Shâhnâmah [Text Page] - Persian manuscript

The Shâhnâmah, which is also known as “The Book of Kings” was written between 977 and 1010 CE by Persian poet Abu ʾl-Qasim Ferdowsi Tusi. That is the longest epic poetry ever composed by a single person and it consists of 60,000 verses. The Shâhnâmah tells about the Persian Empire, pre-Islamic kings, and knights, including Alexander the Great (Iskandar). The timeline of the events this poem describes span from the very creation of the world until the Arab conquest of Iran and is divided into three parts: the "mythical", "heroic", and "historical" ages. "The Book of Kings” has not only historical importance but also regarded as a literary masterpiece, which has a huge influence on modern Persian language, Zoroastrism and its adherents and cultural identity of modern-day Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan. The Shâhnâmah, or The Book of Kings, by the poet Adbul Kasim Mansar Firdausi (c. 940-1020) is the Persian national epic. It recounts the history and exploits of the pre-Islamic kings and knights, including Alexander the Great (Iskandar). The New York Public Library comprises simultaneously a set of scholarly research collections and a network of community libraries, and its intellectual and cultural range is both global and local, while singularly attuned to New York City. That combination lends to the Library an extraordinary richness. It is special also in being historically a privately managed, nonprofit corporation with a public mission, operating with both private and public financing in a century-old, still evolving private-public partnership. Last year, over 16 million New Yorkers visited the library, and over 25 million used its website. The NYPL Digital Gallery provides free and open access to over 640,000 images digitized from the The New York Public Library's vast collections, including not just photographs but illuminated manuscripts, historical maps, vintage posters, rare prints and more. Digital projects and partnerships at NYPL are managed by the Digital Experience Group, a 21-person team of programmers, designers, and producers dedicated to expanding and enhancing all points of computer and Web-mediated interaction with the library's collections, services, and staff.

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