Tom Holland Profile picture
New history of Rome's heyday - Pax - out now! Dinosaur lover. Stonehenge Tunnel hater. A 'leading English cricketer' - The Times. Podcast: @theresthistory

Sep 9, 2021, 12 tweets

To @V_and_A, there to visit its show on Epic Iran with - who else? - @aa51_ansari

5,000 years old, & eerie as hell: the cap with ibex horns & the wings of the bird of prey draped over his shoulders hint at a being who is himself part animal & bird #EpicIran

Three absolute babes from mid-2nd century BC Susa #EpicIran

Here we go! #EpicIran

Is it not passing brave to be a king? #EpicIran

Parthian cat #EpicIran

The face of Sasanian power (mid-5th century)

Wonderfully sassy Sasanian dancing girl

‘Gabriel presents the Prophet to the Archangel Azrael’ (1465-66)

Illustration from Herat, in what is now Afghanistan

Look at this absolute lad!

Iranian portrait of a European giving his dog some wine (1672)

Fath Ali Shah, wearing a spectacularly heavy crown that harks back to Sasanian tradition. The gems were among the multitudes of precious stones (including the Koh-i-Noor) looted from Delhi in 1739 by Nadir Shah.

He may or may not feature in tomorrow’s live @TheRestHistory

‘This will also pass’: a bronze thorn branch forms the phrase from Rumi #EpicIran

Share this Scrolly Tale with your friends.

A Scrolly Tale is a new way to read Twitter threads with a more visually immersive experience.
Discover more beautiful Scrolly Tales like this.

Keep scrolling