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Asia-Pacific. Persepolis ( / pərˈsɛpəlɪs /; Old Persian: 𐎱𐎠𐎼𐎿, romanized:Pārsa; New Persian: تخت جمشید, romanized :Takht-e Jamshīd, lit. 'Throne of Jamshid ') was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire ( c.550–330 BC ). It is situated in the plains of Marvdasht, encircled by southern Zagros mountains, Fars ...
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Persepolis, an ancient capital of the kings of the Achaemenian dynasty of Iran (Persia), located about 30 miles (50 km) northeast of Shīrāz in the Fars region of southwestern Iran. The site lies near the confluence of the Pulvār (Sīvand) and Kor rivers. In 1979 the ruins were designated a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The site is marked by a large terrace with its east side abutting the Kūh-e Raḥmat (“Mount of Mercy”). The other three sides are formed by a retaining wall, varying in height with the slope of the ground from 13 to 41 feet (4 to 12 metres); on the west side a magnificent double stair in two flights of 111 short stone steps leads to the top. On the terrace are the ruins of a number of colossal buildings, all constructed of a dark gray stone (often polished to a marble-like surface) from the adjacent mountain. The stone was cut with the utmost precision into blocks of great size, which were laid without mortar; many of them are still in place. Especially striking are the huge columns, 13 of which still stand in the audience hall of Darius I (the Great; reigned 522–486 bce), known as the apadana, the name given to a similar hall built by Darius at Susa. There are two more columns still standing in the entrance hall of the Gate of Xerxes, and a third has been assembled there from its broken pieces.
In 1933 two sets of gold and silver plates recording in the three forms of cuneiform—Ancient Persian, Elamite, and Babylonian—the boundaries of the Persian empire were discovered in the foundations of Darius’s hall of audience. A number of inscriptions, cut in stone, of Darius I, Xerxes I, and Artaxerxes III indicate to which monarch the various buildings were attributed. The oldest of these on the south retaining wall gives Darius’s famous prayer for his people: “God protect this country from foe, famine, and falsehood.” There are numerous reliefs of Persian, Median, and Elamite officials, and 23 scenes separated by cypress trees depict representatives from the remote parts of the empire who, led by a Persian or a Mede, made appropriate offerings to the king at the national festival of the vernal equinox.
Behind Persepolis are three sepulchres hewn out of the mountainside; the facades, one of which is incomplete, are richly ornamented with reliefs. About 8 miles (13 km) north by northeast, on the opposite side of the Pulvār River, rises a perpendicular wall of rock in which four similar tombs are cut at a considerable height from the bottom of the valley. This place is called Naqsh-e Rostam (“Picture of Rostam”), from the Sasanian carvings below the tombs, which were thought to represent the mythical hero Rostam. That the occupants of these seven tombs were Achaemenian kings might be inferred from the sculptures, and one of those at Naqsh-e Rostam is expressly declared in its inscriptions to be the tomb of Darius I, son of Hystaspes, whose grave, according to the Greek historian Ctesias, was in a cliff face that could be reached only by means of an apparatus of ropes. The three other tombs at Naqsh-e Rostam are probably those of Xerxes I, Artaxerxes I, and Darius II (Ochus). The two completed graves behind Persepolis probably belong to Artaxerxes II and Artaxerxes III. The unfinished one might be that of Arses, who reigned at the longest two years, but is more likely that of Darius III, last of the Achaemenian line, who was overthrown by Alexander the Great.
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At the foot of Naqsh-e Rostam, situated in the direction of the cliff face, rests a square building known as Kaʿbeh-ye Zardusht (“Kaaba of Zoroaster,” a reference to the cubic Kaaba in Mecca). The building, which is roughly 40 feet (12 metres) high and 24 feet (7 metres) square, probably was constructed in the first half of the 6th century bce, although it has numerous inscriptions from later periods. Though the building is of great linguistic interest, its original purpose is not clear. It may have been a tomb for Achaemenian royalty or some sort of altar, perhaps to the goddess Anahiti.
Nov 19, 2019 · In the present day, it is an archaeological park located northwest of modern Shiraz, Iran, in the Fars province. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979 CE and attracts visitors from around the world who come to experience the wonder that was once the great city of Persepolis.
- Joshua J. Mark
Renowned as the gem of Achaemenid (Persian) ensembles in the fields of architecture, urban planning, construction technology, and art, the royal city of Persepolis ranks among the archaeological sites which have no equivalent and which bear unique witness to a most ancient civilization.
Persepolis Reimagined. Explore the capital of ancient Persia at its height during the reign of King Xerxes. A new immersive web experience from Getty.
Nov 13, 2019 · Persepolis was the capital of the Achaemenid dynasty king Darius the Great, ruler of the Persian Empire between 522–486 B.C.E. The city was the most important of the Achaemenid Persian Empire cities, and its ruins are among the best known and most visited archaeological sites in the world.
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Persepolis - Ancient City, Persian Empire, Achaemenid Dynasty: Though archaeologists have discovered evidence of prehistoric settlement, inscriptions indicate that construction of the city began under Darius I, who, as a member of a new branch of the royal house, made Persepolis the capital of Persia proper, replacing Pasargadae, the burial ...
