Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis
Curator of Islamic and Iranian Coins
Parthian and Sasanian Coins, Coins
of the Islamic world from AD 650 to the present
Department: Coins and Medals
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7323 8607
Email: vcurtis @ thebritishmuseum.ac.uk
Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis is responsible for the
British Museum’s collection of pre-Islamic Iranian coins (from the
third century BC until the middle of the seventh century AD), which
includes both Parthian and Sasanian coins. She also looks after
coins of the Islamic world beginning with the Umayad and Abbasid
period and including coins of the Samanid and Buyid, Seljuk,
Mamluk, Ayubid and Fatimid, Ilkhanid and Timurid, Safavid and Qajar
dynasties.
Vesta is also involved in two major coin
projects. The Sasanian Coin Project is a collaborative
project with the National Museum of Iran in Tehran which aims to
produce catalogues of the Sasanian coins of the third to seventh
centuries AD in the collections in Tehran and London. The
Parthian Coin Project is a multi-institutional project
with will catalogue coins of the third century BC to the third
century AD in Vienna, Tehran, Paris and Berlin.
Current British Museum projects
The Parthian Coin Project
Previous British Museum projects
Past British Museum exhibitions curated by Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis
include: Iran before Islam: religion and propaganda,
AD224-651 (2006)
External fellowships/ honorary positions/ membership of professional bodies
Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis is the President of the British Institute
of Persian Studies and Secretary of the Royal Numismatic
Society.
Publications
Most recent publications
V. S. Curtis, Persian Myths (London, The British
Museum Press, 1993, 1996, 2000, 2005)
V. S. Curtis, Birth of the Persian
Empire, with S. Stewart (eds.), (London and New York,
I.B. Tauris 2005)
V. S. Curtis, Persian Love Poetry,
with S. Canby, (London, The British Museum Press, 2005, 2006,
2007)
V. S. Curtis, The Age of the
Parthians, with S. Stewart (eds.), (London and New York, I.B.
Tauris, 2007)
V. S. Curtis, ‘The legacy of ancient Persia’, in J. Curtis and
N. Tallis, Forgotten Empire. The World of Ancient
Persia (London, The British Museum Press, 2005) pp.
250-7
V. S. Curtis, ‘The Iranian revival’, in V.S. Curtis and S.
Stewart (eds.), The Age of the Parthians (London, New
York, I.B.Tauris, 2007) pp. 1-25