TEHRAN – Markaz Publications, a major publishing house in Tehran, plans to unveil a Persian version of “Discovering Cyrus: The Persian Conqueror Astride the Ancient World”, British-born Iranian-American scholar Reza Zarghamee’s book on Cyrus the Great, during a ceremony on January 14.

Abbas Mokhber, who translated the book from English into Persian, and a number of scholars and historians are scheduled to attend the ceremony.

The book recounts the life story of Cyrus the Great, founder of the Persian Empire in the sixth century BC.

The background of the Persians, turbulence of the times and political objectives have been taken into account in the book, which also includes stories that lie in the borderlands between history and mystery.

Born in London in 1978 to Iranian parents, Zarghamee grew up in Boston. His immersion in the ancient history of Iran started at the age of thirteen when he began studying Old Persian cuneiform at the urging of Professor Richard Frye, a founder of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University.

He also attended Columbia University, pursuing a double-major in history and biology, studying Persian language and literature, and graduating with honors in 2000.

In 2003, Zarghamee received a J.D. degree from Harvard Law School, where his writings included a comparison of ancient Near Eastern legal systems.

The book was originally released in November 2013 by Mage Publications that publishes high-quality English-language books on Persian arts, history, culture and literature in Odenton, Maryland.

Photo: A copy of the English version of “Discovering Cyrus: The Persian Conqueror Astride the Ancient World”,

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