Forgotten Empire

The inside cover of Forgotten Empire describes the topic of this book, the Achmaenid Dynasty of the ancient Persian Empire (550-330 BC), as a magnificent, cosmopolitan civilization. Among the wealthiest of its neighbors Assyria and Babylonia, the Persians under its founder Cyrus the Great, his son Cambyses and grandson Darius conquered nearly 2 million square miles of the middle and near east.

The large format book edited by Curtis and Tallis is a combination introduction to the civilization of Persia, and an illustrated catalog of some of its most beautiful objects and architecture. Twelve chapters on aspects of the civilization begin with history and language of the Persian people. Chapters are also dedicated to the palaces at Persepolis, Pasargadae and other cities; food and dinner ware; jewelry and personal ornaments; religion and burial customs; administration; transport and warfare; and the relationship of Persia to its conquerors and descendents, the ancient Greeks.

Forgotten Empire describes a civilization of inclusion, in which cuneiform inscriptions and court documents were regularly written in three or four different languages. Languages found on inscriptions in the Persian Empire include Old Persian, Akkadian, and Elamite, with occasional occurrences of Egyptian and Aramaic.