The Persian Book of Kings

by Melville, Charles

• ISBN13: 9781851243464
• ISBN10: 1851243461
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-03-15
• Publisher: Bodleian Library

Summary

India has theMahabharata, Greece has Homer's epic cycle, and the national history of Iran is chronicled in Firdausi's epic poemThe Book of Kings, orShahnama. This lavishly illustrated study explores the intricate complexity of this epic as it is beautifully rendered in a rare fifteenth-century reproduction. TheShahnamapositions Iran at the heart of human civilization, and its sprawling and compelling narrative stretches from the beginning of time to the seventh-century takeover of the Persian Empire by Muslim Arabs. Ibrahim Sultan, governor of Shiraz in southern Iran from 1415 to 1435, commissioned an edition of theShahnamathat contained a lavish assortment of intricate original paintings. This version is now in the collection of the Bodleian Library, andThe Persian Book of Kingsexplores this rare text in extensive detail. The authors investigate the life of the poet Firdausi, unpack the literary context of the poem and its illuminations, and examine the royal court of Ibrahim Sultan for whom the manuscript was commissioned. The richly colored miniatures and illuminations spread through the text are given full exploration in this study, with examinations of both the artists' techniques that influenced generations of illustrators and the artworks' meanings. The book also features a helpful glossary of Persian terms and a list of the numerous characters that appear in the epic. A gorgeously produced study of one of the great literary works of human history,The Persian Book of Kingsoffers a fascinating look at the myths and legends of an ancient culture.

Author Biography

Firuza Abdullaeva is a fellow of Wadham College, Oxford, and University Lecturer in Persian Literature in the faculty of Oriental Studies at the University of Oxford.

Charles Melville is fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge, director of studies in Oriental Studies, and a University Reader in Persian History in the faculty of Oriental Studies at the University of Cambridge.

 

 

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 9
The Author and His World	p. 13
The Shahnama	p. 19
The Role of Patronage	p. 25
Illustrated Shahnamas of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries	p. 32
The Manuscript of Ibrahim Sultan's Shahnama	p. 44
Illustrating an Epic: Miniatures of the Shahnama Stories	p. 60
The Paintings and Their Significance	p. 122
Glossary	p. 126
Bibliography	p. 128
Further reading	p. 134
English translations of the Shahnama	p. 134
Notes	p. 155
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