Iran/Persia: 'Isfandiyar's Fifth Ordeal'. Miniature painting from the Shahnameh (Book of Kings) of Shah Tahmasp, ca. 1525-1535. Isfandiyar, son of Gushtasp (the 5th Kayanian King), battles Simurgh the Fantastic Bird. The Shahnameh or Shah-nama is an enormous poetic opus written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi around 1000 CE and is the national epic of the cultural sphere of Greater Persia. Consisting of some 60,000 verses, the Shahnameh tells the mythical and historical past of (Greater) Iran from the creation of the world until the Islamic conquest of Persia in the 7th century.

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Size: 3700px × 4762px
Photo credit: © Pictures From History / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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