The Art of Persia

I've been enjoying this 3-part series on BBC4. It finished tonight but it's available on BBC iPlayer.

Link to iPlayer:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000k48j

Taster clips here:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000k48g/art-of-persia-series-1-episode-1

It's as much a history of Persia as an art history programme. Obviously it's a large country with a long history, so it's only a brief survey, but it is well worth watching if either you have a little or no knowledge of the country, or if you are more knowledgeable it's well worth going along for the ride because of the stunning art and architecture on display. There was a lot of emphasis on poetry and collections of classic stories which helped keep alive the language and culture through successive Arabic and Mongol invasions. So a good bit of background to the country.

For the wargamer there's also a brief bit about the Achaemenid, Sassanid periods, plus successive dynasties in what we call the Middle Ages, and Early Modern periods.

Well worth three hours of anyone's time.