Matthew P. Canepa is Professor of Art History at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London.

"A highly original study of the manner in which the succession of rulers of Iran, from the time of the Archaemenids (50-330 BCE) to that of the Sasanians (224-651 CE), manipulated collective memory through the creation of stunning monuments at important locations of their empires. . . .Canepa enables us to see the world not with Roman eyes (as is usually the case) but with Persian eyes, looking out over the Middle East from the immense plateau of Iran."

• ACKNOWLEDGMENTSPREFACE1 Introduction: Conceptualizing Iran and Building Iranian EmpiresPART ONE Ordering the Earth2 Building the First Persian Empire3 The Destruction of Achaemenid Persia and the Creation of Seleucid Iran4 The Rise of the Arsacids and a New Iranian Topography of Power5 Rival Visions and New Royal Identities in Post-Achaemenid Anatolia and the Caucasus6 Sasanian Rupture and RenovationPART TWO Sacred Spaces7 Persian Religion and Achaemenid Sacred Spaces8 The Seleucid Transformation of Iranian Sacred Spaces9 Ancient Sacred Landscapes and Memories of Persian Religion in Anatolia and the CaucasusPART THREE Landscapes of Time and Memory10 Iranian Funerary Landscapes11 Dynastic Sanctuaries12 Sasanian Memory and the Persian Monumental and Ritual Legacy13 Reshaping Iran’s Past and Building Its FuturePART FOUR Palace and Paradise14 Persian Palatial Cosmologies15 The Seleucid and Arsacid Transformations of Iranian Palatial Architecture16 The Palace of the Lord of the Sevenfold World17 Earthly ParadisesEpilogueNOTESBIBLIOGRAPHYINDEX

Matthew P. Canepa is Professor of Art History at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London.

"A highly original study of the manner in which the succession of rulers of Iran, from the time of the Archaemenids (50-330 BCE) to that of the Sasanians (224-651 CE), manipulated collective memory through the creation of stunning monuments at important locations of their empires. . . .Canepa enables us to see the world not with Roman eyes (as is usually the case) but with Persian eyes, looking out over the Middle East from the immense plateau of Iran."

• ACKNOWLEDGMENTSPREFACE1 Introduction: Conceptualizing Iran and Building Iranian EmpiresPART ONE Ordering the Earth2 Building the First Persian Empire3 The Destruction of Achaemenid Persia and the Creation of Seleucid Iran4 The Rise of the Arsacids and a New Iranian Topography of Power5 Rival Visions and New Royal Identities in Post-Achaemenid Anatolia and the Caucasus6 Sasanian Rupture and RenovationPART TWO Sacred Spaces7 Persian Religion and Achaemenid Sacred Spaces8 The Seleucid Transformation of Iranian Sacred Spaces9 Ancient Sacred Landscapes and Memories of Persian Religion in Anatolia and the CaucasusPART THREE Landscapes of Time and Memory10 Iranian Funerary Landscapes11 Dynastic Sanctuaries12 Sasanian Memory and the Persian Monumental and Ritual Legacy13 Reshaping Iran’s Past and Building Its FuturePART FOUR Palace and Paradise14 Persian Palatial Cosmologies15 The Seleucid and Arsacid Transformations of Iranian Palatial Architecture16 The Palace of the Lord of the Sevenfold World17 Earthly ParadisesEpilogueNOTESBIBLIOGRAPHYINDEX

Matthew P. Canepa is Professor of Art History at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London.

"A highly original study of the manner in which the succession of rulers of Iran, from the time of the Archaemenids (50-330 BCE) to that of the Sasanians (224-651 CE), manipulated collective memory through the creation of stunning monuments at important locations of their empires. . . .Canepa enables us to see the world not with Roman eyes (as is usually the case) but with Persian eyes, looking out over the Middle East from the immense plateau of Iran."

• ACKNOWLEDGMENTSPREFACE1 Introduction: Conceptualizing Iran and Building Iranian EmpiresPART ONE Ordering the Earth2 Building the First Persian Empire3 The Destruction of Achaemenid Persia and the Creation of Seleucid Iran4 The Rise of the Arsacids and a New Iranian Topography of Power5 Rival Visions and New Royal Identities in Post-Achaemenid Anatolia and the Caucasus6 Sasanian Rupture and RenovationPART TWO Sacred Spaces7 Persian Religion and Achaemenid Sacred Spaces8 The Seleucid Transformation of Iranian Sacred Spaces9 Ancient Sacred Landscapes and Memories of Persian Religion in Anatolia and the CaucasusPART THREE Landscapes of Time and Memory10 Iranian Funerary Landscapes11 Dynastic Sanctuaries12 Sasanian Memory and the Persian Monumental and Ritual Legacy13 Reshaping Iran’s Past and Building Its FuturePART FOUR Palace and Paradise14 Persian Palatial Cosmologies15 The Seleucid and Arsacid Transformations of Iranian Palatial Architecture16 The Palace of the Lord of the Sevenfold World17 Earthly ParadisesEpilogueNOTESBIBLIOGRAPHYINDEX