Shahnameh of Ferdowsi
In Our Time
BBC
4.6 • 9.9K Ratings
🗓️ 13 December 2012
⏱️ 43 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the epic poem the Shahnameh of Ferdowsi, the 'Book of Kings', which has been at the heart of Persian culture for the past thousand years. The poem recounts a legendary history of Iran from the dawn of time to the fall of the Persian Empire in the 7th century and serves, in a sense, as a creation myth for the Persian nation.
The Shahnameh took Ferdowsi thirty years to write and, consisting of over 50,000 verses, is said to be the longest poem ever written by a single author. Laced with tragedy, Ferdowsi's epic chronicles battles, romances, family rifts and Man's interior struggle with himself. Although the stories may not always be true they have a profound resonance with Iranians even today, and the poem has been referred to as both the 'encyclopaedia of Iranian culture' and the identity card of the Persian people.
With:
Narguess Farzad Senior Fellow in Persian at SOAS, University of London
Charles Melville Professor of Persian History at Pembroke College at the University of Cambridge
Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis Curator of Middle Eastern Coins at the British Museum
Producer: Natalia Fernandez.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know. |
| 0:04.7 | My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds. |
| 0:08.5 | As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices. |
| 0:18.0 | What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars, |
| 0:24.6 | poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples. |
| 0:29.7 | If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds. |
| 0:36.0 | Thanks for downloading the In Our Time Podcast. |
| 0:39.0 | For more details about In Our Time and for our terms of use, please go to BBC.co. UK forward slash radio for. I hope you enjoy |
| 0:46.5 | the program. Hello over 1,000 years ago in 101. The Persian poet Fadoci, finished writing its epic poem, The |
| 0:58.5 | Charminae or Book of Kings. It had taken him 30 years to complete, and consisting of some 50,000 verses, it's the longest |
| 1:05.3 | poem ever written by a single author. |
| 1:07.7 | The dose's aim was to narrate the history of the world from a Persian perspective, from the |
| 1:11.5 | beginning of time up until the Arab conquest in the seventh century |
| 1:15.2 | and to preserve the myths and legends of days gone by. |
| 1:18.3 | It's a sweeping masterpiece full of battles and bloodshed, |
| 1:21.0 | kings and queens, love and hate, heroes and |
| 1:23.1 | villains, but the Charminae is more than just a storybook, more than just a poem. |
| 1:27.0 | Indeed, it's sometimes described as the Encyclopedia |
| 1:33.7 | of the Persian people. Today the Charmanee occupies a place at the heart of |
| 1:37.6 | Iranian culture, proof that it seems, |
| 1:40.2 | message and symbolism are just as resonant in the 21st century as they were a |
| 1:44.8 | millennium ago. With me to discuss the Charmaneer Fadossi, |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.