these artistic and literary accomplishments all date from the Islamic era. Much less well known, but no less fascinating, are the art and history of ancient Persia, or Iran, and it is these that  form the subject of this book.

In a short work such as this it is obviously impossible to deal comprehensively with the civilization of ancient Persia, so I have tried to concentrate on those aspects that are likely to be of interest to the general reader while at the same time providing a coherent account. To some extent this book is written around the British Museum collections, and I hope it will also provide a useful guide to them.

ه ریال