Good day everyone, I’m Elena, thanks to be here on Alessandro III di Macedonia, blog about Alexander the Great and Hellenism. Today I’ve a new publication to report you:

Persians. The Age of the Great Kings

by Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones

Publisher: Basic Books, Wildfire, Headline

Infos:

Illustrations

Line Drawings

1. A Greek hoplite prepares to violate a Persian soldier. ‘Eurymedon Vase’, Attic red-figure oinochoe, a wine jug attributed to the circle of the Triptolemos Painter, c.460 bce. Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg.
2. Cyrus I of Anshan defeats his enemies. Seal impression (PFS 93*).
3. Winged and crowned apkallu (guardian) from the gateway into the garden-palace of Cyrus the Great at Pasargadae.
4. The Bisitun Relief, a pictorial imagining of the victory of Darius the Great.
5. The Great King, in his guise as a Persian ‘hero’, kills a mythical monster (part lion, part eagle, part scorpion) representing the chaos of ‘drauga’ (the Lie). From a door jamb of the Hall of a Hundred Columns, Persepolis.
6. Seal impression of Parnakka (PFS 9).
7. Seal impression of Zishshawish (PFS 83*).
8. Second seal impression of Parnakka (PFS 16*).
9. Second seal impression of Zishshawish (PFS 11).
10. Gold daric showing an image of a Great King armed with a bow and arrow and a spear, 460 bce. Metropolitan Museum of Art (Public Domain).
11. Impression of a cylinder seal depicting a female audience scene. Possibly from Susa, c .490 bce. Louvre, Paris.
12. Impression from a seal belonging to Rashda, the chief steward of the household of Irdabama, the mother of Darius the Great (PFS 535).
13. Impression of a seal belonging to Artystone (PFS 38).
14. Impression of a seal belonging to Shalamana, chief steward to Artystone (PFS 535).
15. Detail taken from the so-called ‘Treasury Relief’ at Persepolis; the Great King and crown prince are shown in royal audience.
16. Two Magi, their mouths covered, conduct sacrificial rituals at an altar. They hold wands of balsam wood. From Dascylium, c .450 bce. Museum of Archaeology, Istanbul.
17. A seal impression depicting Xerxes decorating a tree with offerings of jewellery. Musée des Armures, Brussels (SXe).
18. A seal impression of a Great King killing a Greek hoplite. This was probably produced in Asia Minor and is carved in a ‘Greek’ style.
19. Seal impression depicting a Persian soldier killing nomadic warriors. Ahuramazda hovers above the scene. British Museum.
20. Seal impression of Artaxerxes I shown as the master of Egypt. Hermitage, St Petersburg.

Colour Plates

1. Darius the Great worships Ahuramazda in front of a fire altar. He is lifted up on a takht (throne bench), supported by representatives of the empire. Tomb of Darius I at Naqsh-i Rustam. Photograph by Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones.
2. Huge cruciform-shaped royal tombs carved into the rock face at Naqsh-i Rustam. Photograph by Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones.
3. The modest remains of Cyrus’ magnificent garden-palace at Pasargadae. Photograph by Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones.
4. Sculpted stone flowers and plants depicted on the walls of Persepolis remind us of the Persian obsession for gardens and gardening. Photograph by Laurent Galbrun.
5. The Cyrus Cylinder: antiquity’s most egregious PR exercise. Photograph by Laurent Galbrun.
6. Glazed bricks adorn Babylon’s Ishtar Gate, built by Nebuchadnezzar II. Dragons and bulls strut and snort and protect the sacred city. Photograph by Laurent Galbrun.
7. The vast spectacle that is Persepolis easily ranks among the greatest ruins of antiquity. Photograph by Laurent Galbrun.
8. Carved high into the rock face at Mount Bisitun are the inscription and relief which record Darius I’s version of his accession to the throne. His account is a masterpiece of alternative facts. Photograph by Keivan Mahmoudi.
9. Enormous human-headed winged bulls stand guard at Xerxes’ magnificent Gate of All Nations at Persepolis. Photograph by Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones.
10. The eastern staircase of the Apadana at Persepolis is richly carved with human, animal, and plant figures. They were once painted in vivid colours. Photograph by Laurent Galbrun.
11. An over-life-size, now headless, statue of Darius the Great was once part of a pair. Made in Egypt, but moved to Susa by Xerxes, the statue was unearthed at the royal gateway into the Susa palace in 1972. Photograph by Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones.
12. A small turquoise head found at Persepolis depicts a royal woman, or perhaps a young man, or maybe a eunuch. It is impossible to be certain. Photograph by Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones.
13. Carved into a door jamb at the palace of Darius in Persepolis is this elegant figure of a young eunuch. He carries a perfume flask and a towel. Photograph by Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones.
14. Beautifully rendered human-headed sphinx from Persepolis. Photograph by Pejman Akbarzadeh.
15. A delegation of Lydians brings gifts of tableware, jewellery, and horses to the Great King. Persepolis, eastern staircase of the Apadana. Photograph by Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones.
16. Syrians offer gifts of textiles and shaggy-fleeced rams. Persepolis, eastern staircase of the Apadana. Photograph by Laurent Galbrun.
17. A Persian courtier leads an Armenian diplomat by the hand. The gift he brings the king is a stocky Nisaean horse. Persepolis, eastern staircase of the Apadana. Photograph by Laurent Galbrun.
18. A Bactrian leads a grumpy camel by a rope. Persepolis, eastern staircase of the Apadana. Photograph by Laurent Galbrun.
19. A silver dish belonging to Artaxerxes I. A cuneiform inscription in Old Persian runs around the interior of the rim and reads: ‘Artaxerxes, the Great King, King of Kings, King of Lands, son of Xerxes the king, Xerxes son of Darius the king, the Achaemenid: in his house this silver bowl was made’. Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund, 1947. (Open Access – CCo).
20. A silver rhyton (a drinking vessel with a spout at the bottom) in the shape of a kneeling ram ibex. Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Norbert Schimmel Trust, 1989. (Open Access – CCo).
21. A colourful glazed-brick wall panel from Susa depicting royal bodyguards, or ‘Immortals’. Photograph by Laurent Galbrun.
22. The Sasanian monarchs associated themselves with the Achaemenids by carving huge reliefs close to the tombs of their illustrious predecessors at Naqsh-i Rustam. Photograph by Laurent Galbrun.

Publishers:

Basic Books – Hardback – April 12, 2022

ISBN: 978-1541600348 – 448 pages

A stunning portrait of the magnificent splendor and enduring legacy of ancient Persia 

The Achaemenid Persian kings ruled over the largest empire of antiquity, stretching from Libya to the steppes of Asia and from Ethiopia to Pakistan. From the palace-city of Persepolis, Cyrus the Great, Darius, Xerxes, and their heirs reigned supreme for centuries until the conquests of Alexander of Macedon brought the empire to a swift and unexpected end in the late 330s BCE. 

In Persians, historian Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones tells the epic story of this dynasty and the world it ruled. Drawing on Iranian inscriptions, cuneiform tablets, art, and archaeology, he shows how the Achaemenid Persian Empire was the world’s first superpower—one built, despite its imperial ambition, on cooperation and tolerance. This is the definitive history of the Achaemenid dynasty and its legacies in modern-day Iran, a book that completely reshapes our understanding of the ancient world.

Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones holds the chair in ancient history at Cardiff University and is the director of the Ancient Iran Program for the British Institute of Persian Studies. He has published widely on ancient history and lives in Taffs Well, Wales.

Wildfire – Hardback – April 14, 2022

ISBN: 978-1472277282 – 448 pages

THE PERSIANS is a definitive new history of the Persian Empire, the world’s first superpower.

The Great Kings of Persia ruled over the largest Empire of antiquity, stretching from Libya to the Steppes of Asia, and from Ethiopia to Pakistan. At the heart of the Empire was the fabled palace-city of Persepolis where the Achaemenid monarchs held court in unparalleled grandeur. From here, Cyrus the Great, Darius, Xerxes, and their heirs passed laws, raised armies, and governed their multicultural Empire of enormous diversity.

The Achaemenids, however, were one of the great dysfunctional families of history. Brothers fought brothers for power, wives and concubines plotted to promote their sons to the throne, and eunuchs and courtiers vied for influence and prestige.

Our understanding of the Persian Empire has traditionally come from the histories of Greek writers such as Herodotus – and as such, over many centuries, our perspective has been skewed by ancient political and cultural agendas. Professor Llewellyn-Jones, however, calls upon original Achaemenid sources, including inscriptions, art, and recent archaeological discoveries in Iran, to create an authentic ‘Persian Version’ of this remarkable first great empire of antiquity – the Age of the Great Kings.

Headline – Paperback – April 14, 2022

ISBN: ‎ 978-1472277299, 448 pages

Thank you and have a great week-end,

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