Narrator: Curator Renee Dreyfus:

Dreyfus: This marvelous image of a gift bearer is from the fabled city of Persepolis, which is located in today's southwestern Iran. And it dates back over 2,500 years - it was during this time that the Persians had the greatest empire that the world had ever seen.

Narrator: This gift bearer originally decorated a monumental stone staircase. He was part of a carved portrayal of a procession of attendants carrying food, drink and animals to a royal banquet or religious ritual.   

Dreyfus: His dress and his pose identify him as a Persian servant, and he was bringing a filled vessel for the celebration. He is wearing what's known as a bashlyk - it's one piece of fabric, but when you look closely at it you can see curls from his hair, curled mustache, and from his beard, almost like snails wrapped around, peeking out.

Narrator: Now, look between this gift bearer, and the larger carving of the “winged genius” to the left – made around 300 years earlier. You can see how the Persians were inspired by Assyrian art. But in those 300 years, a little more realism has crept into the Persian carving. That’s probably because of the influence of more naturalistic Greek art – a sign of the growing connections between cultures in the Mediterranean and the Near East.