# "The Besotted Iranian Camp Attacked by Night", Folio 241r from the Shahnama (Book of Kings) of Shah Tahmasp, in Abu'l Qasim Firdausi

Abu'l Qasim Firdausi painted this in about 1525–30. It is now at The Met in New York.

Our note:

> Iranian warriors, careless after a night of drinking, are caught in their tents by a surprise attack from their Turanian enemies. The episode belongs to the long wars between Iran and Turan that run through Ferdowsi’s Shahnama, and it is a lesson in the cost of overconfidence.

[Read the full label](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/the-besotted-iranian-camp-attacked-by-night-folio-241r-from-met-452145#about-work)

## The work

- Date: ca. 1525–30
- Medium: Opaque watercolor, ink, silver, and gold on paper
- Dimensions: Painting: H. 11 1/8 in. (28.2 cm) W. 9 1/8 in. (23.2 cm) Entire Page: H. 18 11/16 in. (47.5 cm) W. 12 5/8 in. (32.1 cm)
- Type: Codices
- Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1970.301.36
- Licence: CC0 1.0

## The artist

[Abu'l Qasim Firdausi](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/abu-l-qasim-firdausi), Iranian, Paj ca. 940/41–1020 Tus

10 works in the collection.

## Walk on

- [Abu'l Qasim Firdausi's contemporaries](https://www.ochreeditions.com/galleries/artist/contemporaries-of-abu-l-qasim-firdausi?hang=749) (8 works)
- [More Persian painting and the book](https://www.ochreeditions.com/galleries/style/persian-painting?hang=749) (24 works)
- [15th-century Persia](https://www.ochreeditions.com/galleries/era/15-persia?hang=749) (10 works)

## Get it

- [Print this work](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/the-besotted-iranian-camp-attacked-by-night-folio-241r-from-met-452145#print)
- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/1233.jpg?dl=1
- [The work's page](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/the-besotted-iranian-camp-attacked-by-night-folio-241r-from-met-452145)