Forgotten Empire: The World of Ancient Persia

by John E. Curtis

This sumptuous book traces the rise and fall of one of the ancient world's largest and richest empires. Encompassing a rich diversity of different peoples and cultures, Persia's Achaeminid Empire flourished between 550 and 331 B.C. The empire originated with Cyrus the Great (559-530 B.C.) and expanded under his successors, who ruled from the royal capitals of Susa and Persepolis, until at its peak it stretched from the Indus Valley to Greece and from the Caspian Sea to Egypt. The Achaeminids acted as a bridge between the earlier Near Eastern cultures and the later Classical world of the Mediterranean and had a profound influence on Greece in political, military, economic, and cultural fields. Forgotten Empire was created in association with the British Museum, which is mounting the most comprehensive exhibit ever staged on the Achaeminids. This book opens a window onto the wealth and splendor of Persian society—its rich palaces, exquisite craftsmanship, and sophisticated learning. Showcasing an unprecedented loan of unique material from the National Museum of Tehran—most of which has never before been presented outside of Iran—this beautifully illustrated and produced book demonstrates why the sculpture, glazed panels, gold vessels, and jewelry of the Achaeminids rank among the finest ever produced.

Because the palace was central to imperial life, remains from the royal sites of Susa and Persepolis are a major focus. Forgotten Empire is divided into sections such as the expansion of the Persian Empire, arms and warfare, trade and commerce, writing, luxury dinner services, jewelry, religious and burial customs, and the rediscovery of ancient Persia.



British Museum

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Ancient History, Iran, Middle East, Ancient

272 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2005

Reviews

[Marc Lamot · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fairly tame general overview of the history of the Persian Empire (ca 550-330 bce), divided into eight articles by specialists. This is a book that accompanies a prestigious exhibition at the British Museum in 2005. It does not contain any new insights, but is rather a summary of what we already knew. The added value lies in the illustrations, drawn from the rich collection of the British Museum and the Louvre, and also from Iran itself (with all the political implications that entails). Given the exhibition, it is therefore not surprising that the focus in this book is mainly on the material culture. More in my History account on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show....

[Sense of History]

Why on earth does this book bear the title “Forgotten Empire”? That is not clear to me. After all, the Persian Empire has enjoyed the eternal interest of Western civilization ever since the heroic clash with the Greek city-states, 2500 years ago. The Greeks had a real love-hate relationship with their Persian neighbors, who not only controlled a much larger and richer area, but could also rely on at least two millennia of rich cultural history (especially in the broad Mesopotamian area). On the one hand, whenever they could, the Greeks portrayed the Persians in the worst possible light, as depraved, barbaric scions of a despotic nation, the antithesis of the supposedly free, democratic, civilized society that they themselves were. It is the far predecessor of what was much later referred to as “orientalism,” and which was cherished for almost the entirety of Western history. But at the same time, the Greeks were so fascinated by Persian civilization that they adopted many aspects of it, did business with it continuously, and often simply went to work for the Persian court. The fact that Alexander the Great adopted much of the organization, the splendor and magnificence of this empire, after his conquest, speaks volumes.

So, perhaps the term ‘forgotten’ in the title of this book is a misnomer. And when I read the introductions to this book, it indeed refers more to the disparaging way in which the Persians have been looked down upon in the course of Western history, following the example of the much-praised Hellenes. It is therefore clear that a rehabilitation is in order, and this book largely succeeds in that. It's a handsome, basic introduction, although much more useful and up-to-date ones are available via Maria Brosius (The Persians) and Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones (Persians: The Age of the Great Kings).

[Nathan Albright · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whenever a museum seeks to look at a particular country as a "forgotten empire" one can tell that this museum is looking to secure a greater degree of popularity for its items.  And that is surely the case here.  The British museum acquired a large amount of material relating to the Persian Empire and wants people to spend money looking at it, and so despite the fact that Iran has a rather testy relationship with western nations, and despite the fact that the acquisition of its Persian artifacts may have been more a sign of imperialism than is comfortable in the modern world, this book offers a way for Western audiences to see at least some of the glory that was ancient Persia.  I don't know if Persia can be considered a forgotten empire, for if it is not as well-known as ancient Greece or Rome, it is certainly better known than its successor kingdoms of Parthia or the Sassanids, both of which are truly far more obscure kingdoms than ancient Persia, which at least was famous enough to be recorded by Greek (Herodotus) as well as biblical historians (Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah, Esther).

This book is more than 250 pages and is divided into twelve chapters.  The book begins with two forewords and a preface that demonstrate the alliance between the British Museum and the National Museum of Iran concerning the artifacts included here, as well as a further editor's foreword and acknowledgments and a list of maps.  After that the book begins with a short history of the Persian Empire from 550-330BC (1) and then a discussion of Achaemenid languages and inscriptions (2).  This leads to a discussion of how the Achaemenid cuneiform was deciphered (3) as well as some discussion of the archaeology of the period (4).  After this there is a look at the palace at Persepolis (5) and the royal table (6) now in the British Museum.  Then there is a look at Persian jewelry (7) as well as some information about religious customs and burials (8).  The book includes some information about the administration of the Persian empire (9) and its surprising flexibility (9) as well as artifacts related to transportation and warfare (10).  Finally, the book includes a chapter about the troublesome relationship between Persia and Greece (11) as well as some discussion about the legacy of ancient Persia (12), after which the book closes with a king list and glossary as well as some illustration acknowledgments.

Is this a worthwhile book?  It certainly is interesting, even if I think I would have preferred a book that was focused more on history than on archaeology.  Yet since this book was published by the British Museum it makes sense that the focus would be on the artifacts, and that the history would be shaped around the artifacts that have survived.  Of course, those artifacts which have survived have been because of the accident of history, and have involved coin hordes and friezes and the like, and a decided lack of texts from the Persian perspective itself.  Whether or not this is a fatal problem for the reader depends on whether or not the reader is interested in the sort of material that the British museum has.  The perspective of the book, as might be expected, has a revisionist perspective that may be pleasing to some, but few readers are likely to be entirely unaware of the self-serving attitude of a museum seeking to promote a given subject based on the materials that they have.  Such self-interest is not necessarily a bad thing, but it certainly does add at least some worrisome aspects to a book like this one.

[Shane Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful easy read on early Persian history....wonderful illustrations and photos of this ancient empire as well!!

[Pavla Ripinskaya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific - something really special for everyone interested in Achaeminid epoch. Based on British Museum collection, but includes Tehran museum and Louvre collections as well.

[Behrooz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book for an Iranian who misses his motherland.

[Mehran Memarzadeh · Rating 5 out of 5]

چه بوديم و چه شديم