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Persia II / Vladimir G. Lukonin ; translated from the Russian by James Hogarth. 76 illustrations in colour ; 141 illustrations in black and white.
LIBRA DS785 .L8
Available from offsite location
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Lukonin, V. G. (Vladimir Grigorʹevich)
- Series:
- Archaeologia mundi
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Iran--Antiquities.
- Iran.
- Antiquities.
- Physical Description:
- 232 pages : plates (some color), maps on lining papers ; 24 cm
- Place of Publication:
- Cleveland ; New York : World Publishing Company, [©1967]
- Summary:
- Illustrated archeological and historical survey of the life and culture of Persia from 323 B.C. to the seventh century A.D.
- "Iran I, by Jean Louis Huot, which dealt with Persia from the beginning until the Achaemenians, has now been followed by this new volume covering the period from the death of Alexander the Great to the Arab conquest, i.e., the millennium corresponding to the reigns of the Seleucid (Graeco-Macedonian) Parthian and Sassanian dynasties. The Archaeologia Mundi Series aims at giving the reader an understanding of the problems encountered by archaeologists investigating a given region and period, of the methods used to solve them and the results obtained. Vladimir Lukonin, the Head of the Hermitage Museum Oriental Art Section and a reputed expert on the subject (he is the author of numerous scholarly publications) uses his outstanding talent for exposition and his great - yet unpedantic - erudition to introduce the general reader to the subtleties of one of the most exacting disciplines. By means of carefully selected examples he shows how numismatics, epigraphy, excavation, the study of engravings, of gold and silver work and rock sculptures can, in a given case, throw light on some areas of history that had remained obscure because they left no written sources. Although this work makes no concession to over-simplification, it resembles a detective story for it follows the process of deduction and reconstruction by which archaeologists succeed in solving apparently insoluble problems. Especial care has been given to the illustrations. Almost all the items shown are in the Hermitage Museum and most of them have never before been photographed. Their value, however, lies not only in their originality but in their amazing beauty which will come as a revelation to many Western readers who may have little experience of the sumptuous art of Sassanian Iran." -- Book jacket.
- Contents:
- The historical background
- Political developments
- The social and economic context
- The towns
- The imperial domain and conditional ownership of land
- Private property; the commune; slave-owning
- The contribution of archaeology
- Archaeologists and excavators
- Some great names
- The main Hellenistic sites
- Dura-Europos and Mesopotamia
- Merv and Nisa
- Sites in Afghanistan and Pakistan
- Investigations in Persia
- Sassanian sites
- Methods of investigation
- The study of coins
- Coins as dynastic propaganda: Varahran and Narseh
- Coins and chronology: the problem of the Kushans
- Other uses of coins
- The study of seals
- The "official portrait"
- The problem of the Sassanian Bullae
- Rock carvings
- Toreutic art
- Prospects for the future
- The pattern of Hellenistic civilisation
- The Parthian contribution
- Syncretism and "universal religions"
- The problems of Zoroastrianism
- The genesis of Sassanian art
- Images of divinity
- Ideology and politics.
- Notes:
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 207-212) and index.
- Other Format:
- Online version: Lukonin, Vladimir Grigorʹevich. Persia II.
- OCLC:
- 5037717
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