Like other great epics, Shahnameh is a chronicle of the human imaginative consciousness. It tells the long history of the Persian people beginning with the creation of the world and the origin myths of civilization and ending with the Arab conquest of Iran in the seventh century. A mix of myth, epic tales, and history, Shahnameh takes the reader on heroic adventures filled with superhuman champions, magical creatures, heart-wrenching love stories, and centuries-long battles.