Arts of the Hellenized East: Precious Metalwork and Gems of the Pre-Islamic Era

Silverwork in the Orient marks the eighth volume in Thames & Hudson’s celebrated series cataloging the treasures of the al-Sabah Collection, Kuwait. The Collection houses a vast array of silver vessels dating from Alexander the Great’s conquest of Iran and Bactria in the middle of the fourth century BCE.Included in this publication are objects made of precious metals, predominantly gilded silver, from the fourth century BCE up to the advent of the Islamic era. An expert on this little-understood period, Martha L. Carter connects far-flung regions from northern Greece to the Hindu Kush, tracing the common cultural threads that link these diverse regions and peoples.The final section includes an essay by curator Prudence O. Harper, dealing with an important group of Sasanian silver vessels and gems, and an essay on the technology of ancient silver production by Pieter Meyers, who has p