------------------------------------------------------------------------ Transcriber’s Note: This version of the text cannot represent certain typographical effects. Italics are delimited with the ‘_’ character as _italic_. Footnotes have been re-sequenced for uniqueness, and have been moved to follow the chapters in which they are referenced. The author notes, in her guide to pronunciation, that the diacritical marks “have been largely omitted” in the footnotes. Minor errors, attributable to the printer, have been corrected. Please see the transcriber’s note at the end of this text for details regarding the handling of any textual issues encountered during its preparation. [Illustration: FAC SIMILE OF A PORTION OF THE TITLE PAGE OF AN ILLUMINATED “SHĀH NĀMAH” (SEE PREFACE) ] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PERSIAN LITERATURE ANCIENT AND MODERN BY ELIZABETH A. REED ------- MEMBER OF THE PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF GREAT BRITAIN MEMBER OF THE INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF ORIENTALISTS AUTHOR OF HINDU LITERATURE, ETC. ------- CHICAGO S.C. GRIGGS AND COMPANY 1893 COPYRIGHT, 1893. BY S.C. GRIGGS AND COMPANY. =The Lakeside Press= R.R. DONNELLEY & SONS CO., CHICAGO TABLE OF CONTENTS. ------- PERSIAN LITERATURE, ANCIENT AND MODERN. ------- DIVISION I.—EARLY TABLETS AND MYTHOLOGY. CHAPTER I. HISTORIC OUTLINE. ORIGIN OF PERSIAN LITERATURE—ACCAD AND SUMER—LITERATURE OF 1 NINEVEH—BABYLON—ĪRĀN OR PERSIA—PHYSICAL FEATURES—PERSIAN ART—MANUSCRIPTS—EARLY LITERATURE—THE ARABIAN CONQUEST— LITERATURE OF MODERN PERSIA—PERSIAN ROMANCE CHAPTER II. THE CUNEIFORM INSCRIPTIONS. EARLY LITERATURE—HISTORIC TABLETS—THE INSCRIPTIONS OF 30 NEBUCHADNEZZAR—THE FALL OF BABYLON—CYRUS, THE ACHÆMENIAN— BEHISTUN INSCRIPTIONS—DARIUS AT PERSEPOLIS—INSCRIPTIONS OF XERXES—ARTAXERXES—A LATER PERSIAN TABLET—RÉSUMÉ CHAPTER III. THE POETRY AND MYTHOLOGY OF THE TABLETS.