Art of Persia

Samira journeys to places rarely seen by western audiences to reveal how the Persian Empire was born, the mysterious writing of its early people and how Iran's powerful kings built a vast empire that became the envy of the ancient world.

Samira gives a remarkable account of the clash between two powerful civilisations and explains how Iran preserved its distinctive language and culture despite the Arab conquest of Persia in AD651.

Samira Ahmed travels to the crumbling ruins of an ancient walled city and goes back to when Persia faced her gravest threat, Genghis Khan. But from the death and destruction there emerged a golden age of Persian poetry and art.