This multiauthor collection of fifty-one essays presents an up-to-date survey of pre-Islamic Iran, from the earliest evidence of Paleolithic occupation in the Pleistocene to the Islamic conquest. It includes chapters on the archaeology of virtually every part of the country, down to the Achaemenid period, as well as a wealth of studies dealing with specific aspects of the Achaemenid, Arsacid, and Sasanian empires. A particular strength of the collection is the attention given to often-neglected topics, including the languages of the pre-Iranian period; the Iranian migration; color and gilding on Achaemenid monuments; Achaemenid iconography; Persid, Arsacid, Elymaean, and Sasanian coinage; and Sasanian political ideology and calendrics. The broad authorship of this volume includes Iranian, European, North American, Australian, and Japanese scholars. It represents a new benchmark in Iranian studies at the beginning of the twenty-first century.