Details | In the Achaemenid (550–330 BCE), Parthian (248 BCE– 224 CE), and Sasanian (224–651 CE) periods the rulers of ancient Iran used an imagery and symbolism that emphasized divine support for the king. Royal titles indicated the king’s position within his realm and the region, and symbols connected with divine splendor dominated ancient Persian iconography. Discover aspects of the art of ancient Persia associated with kingship, in particular during the Parthian and Sasanian periods, in this enthralling lecture. Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis is curator of Middle Eastern Coins at the British Museum, with responsibility of ancient Iranian coins and coins of the Islamic world. She was born in Tehran and obtained an MA in Near Eastern archaeology and ancient Iranian languages at the University of Göttingen in Germany and a PhD on Parthian art from University College London. She was joint editor of the journal Iran (1983–2003), secretary of the British Institute of Persian Studies (1998–2003), president of the British Institute of Persian Studies (2006–2011), and secretary of the Royal Numismatic Society (2005–2010). She is a member of the Academic Committee of the Iran Heritage Foundation (IHF), senior advisor of the SOAS Shapporji Pallonji Institute of Zoroastrian Studies at the University of London, and since 2014 she has served as honorary director of the British Institute of Persian Studies. She completed a joint collaborative project with the National Museum of Iran on Sasanian coins of 224–651 CE, which resulted in a two-volume catalogue published in 2010 and 2012. She is currently the joint director and coeditor (with Dr. Michael Alram in Vienna) of the International Parthian Coin Project, The Sylloge Nummorum Parthicorum (SNP) and is coauthor of the volume on Mithradates II (122/1 –91 BCE). She contributed to a series of major exhibitions on Iran in the British Museum (The Forgotten Empire in 2005–2006) as well as the Cyrus Cylinder exhibition in Tehran in 2011–2012, the United States in 2013, and Mumbai in 2013–2014. She is particularly interested in the royal and religious iconography of the pre-Islamic period of Iran and Mesopotamia from sixth century BCE to seventh century CE. She has published extensively on ancient Persian coins, art, culture, and mythology. Her latest publications include Sylloge Nummorum Parthicorum 2: Mithradates II (Austrian Academy of Sciences Press, Vienna, 2020) and Rivalling Rome: Parthian Coins and Culture (British Museum & Spink, London, 2020). This lecture is part of a series, New Research on Ancient Iran, that highlights new scholarship in the field of the art and archaeology of ancient Iran. Leading scholars will discuss their recent research on Iran and its artistic and cultural significance within the larger context of the ancient world. New Research on Ancient Iran is generously supported by The Tina and Hamid Moghadam Fund. Register here: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_cY48IIQaTJCwlorh94-SrA Image credit: Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC: Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1934.23 |
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