An evening film at the British Museum on Friday 15 May. £3, concessions £2. Part of the exhibition events programme for Shah Abbas: the remaking of Iran.
This broken relief shows grooms carrying saddle-cloths and whips. It was discovered decorating the Apadana , or audience hall, in the Persian centre of Persepolis. This hall had relief sculpture on the north and east sides. Each side was a mirror image of the other, but the north side, from which this relief came, has been exposed to the elements for centuries and is now in a poor condition. Towards the end of the reign of the Persian king Cambyses (530-522 BC) a revolt broke out. On his way to
This relief of a charioteer driving his horse comes from the great Achaemenid Persian centre of Persepolis. It was excavated in July 1811 by Robert Gordon who was part of a diplomatic mission to Iran led by Sir Gore Ouseley, British Ambassador to Persia from 1811 to 1814. It originally decorated a staircase on the east wing of the north side of the Apadana or audience hall. This structure, with an adjoining series of private palaces and their ancillary buildings, was built on the western side of
This relief from Persepolis shows a servant wearing so-called Median dress: a distinctive knee-length tunic, tightly fitting trousers and a cap with ear-flaps and neck-guard. This is different from the usual Persian costume of a long pleated dress. He also wears the akinakes , or typical Achaemenid short sword. In 550BC Cyrus the Great, of the ruling house of Persia, deposed the Median king Astyges, who, according to tradition, was his grandfather. Amongst his ancestors he counted the legendary
This broken relief from the Persian royal capital Persepolis depicts a row of so-called Susian guards. They are very similar to figures formed from moulded glazed bricks from the city of Susa. They may represent the 'immortals' who made up the king's personal bodyguard Towards the end of the reign of the Persian king Cambyses (530-522 BC) a revolt broke out. On his way to deal with the problem, Cambyses was accidentally killed. The rebellion was eventually crushed by a group of seven conspirato
This male sphinx wears the imposing horned headdress of a divinity. Discovered at Persepolis by Colonel John MacDonald Kinneir during excavations in 1826, it was originally one of a pair flanking the winged disc figure of Ahura-Mazda, a god adopted as the Persian royal deity by Darius I (522-486 BC). Towards the end of the reign of the Persian king Cambyses (530-522 BC) a revolt broke out. On his way to deal with the problem, Cambyses was killed. The rebellion was eventually crushed by Darius w
Ardashir defeated the Parthians in AD 224 and founded the Sasanian dynasty. The portrait on this dinar shows in high relief a bearded king wearing a necklace with a star pendant. His tall hat is elaborately decorated with pearls and a star motif. It also has earflaps, and is identical to the tiara of Mithradates II (123-88 BC), the Parthian 'king of kings'. The diadem is tied in a bow, with the long ends hanging at the back. By adopting the hat of the famous Parthian ruler, Ardashir is declaring
The Parthians were an Iranian nomadic tribe who lived south-east of the Caspian Sea in the third century BC. They gradually conquered Iran and Mesopotamia. By the first century BC the Parthian Empire stretched from the River Euphrates in modern Iraq to eastern Iran. The Parthians were Rome's strongest opponents in the East, until the collapse of their empire in AD 224. It is not clear exactly when Parthian coinage started, but by the end of the second century BC coins were produced throughout t
British Museum online tour: Iran before Islam: The Sasanians
A brief guide to the Ancient Iran gallery