Two 14th-century manuscripts are the focus of this catalog, published in conjunction with a Museum exhibit, February-May 1994. Essays and illustrations (93 total, 39 in color) present the Mu'nis al-ahrar an anthology of poetic devices, and the Shahnama, a copy of the Persian national epic in which events are depicted in 41 extant miniatures. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

The Cyrus Cylinder is one of the most famous objects to have survived from the ancient world. The Cylinder was inscribed in Babylonian cuneiform on the orders of the Persian King Cyrus the Great (559-530BC) after he captured Babylon in 539BC. It is often referred to as the first bill of human rights as it appears to permit freedom of worship throughout the Persian Empire and to allow deported people to return to their homelands. It is valued by people all around the world as a symbol of tolerance and respect for different peoples and different faiths, so much so that a copy of the cylinder is on display in the United Nations building in New York. This catalogue is being published in conjunction with the first ever tour of the object to the United States, along with sixteen other objects from the British Museum's collection. The book discusses how these objects demonstrate the innovations initiated by Persian rule in the Ancient Near East (550 BC-331 BC), a prime example being a gold plaque from the Oxus Treasure with the representation of a priest that shows the spread of the Zoroastrian religion. The book offers a new authoritative translation of the Cyrus Cylinder by Irving Finkel and the publication of two fragments of a cuneiform tablet that show how the Cyrus Cylinder was most probably a proclamation and not just a foundation deposit.

In the seventeenth century, the Persian city of Isfahan was a crossroads of international trade and diplomacy. Manuscript paintings produced within the city’s various cultural, religious, and ethnic groups reveal the vibrant artistic legacy of the Safavid Empire. Published to coincide with an exhibition at the Getty Museum, Book Arts of Isfahan offers a fascinating account of the ways in which the artists of Isfahan used their art to record the life around them and at the same time define their own identities within a complex society.

In 1935-40 and again in 1947, the Iranian Expedition of the Metropolitan Museum excavated the city of Nishapur, a flourishing center in medieval times located in eastern Iran. This is the fourth volume in a series dedicated to publishing the finds. It presents a survey of glass of the early Islamic period throughout the Near East, discusses the significance of the Nishapur glass findings, and provides a catalogue of the finds with a focus on glass-decorating techniques. Map and site plans, a glossary, a concordance, and an extensive bibliography are included. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Presents a comprehensive three-volume series on the Islamic world including over three hundred articles that answer questions concerning Islamic religious beliefs, definitions of unfamiliar terms used in the articles, sidebars that focus on people, places, and traditions, and cross references to related entries.

This book explores the great diversity and range of Islamic culture through one of the finest collections in the world. Published to coincide with the historic reopening of the galleries of the Metropolitan Museum's Islamic Art Department, it presents nearly three hundred masterworks created in the rich tradition of the Islamic faith and culture. The Metropolitan's renowned holdings range chronologically from the origins of Islam in the 7th century through the 19th century, and geographically from as far west as Spain to as far east as Southeast Asia.

In the absence of a tradition of self-portraiture, how could artists signal their presence within a painting? Centred on late Timurid manuscript painting (ca. 1470-1500), this book reveals that pictures could function as the painter's delegate, charged with the task of centring and defining artistic work, even as they did not represent the artist's likeness. Influenced by the culture of the majlis, an institutional gathering devoted to intricate literary performances and debates, late Timurid painters used a number of strategies to shift manuscript painting from an illustrative device to a self-reflective object, designed to highlight the artist's imagination and manual dexterity. These strategies include visual abundance, linear precision, the incorporation of inscriptions addressing aspects of the painting and the artist's signature. Focusing on one of the most iconic manuscripts of the Persianate tradition, the Cairo Bustan made in late Timurid Herat and bearing the signatures of the painter Bihzad, this book explores Persian manuscript painting as a medium for artistic performance and self-representation, a process by which artistic authority was shaped and discussed.

Persian Miniatures is a picture book showcasing the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection of popular Persian illustrations from the 14th to early 17th century. The book contains an introduction by M. S. Dimand which briefly explains the history and importance of these Persian miniatures and the artists who made them