Lukonin, Vladimir G. (and) James Hogarth — Persia II

Cleveland, World Publishing Company, 1967. Hardcover. A gray casebound book with gilt text on the spine. There is a dust jacket with a white spine with black text, and a color illustration on the front cover. The end pages are color maps. 232 pages; illustrated in both black-and-white and color. "Illustrated archeological and historical survey of the life and culture of Persia from 323 B.C. to the seventh century A.D." Contents are as follows: The historical background -- Political developments -- The social and economic context -- The towns -- The imperial domain and conditional ownership of land -- Private property; the commune; slave-owning -- The contribution of archaeology -- Archaeologists and excavators -- Some great names -- The main Hellenistic sites -- Dura-Europos and Mesopotamia -- Merv and Nisa -- Sites in Afghanistan and Pakistan -- Investigations in Persia -- Sassanian sites -- Methods of investigation -- The study of coins -- Coins as dynastic propaganda: Varahran and Narseh -- Coins and chronology: the problem of the Kushans -- Other uses of coins -- The study of seals -- The "official portrait" -- The problem of the Sassanian Bullae -- Rock carvings -- Toreutic art -- Prospects for the future -- The pattern of Hellenistic civilisation -- The Parthian contribution -- Syncretism and "universal religions" -- The problems of Zoroastrianism -- The genesis of Sassanian art -- Images of divinity -- Ideology and politics. G/G: Stains and marks to the dust jacket. Wear to its edges and corners. The binding glue on the book has dried, but all pages remain bound inside. Clean body pages.