Book of Kings (Shahnama), Walters Art Museum, MS. W.603

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/legalcodePublished 2009

The Walters Art Museum600 N. Charles StreetBaltimore, Maryland

21201http://www.thewalters.org/

This document is a digital facsimile of selections from a manuscript belonging to the Walters ArtMuseum, in Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States. It is one of a number of manuscriptsthat have been digitized as part of a project generously funded by the National Endowment forthe Humanities, and by an anonymous donor to the Walters Art Museum. More details aboutthe manuscripts at the Walters can be found by visiting The Walters Art Museum's websitewww.thewalters.org. For further information about this book, and online resources for Waltersmanuscripts, please contact us through the Walters Website by email, and ask for your message tobe directed to the Department of Manuscripts.

NOTE: The pages in this book are ordered from right to left. This means that to view the pages inorder, you should go the last page of the document and read what would be from “back-to-front”for a Western manuscript.

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fol. 222b:Title: Khusraw Parvīz battles Bahrām ChūbīnahForm: Illustration

fol. 236a:Title: Gurdiyah, sister of Bahrām Chūbīnah, kills herhusband GastahmForm: Illustration

fol. 253b:Title: Mihr Hurmuzd kills Khusraw ParvīzForm: Illustration

fol. 260b:Title: Saʿd-i Vaqqāṣ kills Rustam-i HurmuzdForm: Illustration

fol. 269a:Title: The tomb of Firdawsī in a landscapeForm: Illustration

Acquisition Walters Art Museum, 1931, by Henry Walters bequest

Binding The binding is not original.

Dates to the thirteenth century AH / nineteenth CE; lacquerboards (no flap); floral design in the central ovals andpendants; doublures decorated with a plant with yellowflowers (perhaps daffodils)

Bibliography Storey, C. A. Persian Literature: A Bio-BibliographicalSurvey, Vol. 1. (London: Luzac, 1927- ), 112-159.

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fol. 35a:Title: Isfandiyār ties the hands of Gurgsār and takes himprisonerForm: Illustration

fol. 59b:Title: Zavārah kills Isfandiyār’s son Nūsh-AzarForm: Illustration

fol. 72b:Title: Rustam kills his brother Shaghād before dying inthe pitForm: Illustration

fol. 88a:Title: The hanging of Farāmarz on the order of BahmanForm: Illustration

fol. 117b:Title: Alexander the Great fight the AbyssiniansForm: Illustration

fol. 132b:Title: Ardashīr kills disobedient warriorsForm: Illustration

fol. 151b:Title: Shāpūr captures the king of RūmForm: Illustration

fol. 172b:Title: Bahrām Gūr huntingForm: Illustration

fol. 184b:Title: Bahrām Gūr wrestles with two Indian championsin the presence of Shangul, king of IndiaForm: Illustration

fol. 209a:Title: Bahrām Chūbīnah defeats Khusraw Parvīz incombatForm: Illustration

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Collation Catchwords: Written on versos, usually quoting a hemistich

Dimensions 19.5 cm wide by 34.0 cm high

Written surface 13.0 cm wide by 25.5 cm high

Layout Columns: 4Ruled lines: 25Framing lines in red, green, blue, black, and gold

Contents fols. 2b - 269a:Title: ShāhnāmahText note: Text incomplete at beginning and endHand note: Written in black nastaʿlīq script withchapter/section headings in red on a gold groundDecoration note: Seventeen illustrations; chapter/section headings in illuminated panels; framing lines inred, green, blue, black, and gold

Decoration Upper board outside:Title: BindingForm: BindingLabel: This black lacquer binding with central oval andpendants is decorated with gold flowers and dates to thethirteenth century AH / nineteenth century CE.

Upper board inside:Title: DoublureForm: DoublureLabel: This painted doublure dates to the thirteenthcentury AH / nineteenth century CE.

fol. 2b:Title: Sulṭān Maḥmūd of Ghaznī; Iyāz (his slave); andthe poets Firdawsī, ʿUnṣurī, and ʿAsjadīForm: Illustration

fol. 24b:Title: Isfandiyār decapitates BidarāfshForm: Illustration

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Shelf mark Walters Art Museum Ms. W.603

Descriptive Title Book of kings (Shahnama)

Text title ShāhnāmahVernacular:

Author Authority name: FirdawsīAs-written name: Abū al-Qāsim Ḥasan ibn Isḥāq FirdawsīṬūsīName, in vernacular:

Note: Author dates preferred by cataloger: d. 411 or 416 AH /1020-5 CE

Abstract This is an illuminated and illustrated incomplete copy of theShāhnāmah (Book of kings) by Abū al-Qāsim Firdawsī (d.411 or 416 AH / 1020-5 CE), dating between the eleventhcentury AH / seventeenth CE and the thirteenth century AH /nineteenth CE. The text, written in black nastaʿlīq scriptwith chapter/section headings in red on a gold ground, isillustrated with seventeen paintings. Two of the illustrations(fols. 2b and 269a) are in a clearly recognizable Qajarstyle and certainly date to the thirteenth century AH /nineteenth CE. The others may be late Safavid, repainted inthe thirteenth century AH / nineteenth CE.

Date 11th century AH / 17th CE -- 13th century AH / 19th CE

Origin Iran

Form Book

Genre Historical

Genre Literary -- Poetry

Language The primary language in this manuscript is Persian.

Support material Paper

Laid paper

Extent Foliation: 272

This document is a digital facsimile of selections from a manuscript belonging to the Walters ArtMuseum, in Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States. It is one of a number of manuscriptsthat have been digitized as part of a project generously funded by the National Endowment forthe Humanities, and by an anonymous donor to the Walters Art Museum. More details aboutthe manuscripts at the Walters can be found by visiting The Walters Art Museum's websitewww.thewalters.org. For further information about this book, and online resources for Waltersmanuscripts, please contact us through the Walters Website by email, and ask for your message tobe directed to the Department of Manuscripts.

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/legalcodePublished 2011

A digital facsimile of selections fromWaltersMs. W.603, Book of kings (Shahnama)

Title: Shāhnāmah

Published by: The Walters Art Museum600 N. Charles Street Baltimore, MD 21201

http://www.thewalters.org/