The best known poem is the 12th century Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, which came much later in Persian history, but is still a fine example of Persian verse. (“Rubaiyat” means a collection of four-line stanzas.) The best-loved themes were friendship, beauty, great deeds of heroes, and courage. The primary art of ancient Persia included stonework, rock wall carvings called reliefs, and objects made of bronze, silver, and gold. Thousands of bronze daggers have been found from this time, obviously made by very skilled craftsmen. The sculptures and stonework show the Persians with long, straight noses, and very stylized, tightly curled hair at the nape of the neck. The men had full, stiff beards composed of very tightly curled hair compressed together. Flat curls pressed against the forehead. They probably wore wigs. Some groups wore a long lock of hair which dangled just behind the ear.

Later, the walls and domes of many of the beautiful palaces were paved with mosaics made of small glass stones and tiles. Many of these mosaics still exist today.