Forgotten Empire: The World of Ancient Persia

In 2005, the British Museum in London presented a special exhibition about the Achaemenid dynasty of ancient Persia (ca. 530-330 BC). Some of the items on display came from the British Museum itself. Others came from the Louvre in Paris and the National Museum of Iran. In fact, the exhibition was a joint venture between the three museums. For the occasion the British Museum Press published a book entitled Forgotten Empire: The World of Ancient Persia, edited by John Curtis and Nigel Tallis.

There are two sets of illustrations here. In the first, we have pictures of the items that were on display during the exhibition. They are marked ”cat” for ”catalogue.” There are 473 pictures in this category. In the second set, we have pictures of other items. They are marked ”fig” for ”figure.” There are 75 pictures in this category. At first, this is a bit confusing, but after a while you realise what is what, and it is not a problem.

Many illustrations are in colour, and many (but not all) are printed in a large size. Some items appear two times, first as a colour photo and then as a black-and-white drawing. This is a good idea, because it makes it easier to understand the details of the motive. A case in point is the rock relief of Darius I at Bisutun: figure 2 is a photo of this relief, while figure 6 is a drawing of the relief with small labels explaining who is who.

The structure of the book is not chronological but thematic. The book is divided into 12 chapters, with each chapter covering one aspect of ancient Persia:

01 – History of the Persian empire, 550-330 BC

02 – Achaemenid languages and inscriptions
03 – The decipherment of Achaemenid cuneiform

04 – The archaeology of the Achaemenid period

05 - The palace
06 – The royal table

07 – Jewellery and personal ornaments

08 – Religion and burial customs
09 – The administration of the Achaemenid empire

10 – Transport and warfare

11 – Persia and Greece
12 – The legacy of ancient Persia

The book ends with a bibliography, a glossary and a list of Achaemenid kings. Sadly, there is no index. The bibliography is quite extensive. The huge number of titles listed (ca. 500) seems to contradict the title of the book, Forgotten Empire. Clearly, ancient Persia is not forgotten at all. Many authors, editors and publishers love to use the word ”forgotten” or ”untold” in a book title, but it is not always justified.

Chapter 8 contains several references to ancient Persian texts. The author (Shahrokh Razmjou) uses some abbreviations which are quite common, but sadly they are never explained anywhere in the book. Therefore I want to explain them here:

DB = Darius I inscription from Bisutun

DNa = Darius I inscription from Naqsh-i Rustam no. a

DPd = Darius I inscription from Persepolis no. d

PF = Persepolis Fortification Texts published by R. T. Hallock (1969)

PF-NN = Persepolis Fortification Texts, Manuscript Hallock

XPh = Xerxes I inscription from Persepolis no. h

This book is written by experts, but even for experts something can go wrong. Let me explain:

(1) In the beginning of chapter 12, Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis mentions the Sasanian kings Shapur I and II. On two occasions she says Shapur I ruled AD 240-271, which is wrong. He was a co-ruler with his father from 240, and he was the sole ruler from 241 until his death in 272. On two occasions she says Shapur II ruled AD 309-379, which is right, but the third time she gives the date as AD 309-373.

(2) A caption on page 251 says Shapur I defeated ”the Roman emperors Valerian and Philip the Arab,” which is correct. But in the text she says (two times) that Shapur I fought against ”the Roman kings Valerian and Philip the Arab.” The last Roman king was expelled around 510 BC. Since that time there were no kings in Rome. Why use the word ”kings,” when the Romans had emperors?

(3) On page 252, she says in AD 311 Shapur II ”visited Persepolis and had a Pahlavi inscription carved inside the ruins of the Palace of Darius.” The date of the inscription is correct. But she fails to mention that this king was born in 309. At the time of ”the visit” he was an infant, only two years old! Is it right to say an infant ”visited” some place? Would it not be more correct to say that somebody brought him there and made a carving in his name?

(4) The famous relief known as ”the treasury relief” or ”the audience scene” from Persepolis appears two times: the king is sitting on the throne and the crown prince is standing behind him. But who is the king? And who is the crown prince? Most observers believe the king is Darius I and the crown prince is Xerxes. What do Curtis and Tallis say?

The caption for figure 21 (on page 36) reads:

”Stone relief showing King Xerxes and the crown prince standing behind him.”

Probably not quite right.

The caption for figure 75 (on page 257) reads:

”Iranian 100-rial banknote … showing … the ’audience scene’ from Persepolis featuring Xerxes, the crown prince Darius and officials.”

This time the names are correct, but notice how the punctuation (the comma) changes the meaning: Darius becomes the crown prince and Xerxes the king!

It should, of course, be the other way around: Xerxes, the crown prince, is standing behind the throne, and Darius, the king, is sitting on the throne.

Even experts are only human, even experts can make a mistake.

This is a good book with many beautiful illustrations. But the title is misleading, and there is no index. Therefore I can only give it four out of five stars.

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John Curtis and Nigel Tallis, editors,

Forgotten Empire:
The World of Ancient Persia,

British Museum Press, 2005, 272 pages

 

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For more information about this topic see my blog:

 

Splendors of Ancient Persia

 

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