John Curtis was Keeper of the Middle East Department at the British Museum 1989-2011. He is now Chief Executive Officer of the Iran Heritage Foundation, President of the British Institute for the Study of Iraq, and a Trustee of the Honor Frost Foundation. He specialises in the archaeology and history of Iraq and Iran c. 1000-330 BC on which he has written or edited twenty-three books and more than 100 articles. He directed excavations at eight different sites in Iraq on behalf of the British Museum between 1982 and 1989, including the important Assyrian sites of Khirbet Qasrij, Khirbet Khatuniyeh, Nimrud and Balawat.

The eight essays published in this volume make a valuable contribution to the study of ancient Iran. Covering a diverse range of subjects and written by leading experts in the field, they illuminate aspects of the arts, architecture and culture of Persia from the Achaemenid to the Sassanian period.

• Editor's NoteIntroduction- John CurtisTerence Mitchell's Published Works1. Five Unpublished Persepolis Relief Fragments in the Ashmolean Museum- Paul Collins, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford2. Where Did the Persian Kings Live in Babylon?- John Curtis, Curator Emeritus, British Museum; Director, Iran Heritage Foundation3. The Use of Seals in Babylonia under the Achaemenids- Christopher Walker, Curator Emeritus, British Museum4. An Iranian in the Court of King Nebuchadnezzar- Alan Millard, Professor Emeritus, University of Liverpool5. Biblical Archaeology in the Persian Period- Terence Mitchell, lately Curator Emeritus, British Museum6. The Textual Connections between the Cyrus Cylinder and the Bible, with Particular Reference to Isaiah- Shahrokh Razmjou, Department of Archaeology, University of Tehran7. Interpreting Sasanian Beards: Significant Images in an Interconnected World- Prudence Harper, Curator Emerita, Metropolitan Museum of Art8. Sasanian-Zoroastrian Intellectual Life in the Fifth and Sixth Centuries AD- Mahnaz Moazami, Associate Editor, Encyclopaedia Iranica, University of ColumbiaIndex of selected place-names and personal names