Shahnama

Pishdadian episode - The Greatness of Kayumars
and the Envy of Ahriman in Shahnama
by Abolqasem Ferdowsi (Firdausi) c. 1010 A.D.

The Iranian Shahnama or Epic of the Kings is one of the great works of literature, encomapssing mythology, poetry, history and propaganda. There are more than 50,000 couplet verses in persian, complete with exquisite and detailed illustrations. Many copies exist around the world, the earliest dating from the beginning of the 13th century.

Manuchir episode - Manuchir Ascends the Throne and Makes an Oration
by Ferdowsi in Shahnama c. 1010

These images come from the failing Princeton Shahnama site (cache of introduction) [LINK UPDATED]

Other relevant sites:

• UK Shahnama project (not fun with Firefox, but using the viewer allows easy zooming and this is arguably the best/most comprehensive site around)
• Shahnama home (english beginning but arabic/persian discussion logs)
• The complete persian text.
• UPDATE: See this Metafilter post from 2009.