Eranshahr
a collection of projects to shape and share the beauty of Iranian culture

A black and red box with gold floral designs and a pull-out card featuring a king in royal robes, a crown, seated on a throne, holding a red object, with a sun symbol in the background, and the text 'Ganjafeh' and its Persian equivalent, with a subtitle 'The Lost Game of the Safavid Court'.

Based on visual, literary, and material evidence, we’ve reconstructed the best-educated version of the Ganjafeh once played in the Safavid courtβ€”later banned in Iran and transformed in India. This edition restores what the game may once have been.

Restoration of the Lost Game of Ganjafeh!

Sign up to be notified when the final playable edition is available.

Traditional nativity scene with people dressed in historical attire, sheep, and a brick oven with bread, representing a festive celebration.

Iranian Rituals

Explorations of tradition spotlight the unique ceremonies and rituals that shape how we remember and belong.

Luckily, Iranian culture holds a deep well of living practices to draw upon: Nowruz and Chaharshanbe Suri, Yalda and Mehregan, Tirgan and Sadeh and countless local rites that rarely travel beyond their towns. Inspired by the fieldwork spirit behind great folklore collections, the Iranian Rituals effort documents, illustrates, and catalogs ceremonies passed down for thousands of years.

Explore The Rituals
A traditional illustration of the fairy tale 'Snow White,' showing an evil witch offering a poisoned apple to a crying baby in a cauldron, with the seven dwarfs watching, and the evil queen with a sinister expression, sitting on a rock with dark foliage in the background.

Iranian Mythical Creatures

We are gathering Iran’s mythical creatures, those whispered in folk tales, epic poems, and religious lore, and giving them new life through illustration and storytelling. Each creature is catalogued with its origins, narratives, and visual identity, forming a living archive of cultural imagination. Our project invites people everywhere to submit legends and help map their regional spread, building a shared mythic map. In doing so, we celebrate, preserve, and re-enchant Iran’s deep well of myth for present and future generations.

Explore The Directory of Creatures
A medieval-style illustration of a royal banquet with seven men in luxurious robes and crowns seated around a large round table, with food, goblets, scrolls, and decorative goblets, in a dimly lit setting.

1001 Shahs (Kings and Queens) of Iran

The 1001 Kings Project brings Iran’s ancient rulers to life through faithful, research-based illustration. Each king is reconstructed from material evidence, coins, seals, dishes, and rock reliefs, rather than later imagination. Together they form a visual chronicle tracing the evolution of Iranian power, style, and identity across millennia. This is the first effort to depict every monarch of Iran’s legendary and historical past with scholarly precision and artistic reverence.

Directory of Kings
Digital illustration of historical figures, including a seated king wearing a crown and armor, with four individuals standing around him; two men in traditional attire with weapons, a woman in a long blue and orange robe, and an older man in a white robe and tall feathered hat.

The Book of Kings

An Illustrated Collection of All the Major Characters in the Shahnameh, the Persian Book of Kings

The Game of Thrones of Ancient Persia, the Shahnameh, is often credited with saving the Persian language from disappearance. This epic poem by Ferdowsi, commissioned by kings and completed over the course of his life’s work, preserves the myths, heroes, and history of Iran. In this project, we have undertaken the effort to introduce every single character in the epic, making them accessible and easy to explore.

Explore The Shahname Characters
Illustration of a traditional scene with people inside a fortified structure with domed roofs, some sitting around a fire, others standing, and some on horses, depicted in red lines.

Bastan TTRPG

A tabletop game that reimagines Iran’s legendary past as a living world, vast, perilous, and full of wonder to rediscover.

Bastan is a tabletop role-playing game set in the mythic world of ancient Iran, where heroes walk among gods and monsters. Players explore kingdoms drawn from epic history and legend, shaping their own destinies through courage, wisdom, and fate. Every province, relic, and creature is grounded in authentic Iranian mythology and archaeology, weaving scholarship into storytelling.

Coming Soon
A traditional Asian artwork depicting a scene with a tiger attacking a white horse, a man in tiger striped clothing wielding a spear, two women in elaborate robes and headgear engaging in conversation, and a man playing a stringed instrument. The scene is set in front of blossoming trees.

NaarDoon

A helpful free visual collection for you to bring in some visual spice to your artwork/lecture/presentation from the rich Persian miniature paintings.

The goal of this library is to promote and accelerate the use of Iranian visual language in modern graphic design, by upcycling traditional Iranian visual arts to create new relevant compositions with rich traditional visual language.

To the Library

Iran Timeline

This timeline takes you on a journey deep into history, from the dawn of ancient civilizations to the modern era. Each period tells the story of events, figures, and achievements that have shaped our identity today.

Explore Timeline

Checkout our 🌞 Gift Shop 🎁

Checkout our 🌞 Gift Shop 🎁

A collection of three black hardcover books with gold decorative borders and a golden sun emblem, three gold and black ornate boxes or frames, a cherry blossom tree, and a small mythical creature resembling a tanuki or dog with human-like features, standing next to the books.

A curated collection of art, books, and games inspired by Iran’s mythology, history, and poetry, thoughtful gifts that bring the beauty of Persian culture to life.

Gift Shop