Persepolis

It was probably Cambyses who originally chose the site as a dynastic seat, but it was mainly Darius (521-485 BC) who realized it. It was he who built the great platform, on which all the buildings are situated, and the main royal audience hall, the Apadana, its largest building, as well as many of the subsidiary halls and apartments. The work was continued by his successors Xerxes (485-465 BC) and to a lesser extent by Artaxerxes, and indeed the work was only interrupted by Alexander the Great’s destruction of it in 330 BC, so its ultimate grand concept was probably never fully realized. Its destruction at the hands of Alexander was probably deliberate, giving into pressure from the Athenian contingents in his army, who demanded vengeance for Xerxes’s burning of the Acropolis.

At first sight Persepolis might appear a meaningless jumble of columns, doors without walls and walls without doors. But most of the walls, which were built of mud, have disappeared, leaving only low foundation walls and a skeleton of stone. Moreover, the entire complex is strictly ordered, not only in original concept, being laid out as a unified whole, but in its workings, with a planned, ordered progression around the complex. One can follow today, therefore, much the same route as the courtiers and ambassadors followed in the days of the Great King. The entire complex is built on a vast terrace about 450 x 300 meters in area built of massive stone blocks some 20 meters high above the plain. There is only one entrance, up a ceremonial double staircase on the west side facing the plain, the steps shallow enough for horses. On top is the actual monumental entrance to Persepolis, the Gate of All Nations, built by Xerxes, guarded by four colossal stone bulls in the Assyrian style. Many famous travelers left their mark here, such as Stanley, the African explorer, or McNaughten, whose death in Afghanistan in 1842 sparked off the infamous Retreat from Kabul. Foreign dignitaries visiting the Achaemenid court would then have followed a ceremonial way leading towards the foot of the hill, turning right through an unfinished gateway begun by Xerxes into a great courtyard in front of the Hall of 100 Columns. This was the great Throne Hall built by Xerxes.

Persian and Median nobles, however, would have passed directly from the Gate of All Nations into the courtyard surrounding Apadana, built by Darius. This was the main ceremonial Audience Hall of Persepolis, and its focal point. It is a gigantic building on its own great platform, approached on the north and east by magnificently decorated staircases depicting the Persian and Median guards of honour and the foreign ambassadors in high stone relief that is almost photographic in its detail, and its preservation. The eastern one is the more interesting. It depicts the foreign delegations bearing tribute, much of it just as typical of their countries today as it was then, such as dromedaries from Arabia, two humped camels from Bactria, or humped bulls from India. Many of the peoples depicted, such as Arabs, Egyptians, Armenians and Ethiopians, are great nations still, others, such as Sagartians, Cappadocians, or Soghdians, have disappeared into history. All are brought vividly to life on these superb reliefs. The actual Audience Hall itself on top is approached through three immense portals, each supported by twelve great columns, on three sides. Inside, the Hall is vast; the roof originally supported by 36 gigantic columns nearly 20 meters in height, covering an area large enough to have accommodated many thousands of people.

The exit from Apadana was through another monumental gateway, the Tripylon, at the southeastern corner, whose staircases depict very lively groups of relaxed courtiers ascending the stairs. This returns one to the Throne Hall of Xerxes just near some Royal Apartments, which have been restored as a Museum. Beyond the museum, at the foot of the mountain, are three more columned halls (probably wooden columns, as only the stone basis survive), which were the treasury and storerooms and similar administrative adjuncts to the palace.

On leaving the Apadana one can alternatively proceed to the Private Apartments of Darius, little more than a pavilion and very modest in scale compared to the gigantic remains of the Audience Hall alongside. Beyond this is a similar building, though less preserved, which was the Private Apartments of Xerxes, and a third building at the southwestern corner of the platform has been identified as the unfinished Apartments of Artaxerxes III. All are decorated in reliefs, those on the Apartments of Darius in particular showing the King’s attendants carrying his personal items as well as bringing in food for the kitchens.

Up the hill are three great rock-cut tombs, probably (from north to south) Artaxerxes II, Artaxerxes III, and Darius III Codamannus. The latter is unfinished. From the former one gains a magnificent view over the ruins and the plain beyond, still occupied by concrete “tents” built by the late Shah to mark the 2500^th anniversary celebrations of the Persian monarchy at Persepolis.

Persepolis was built as a magnificent living quarters for the Persian kings. A short distance away was prepared an equally magnificent place for their death. This was in the immense cliff faces of Naqsh-e-Rustam, overlooking the main route northwards. The site was already a sacred one long before the Achaemenids, as the Elamites were the first to cut reliefs there, and with the dynastic seat established at Persepolis by the Achaemenids, the gigantic cliff faces seemed an obvious place for royal burial. The four, virtually identical, tombs are, from left to right, Darius II, Artaxerxes I, Darius I, and (around the corner) Xerxes I, and might have been inspired by the great rock-cut funerary monuments the Persians saw after their conquest of Egypt. In front is a curious, tower-like stone building known as the Ka’abeh-e-Zardusht, which was probably built by Darius I as a fire temple for official ceremonies associated with the royal tombs.

The site obviously remained a favorite one for the Persian kings, as there are a number of Sassanian royal rock reliefs as well. At the extreme left is one depicting the investiture ceremony of the first Sassanian king, Ardeshir I (224-225 AD), with the king receiving his insignia of office from Ahuramazda, the god of light. Ardeshir’s horse tramples Ahriman, the god of darkness. This relief is often considered by art historians as the masterpiece of the Sassanians relief cutter’s art, but fine though the work is, it is rather lifeless and formulaic. A far more livelier scene is a relief further to the right depicting a jousting scene, probably by Bahram IV vanquishing an enemy – a graphic reminder of the origins of the medieval European sport of jousting. Other jousting scenes can be seen just below the tomb of Darius I (probably Bahram II and Hormizd II), and more Sassanian rock reliefs at Naqsh-e-Rustam depict Bahram II with his queen, Shapur I with his high priest Kartir receiving the kneeling figure of the captured Roman Emperor Valerian, and another investiture scene of King Narseh.

In a small gully between Naqsh-e-Rustam and Persepolis can be seen four more Sassanian royal rock reliefs. From let to right are depicted: Shapur I mounted on his charger with is heir Hormizd I in the background; Shapur’s investiture; the investiture of Sahpur’s father Ardeshir I with royal family in the background; and Kartir, the high priest and Zoroastrian fundamentalist, under the reigns of several Sassanian kings.

Pasargad (or Pasargadae) was the first Achaemenian capital, founded by Cyrus the Great (559-30 B.C.) after his victory over Astyages, his grandfather and overlord in 549 B.C. It was replaced during the reign of Darius I (521-485 B.C.) by Susa, sometimes described as the “working capital”, and Persepolis. Although the site was occupied long after the death of Cyrus, most of the visible monuments belong to his reign.

Pasargad stands in the Murghab plain, a fertile area occupied in the 4^th millennium B.C., as excavations at Tal-e Nokhodi near the Tomb of Cyrus have shown. The Achaemenian capital was not a city in the usual sense of the word. Excavations have yet to reveal the dense concentration of dwellings, shops, and workshops characteristic of a flourishing town. One day such a concentration may be found, but at present Pasargad appears to consist of residences and administrative buildings set in parkland or gardens. There was no city wall, but the site was protected by a fortified citadel. The visitor sees the following buildings:

The Tomb of Cyrus – This consists of a single chamber on a stepped plinth. The monument stands about 35 ft. high and the only decorative feature is a rosette, or sun symbol (now very eroded), above the entrance. Since the 19^th century it has been assumed, with little dissent, that this is the tomb of Cyrus, although there is no sign of the inscription mentioned by Strabo in his description of the tomb. In the middle ages, the monument was revered as the tomb of Solomon’s mother and a ruler of Fars, Sa’ad ibn Zangi (d. 1224), surrounded it with a congregational mosque.

The Audience Hall – This is a large rectangular building measuring 230 x 130 ft. overall, with a central hall 111 ft. across, containing two rows of four columns. One column still stands to the full height of 36 ft. The Audience Hall illustrates many of the characteristics of Achaemenian architecture in the reign of Cyrus, such as the rectangular plan (not square, as at Persepolis a generation later) and the effective use of contrasting black and white limestone. Near the Audience Hall are the remains of a gatehouse, a bridge and a small pavilion, where in 1963 David Stronach discovered the famous Pasargad treasure.

The so-called Residential Palace, where excavation revealed a complex plan with numerous mud-brick partitions, which gave an impression of less formal activities than the name implies.

The Zendan-e-Sulainman, a ruined tower closely comparable with the Ka’abeh-e-Zardusht in Naqsh-e-Rustam

The Citadel – The citadel of Pasargad occupies a group of low hills and consists of a walled enclosure containing, among other buildings, a palace. Excavation has revealed several phases of construction, beginning with monumental stone masonry (presumably ordered by Cyrus) and an impressive mud-brick structure (probably Darius) and ending in the Sassanians or early Islamic period.