By
Michael Seymour
For
two millennia, the memory of the sprawling Asian, African,
and European empire built by the Persian Achaemenid
dynasty between 550 and 330 B.C. has depended largely on
the writings of its enemies--ancient Greek accounts of
decadence and despotism. "Forgotten Empire: The World
of Ancient Persia," a traveling exhibition currently
at the British Museum, aims to present the empire on its
own terms, bringing together Persian collections from the
British Museum, the Louver, the Persepolis Museum, and the
National Museum of Iran. The collaboration has resulted in
a unique opportunity for museum visitors, not least
because this is the first time many of the artifacts have
been outside Iran.
The
largest section focuses on the palace architecture of
Persepolis, the capital of the empire, while others
highlight gold and silver tableware and jewellery. These
elite and prestige objects are intended to highlight the
forgotten importance of the empire in world political and
cultural history. In particular, the ancient Greek image
of Persians as oppressors is challenged: Achaemenid
cultural tolerance is emphasized, and one strength of the
exhibition is its clarity in explaining, through objects,
the empire's complex mix of people and languages. Figures
on late-nineteenth-century casts of reliefs from
Persepolis, for example, are used to describe the cultural
and ethnic diversity of the empire, while the so-called
Cyrus Cylinder, famous for recording the end of the
Israelite captivity in Babylon, takes pride of place in
the final room. (A part of the British Museum's
collection, the cylinder will be loaned to the National
Museum of Iran at the end of the tour.)
The
exhibition is also remarkable for how openly it
acknowledges current political realities. Its own message
is a positive one, on the benefits of Western and Iranian
institutions working together. In his foreword to the
excellent, if academic, exhibition catalogue, Neil
MacGregor, director of the British Museum, writes that the
Achaemenid Empire itself has great contemporary relevance.
"In its acknowledgement of cultural differences
within one coherent and effective state," he says,
"it is perhaps more than ever a proper object of
admiration and study." The exhibition will encourage
both.
"Forgotten
Empire" is at the British Museum until January 8,
2006. In February, it travels to La Caixa in Barcelona,
and eventually goes to Japan.
*
Michael Seymour is a doctoral research student at the
Institute of Archaeology, University College London.
Source: Archaeology;
Publication of the Archaeological Institute of America
- Vol. 59, No 1. Jan/Feb 2006
