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A
collection of some 150 items dating to the
Achaemenid era is going to be displayed for a
two-year period in England, France, and Germany.
The exhibition entitled “Forgotten Empire: The
World of Ancient Persia” starts its tour from
the British Museum, London, running there from 8th
of September 2005 to 8th January 2006.
The exhibition, which aims to introduce people to
the culture, art, and civilization of Achaemenids,
is the largest ever on Ancient Persia, the
wealthiest empire in the Ancient Near East (from
550 BC to 330 BC). The historical items have been
selected by a joint team of Iranian, English,
French, and German experts from collections in
possession of Iran’s National Museum, the
British Museum, the Louvre, and the
Vorderasiatisches (Ancient Near East Antiquities)
Museum in Berlin. Representing features of the art
and civilization of the Achaemenids of Iran have
been the central concept for the selection.
According to director of Iran’s National Museum,
Mohammadreza Kargar, a specialized catalogue,
covering different aspects of the Achaemenid era,
is going to be published with cooperation of
Iranian, English, German, and French experts in
four languages.
About eighty of the items to be displayed in the
exhibition will be going to Europe from Iran, many
of them leaving Tehran for the first time. Eight
of the objects are now on display in another
touring exhibition of the country, “7000 years
of Iranian Art”, and will be sent to the British
Museum as soon as they arrive in Iran from
Portugal, the final destination of that
collection.
Since Louvre has planned an exhibition of its own
of the Achaemenid era, the Museum will not be
actively taking part in the two-year exhibition,
and according to Henri Loyrette, director of the
Museum, it will just lend the exhibition a few
items.
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