Page 31

 THE PERSIAN ORNAMENT. 3' 
its capital city Susa in the 7 th century before Christ and then founded
a powerful state making Egbotana the capital, but who were later on subjugated
themselves in the year 550 B. C. by the Persians under Cyrus. No remains,
however, of a special Medean art have ever been discovered. Persia developed
into the most powerful empire in the world under the reigns of Cyrus (559—529),
Kambyses (529—522), Darius (52 i— 485), and Xerxes (485—465
B. C), but was in its turn conquered by Alexander the Great in the year 330
B. C. From the years 312 to 284 B. C. it was under the sway of the Seleucidens,
from 284 B. C. to 
284 A. D. it was subject to the Arsacidens, and from 284 A. D. to 
641 A. D. to the Sassanides. Under the sway of the latter a new Persian Empire
was established which flourished until it finally became subject to Islamite
supremacy. The Islamites when in decided power changed entirely the character
of Art then flourishing, giving it an entirely new direction and turning
it on to entirely different lines from those along which it had hitherto
moved. Persian art, which continued to develop for about two centuries, is
the last echo of the art of the Mesopotamian lands. With the destruction
of the Persian Empire by Alexander the Great, Hellenic art, already flourishing
at that period, won the upper hand throughout the Orient. 
Plate 11. 
Fig. i. Lion frieze in the Louvre, Paris (Dieulafoy). 
 2. LIon and griffen frieze (Dieulafoy). 
3, 4, and i i. Columns from Persepolis (Uhde). 
5, and 7. Column in the hail of Xerxes in Persepolis (Uhde). 
6. Detail from the tomb of King Achemenides in the necropolis of Takhte-.
Djemschid (Dieulafoy). 
8. Floor of stairs in the palace of Artaxerxes (Libonis). 
 9. Frieze, a winged steer (Libonis). 
io. Relief at Persepolis, showing the king fighting with a unicorn (Lübke).
12. Persian pedestal (Dieulafoy). 
Plate 12. 
Fig. I and 2. Persian wainscotting of glazed terra-cotta (Libonis). 
3. Head of a steer in the Louvre (Perrot et Chipiez). 
4, 5, and 6. Persian pottery (Perrot et Chipiez). 
7. From a bas-relief in the hail of the 100 columns, Persepolis (Flandin
et 
Coste, Perse ancienne). 
,, 8. Persian silver coin (Perrot et Chipiez). 
 9. Bas-relief with the picture of Ahura-Mazda in Persepolis, belongs to
fig. 7. ,, 10. Head-dress of Cyrus (Dieulafoy).