A French Iranologist has just launched a virtual museum displaying a collection of relics datable to the ancient Iranian Achaemenid Dynasty.

Making the announcement, the director of the French Institute for Iranian Studies (Institut Français de Recherche en Iran) said the website has been constructed by Dr. Pierre Briant who is professor of the Achaemenid History and Civilization at College de France.

The site displays a total number of 8,000 items including coins, seals, utensils, clothes and sculptures, Professor Christian Bromberger added.

The photos of the Achaemenid exhibits, which are housed at the Louvre Museum, the British Museum and the Cairo Museum along with historical and archeological information in French and English, are available on the website.

Bromberger described the move as a colossal effort and said the information has been collected from different museums of the world and is being updated by experts.

He also announced the launching of the Persian version of the site in the near future.

The Achaemenid Empire (559 BC-330 BC) was the first of the Persian Empires to rule over significant portions of Greater Iran.

Encompassing approximately 7.5 million square kilometers, the Achaemenid Empire was territorially the largest empire of classical antiquity.

In its time it had political power over neighboring countries, and had high cultural and economic achievements during its lengthy rule over a vast region from its picturesque capital at Persepolis.

ST/IS