’A place where eternally blossoming roses grow’: The garden in Iranian textiles

Abstract

• In his monumental epic poem, the Shahnameh, or ‘Book of Kings’, Ferdowsi (b. 940) compared his homeland Iran with the abundance of a garden in spring, full of pomegranates, apples and quinces, and a place where eternally blossoming roses and narcissuses grow. (1) Gardens are a frequent topic in Iranian literature. Flowers and trees – most famously the gracefully bending cypress – have become metaphors for the beauty of the beloved. Poets devoted themselves to evoking the image and meaning of gardens in ever newer forms.