1,000 Yrs of Persian Kings

ART DAILY
March 22, 2011

Museum of Islamic Art in Berlin, Germany

GERMANY -- UNESCO has designated the year 2010 as Millennium year of the Shahname. The Museum of Islamic Art in Berlin and the Berlin National Library are seizing the opportunity to introduce this literary masterpiece to the public with their world-renowned collections of Shahname manuscripts and miniature paintings. The exhibition, on view from March 19 through July 3, 2011, communicates the history of the epic and its literary highlights, as well as the important role the Shahname for Persian national identity. The National Epic Shahnameh by the poet Ferdausi is one of the great works of world literature. In nearly 50,000 verses, it recounts a partly mythical, partly historical past of the Iranian people right up to the Islamic conquest of Persia. There is also a companion book available, "Shahnemeh: The Persian Book of Kings." [link]