Birth of the Persian Empire

by Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis, Sarah Stewart

Overview

Of the great ancient civilizations, that of Persia is the least known and the most enigmatic. This book explores the formation of the first Persian Empire under the Achaemenid Persians. It brings together a multi-disciplinary view of ancient Iran in the first millennium BC and concentrates on the art, archaeology, history and religion of a geographical area far beyond the present borders of modern Iran in the period beginning just before the formation of the Persian empire in the middle of the 6th century up to its collapse following conquest by Alexander the Great in the late 4th century BC. Eminent scholars here give a critical approach to some of the traditional interpretations and discuss topics which help the reader towards a better understanding of the formation of the Persian empire. This is the first volume in the "Idea of Iran" series which will be a four-volume collection encompassing the history of that country.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781845110628
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	11/29/2005
Series:	The Idea of Iran
Pages:	160
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.44(d)

About the Author

Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis is Curator of Ancient Iranian Coins at the British Museum, Secretary of the British Institute of Persian Studies and Joint Editor of the jourbanal IRAN. She is currently working on a joint project with the National Museum of Iran to catalogue the Sasanian coins in Tehran. Her previous publications include 'The Art and Archaeology of Ancient Persia' (I.B. Tauris). Sarah Stewart is Deputy Director of the London Middle East Institute at SOAS and teaches Zoroastrianism in the Department of Religions at SOAS. Her current research is on the oral history of Zoroastrians in Iran.

Table of Contents

Introduction--Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis and Sarah Stewart
• The Elamites and their Contribution to the Creation of Iran--Daniel Potts
• New Research on the Avestan Geography--Frantz Grenet
• The Iron Age in Western Iran--John Curtis
• Iran and the Iranians in the context of the late Achaemenid period--Pierre Briant
• The Contribution of the Magi--Albert de Jong
• On the origins and development of the idea of Iran--Shapur Shabazi