Persepolis

Persepolis is derived from the Greek , a compound of () and (, together meaning "the Persian city" or "the city of the Persians"). To the ancient Persians, the city was known as (), which is also the word for the region of Persia. An inscription left in 311 AD by Sasanian Prince Shapur Sakanshah, the son of Hormizd II, refers to the site as , meaning "Hundred Pillars". Because medieval Persians attributed the site to Jamshid, a king from Iranian mythology, it has been referred to as (, ; ), literally meaning "Throne of Jamshid". Another name given to the site in the medieval period was (, "Forty Minarets"), ==History==

Construction Archaeological evidence shows that the earliest remains of Persepolis date back to 515 BC. André Godard, the French archaeologist who excavated Persepolis in the early 1930s, believed that it was Cyrus the Great who chose the site of Persepolis, but that it was Darius I who built the terrace and the palaces. Inscriptions on these buildings support the belief that they were constructed by Darius. With Darius I, the sceptre passed to a new branch of the royal house. The country's true capitals were Susa, Babylon and Ecbatana. This may be why the Greeks were not acquainted with the city until Alexander the Great took and plundered it.|321x321px Darius I's construction of Persepolis was carried out parallel to that of the Palace of Susa. According to Gene R. Garthwaite, the Susa Palace served as Darius' model for Persepolis. Darius I ordered the construction of the Apadana and the Council Hall ( or the "Triple Gate"), as well as the main imperial Treasury and its surroundings. These were completed during the reign of his son, Xerxes I. Further construction of the buildings on the terrace continued until the downfall of the Achaemenid Empire. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, the Greek historian Ctesias mentioned that Darius I's grave was in a cliff face that could be reached with an apparatus of ropes. Around 519 BC, construction of a broad stairway was begun. Grey limestone was the main building material used at Persepolis. The uneven plan of the terrace, including the foundation, acted like a castle, whose angled walls enabled its defenders to target any section of the external front. File:General view of the ruins of Persepolis.jpg|General view of the Persepolis File:Plan of Persepolis.png|Aerial architectural plan of Persepolis File:Persepolis, capital of Persia (TerraX, English redub).webm|Animated reconstruction of Persepolis Destruction After invading Achaemenid Persia in 330 BC, Alexander the Great sent the main force of his army to Persepolis by the Royal Road. Diodorus Siculus writes that on his way to the city, Alexander and his army were met by 800 Greek artisans who had been captured by the Persians. Most were elderly and suffered some form of mutilation, such as a missing hand or foot. They explained to Alexander the Persians wanted to take advantage of their skills in the city but handicapped them so they could not easily escape. Alexander and his staff were disturbed by the story and provided the artisans with clothing and provisions before continuing on to Persepolis. Diodorus does not cite this as a reason for the destruction of Persepolis, but it is possible Alexander started to see the city in a negative light after this encounter. Upon reaching the city, Alexander stormed the Persian Gates, a pass through Zagros Mountains. There, Ariobarzanes of Persis successfully ambushed Alexander the Great's army, inflicting heavy casualties. After being held off for 31 days, Alexander the Great outflanked and destroyed the defenders. Ariobarzanes himself was killed either during the battle or during the retreat to Persepolis. Some sources indicate that the Persians were betrayed by a captured tribal chief who showed the Macedonians an alternate path that allowed them to outflank Ariobarzanes in a reversal of Thermopylae. After several months, Alexander allowed his troops to loot Persepolis. , 1890, by Georges-Antoine Rochegrosse Around that time, a fire burned "the palaces" or "the palace". setting fire to Persepolis|357x357pxIt is believed that the fire which destroyed Persepolis started from Hadish Palace, which was the living quarters of Xerxes I, and spread to the rest of the city. It is not clear if the fire was an accident or a deliberate act of revenge for the burning of the Acropolis of Athens during the second Persian invasion of Greece. Many historians argue that, while Alexander's army celebrated with a symposium, they decided to take revenge against the Persians. If that is so, then the destruction of Persepolis could be both an accident and a case of revenge. The fire may also have had the political purpose of destroying an iconic symbol of the Persian monarchy that might have become a focus for Persian resistance. Several, much later, Greek and Roman accounts (including Plutarch, Diodorus Siculus and Quintus Curtius Rufus) describe that the burning was the idea of Thaïs, mistress of Alexander's general Ptolemy I Soter, and possibly of Alexander himself. She is said to have suggested it during a very drunken celebration, according to some accounts to revenge the destruction of Greek sanctuaries (she was from Athens), and either she or Alexander himself set the fire going. The Book of Arda Wiraz, a Zoroastrian work composed in the 3rd or 4th century, describes Persepolis' archives as containing "all the Avesta and Zend, written upon prepared cow-skins, and with gold ink", which were destroyed. Indeed, in his Chronology of the Ancient Nations, the native Iranian writer Biruni indicates unavailability of certain native Iranian historiographical sources in the post-Achaemenid era, especially during the Parthian Empire. He adds: "[Alexander] burned the whole of Persepolis as revenge to the Persians, because it seems the Persian King Xerxes had burnt the Greek City of Athens around 150 years ago. People say that, even at the present time, the traces of fire are visible in some places." On the upside, the fire that destroyed those texts may have preserved the Persepolis Administrative Archives by preventing them from being lost over time to natural and man-made events. According to archaeological evidence, the partial burning of Persepolis did not damage what are now referred to as the Persepolis Fortification Archive tablets, but rather may have caused the eventual collapse of the upper part of the northern fortification wall, preserving the tablets until their recovery by the Oriental Institute's archaeologists. After the fall of the Achaemenid Empire In 316 BC, Persepolis was still the capital of Persia as a province of the great Macedonian Empire (see Diodorus Siculus xix, 21 seq., 46; probably after Hieronymus of Cardia, who was living about 326). The city must have gradually declined in the course of time. The lower city at the foot of the imperial city might have survived for a longer time; but the ruins of the Achaemenids remained as a witness to its ancient glory. The nearby Estakhr gained prominence as a separate city very shortly after the decline of Persepolis. It appears that much of Persepolis' rubble was used for the building of Istakhr. At the time of the Muslim invasion of Persia, Estakhr offered a desperate resistance. It was still a place of considerable importance in the first century of Islam, although its greatness was speedily eclipsed by the new metropolis of Shiraz. In the 10th century, Estakhr dwindled to insignificance. During the following centuries, Estakhr gradually declined, until it ceased to exist as a city. ==Geography==

Persepolis is near the small river Pulvar, which flows into the Kur River. The site includes a terrace, partly artificially constructed and partly cut out of a mountain, with its east side leaning on Rahmat Mountain. ==Archaeological research==

Odoric of Pordenone may have passed through Persepolis on his way to China in 1320, although he mentioned only a great, ruined city called "Comerum". In 1474, Giosafat Barbaro visited the ruins of Persepolis, which he incorrectly thought were of Jewish origin. ''Hakluyt's Voyages'' included a general account of the ruins of Persepolis attributed to an English merchant who visited Iran in 1568. António de Gouveia from Portugal wrote about cuneiform inscriptions following his visit in 1602. His report on the ruins of Persepolis was published as part of his in 1611. In 1618, García de Silva Figueroa, King Philip III of Spain's ambassador to the court of Abbas I, the Safavid monarch, was the first Western traveler to link the site known in Iran as "Chehel Minar" as the site known from Classical authors as Persepolis. Pietro Della Valle visited Persepolis in 1621, and noticed that only 25 of the 72 original columns were still standing, due to either vandalism or natural processes. The Dutch traveler Cornelis de Bruijn visited Persepolis in 1704. File:Cornelis de bruijn persepolis.JPG|Sketch of Persepolis from 1704 by Cornelis de Bruijn File:Persepolis Reconstruction Apadana Chipiez.jpg|The Apadana by Charles Chipiez File:Persepolis Reconstruction Apadana Toit Chipiez.JPEG|Apadana detail by Charles Chipiez File:Prus dar persepolis.png|Prussia board at Persepolis, 1862–1863 File:Ernst Herzfeld.jpg|The first scientific explorations in Persepolis were conducted by Ernst Herzfeld in 1931 File:Persepolis Colonne flandin.jpg|The design and details of the columns of Persepolis File:Persepolis Rec Iso Toit Tach Chipiez.jpg|Roof design of palaces at Persepolis The fruitful region was covered with villages until its frightful devastation in the 18th century; and even now it is, comparatively speaking, well cultivated. The Castle of Estakhr played a conspicuous part as a strong fortress, several times, during the Muslim period. It was the middlemost and the highest of the three steep crags which rise from the valley of the Kur, at some distance to the west or northwest of the necropolis of Naqsh-e Rustam. The French voyagers Eugène Flandin and Pascal Coste are among the first to provide not only a literary review of the structure of Persepolis, but also to create some of the best and earliest visual depictions of its structure. In their publications in Paris, in 1881 and 1882, titled , the authors provided some 350 ground breaking illustrations of Persepolis. In the 1800s, a variety of amateur digging occurred at the site, in some cases on a large scale. The first scientific excavations at Persepolis were carried out by Ernst Herzfeld and Erich Schmidt representing the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. They conducted excavations for eight seasons, beginning in 1930, and included other nearby sites. designs at Persepolis Herzfeld believed that the reasons behind the construction of Persepolis were the need for a majestic atmosphere, a symbol for the empire, and to celebrate special events, especially the Nowruz. Architecture Persepolitan architecture is noted for its use of the Persian column, which was probably based on earlier wooden columns. The buildings at Persepolis include three general groupings: military quarters, the treasury, and the reception halls and occasional houses for the King. Noted structures include the Great Stairway, the Gate of All Nations, the Apadana, the Hall of a Hundred Columns, the Tripylon Hall and the Tachara, the Hadish Palace, the Palace of Artaxerxes III, the Imperial Treasury, the Royal Stables, and the Chariot House. ==Remains==

are frequently used on the walls and monuments at Persepolis. Ruins of a number of colossal buildings exist on the terrace. All are constructed of dark-grey marble. Fifteen of their pillars stand intact. Three more pillars have been re-erected since 1970. Several of the buildings were never finished. Behind the compound at Persepolis, there are three sepulchers hewn out of the rock in the hillside. File:Persepolis stairs of the Apadana relief.jpg|A bas-relief from the Apadana Palace depicting Delegations including Lydians and Armenians bringing their famous wine to the king. File:Achaemenid plaque from Persepolis.JPG|Achaemenid plaque from Persepolis, kept at the National Museum of Iran. File:National Meusem Darafsh 6 (54).JPG|Objects from Persepolis kept at the National Museum of Iran File:National Meusem Darafsh 20.JPG|The head of a Lamassu from Persepolis, kept at the National Museum of Iran File:Door-Post Socket (4690606141).jpg|Door-Post Socket File:Part of the monumental double staircase leading up to the terrace, Persepolis, Iran (47779523221).jpg|The Great Double Staircase at Persepolis File:PersepolisNegareh.jpg|A bas-relief at Persepolis, representing a symbol in Zoroastrianism for Nowruz. File:Tablette xerxes persepolis.jpg|Tablets of Xerxes, kept at the National Museum of Iran File:Achamanid-Woman-Statue-Persia-Persepolis.jpg|One of the four existing statues of Penelope was discovered at Persepolis, and is kept at the National Museum of Iran The Gate of All Nations , they are 16½ meters high and were topped with capitals in the form of a double bull. The Gate of All Nations, referring to subjects of the empire, consisted of a grand hall that was a square of approximately in length, with four columns and its entrance on the Western Wall. File:Gate of All Nations, Persepolis.jpg|The Gate of All Nations, Persepolis File:Detail- The Gate of All Nations, Persepolis, Iran (4670203537).jpg|A Lamassu at the Gate of All Nations File:Position of three languages inscriptions on Gate of all nations in persepolis.JPG|The position of three languages inscriptions on The Gate of All Nations, Persepolis File:تخت جمشيد دروازه ملل Persepolice Fars Marvdasht Shiraz - panoramio.jpg|The two Lamassu at the Gate of All Nations. The Apadana Palace Darius I built the greatest palace at Persepolis on the western side of platform. This palace was called the Apadana. The King of Kings used it for official audiences. Foundation tablets of gold and silver were found in two deposition boxes in the foundations of the Palace. They contained an inscription by Darius in Old Persian cuneiform, which describes the extent of his Empire in broad geographical terms, and is known as the DPh inscription: The reliefs on the staircases allow one to observe the people from across the empire in their traditional dress, and even the king himself, "down to the smallest detail". The Throne Hall Next to the Apadana, second largest building of the Terrace and the final edifices, is the Throne Hall or the Imperial Army's Hall of Honor (also called the Hundred-Columns Palace). This hall was started by Xerxes I and completed by his son Artaxerxes I by the end of the fifth century BC. Its eight stone doorways are decorated on the south and north with reliefs of throne scenes and on the east and west with scenes depicting the king in combat with monsters. Two colossal stone bulls flank the northern portico. The head of one of the bulls now resides in the Oriental Institute in Chicago and a column base from one of the columns in the British Museum. At the beginning of the reign of Xerxes I, the Throne Hall was used mainly for receptions for military commanders and representatives of all the subject nations of the empire. Later, the Throne Hall served as an imperial museum. The Tachara Palace Tachara, was the exclusive palace of Darius the Great at Persepolis. Only a small portion of the palace was finished under his rule, it was completed after the death of Darius in 486 BC, by his son and successor, Xerxes, who called it a Taçara, which means "winter palace" in Old Persian. It was then used by Artaxerxes I. In the 4th century BC, following his invasion of Iran in 330 BC, Alexander the Great allowed his troops to loot Persepolis. This palace was one of the few structures that escaped destruction in the burning of the complex by Alexander's army, and because of that, Tachara is the most intact building of Persepolis today. It is also the oldest structure at Persepolis. Tachara stands back to back to the Apadana, and is oriented southward. File:کاخ تچرا.jpg|Tachara is the most intact building of Persepolis today. File:پلکانی در کاخ تچر.jpg|The staircase of Tachara palace at Persepolis File:Achaemenid King vs Lion.jpg|The relief of king's battle with devil at Tachara palace, Persepolis File:نمایی از تخت جمشید 2.jpg|Tachara Palace, Persepolis File:Persepolis Iran-5.jpg|On the structure of Tachara palace The Hadish Palace The Hadish Palace of Xerxes is one of palaces at Persepolis. It's located on the east of the Palace of H (Artaxerxes I). The palace occupies the highest level of terrace and stands on the living rock. The inscriptions of the palace attest that the building was built by order of Xerxes. It covers an area of 2550 square meters (40*55 meters). A double staircase on the west leads to courtyard of the Tachara chateau and another staircase on the northeast connects to courtyard of the Council Hall. File:History History Travel from Shiraz to Isfahan, Iran (40353041755).jpg|The Hadish palace, Persepolis File:Lotus on the walls of Hadish palace,.png|Lotus on the walls of Hadish palace, Persepolis File:Persepolis 24.11.2009 11-39-46.jpg|Hadish palace was built by the order of Xerxes File:Persepolis, Iran (2471048564).jpg|Xerxes at the Hadish palace File:Ruins of the Palace of Xerxes in Persepolis, Iran, historical illustration, circa 1886.png|Hadish Palace at Persepolis, 1886 File:1911 Britannica-Architecture-Hall of Xerxes.png|The hall of Hadish palace. Other palaces and structures The Council Hall, the Tryplion Hall, the Palaces of D, G, H, storerooms, stables and quarters, the unfinished gateway and a few miscellaneous structures at Persepolis are located near the south-east corner of the terrace, at the foot of the mountain. File:Zoomorphic Capital (4679068036).jpg|Huma bird at Persepolis File:Perspolis.jpg|A well-preserved column at Persepolis File:SEHDAR PALACE IN PERSEPOLIS.tif|Reliefs from the Council Hall, Persepolis File:خزانه.jpg|Part of the treasury, Persepolis File:Persepolis, Iran 08.jpg|The unfinished gate of Persepolis, started by the order of Artaxerxes III, continued by his successors Arses and Darius III. File:تخت جمشید 7.JPG|A column head. Tombs , Persepolis It is commonly accepted that Cyrus the Great was buried in the Tomb of Cyrus in Pasargadae, which is mentioned by Ctesias as his own city. If it is true that the body of Cambyses II was brought home "to the Persians," his burying place must be somewhere beside that of his father. Ctesias assumes that it was the custom for a king to prepare his own tomb during his lifetime. Hence, the kings buried at Naghsh-e Rostam are probably Darius I, Xerxes I, Artaxerxes I and Darius II. Xerxes II, who reigned for a very short time, could scarcely have obtained so splendid a monument, and still less could the usurper Sogdianus. The two completed graves behind the compound at Persepolis would then belong to Artaxerxes II and Artaxerxes III. The unfinished tomb, a kilometer away from the city, is debated to who it belongs. Ancient Texts , the "XPc inscription" at Tachar palace, Persepolis. There are a total of 11 existing inscriptions at Persepolis, related to Darius the Great, Xerxes, Artaxerxes II and Artaxerxes III. The relevant passages from ancient scholars on the subject are set out below: ==Modern events==

2,500-year celebration on September 6, 2025. In 1971, Persepolis was the main staging ground for the 2,500-year celebration of the Persian Empire under the reign of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the second and last Shah of the Pahlavi dynasty. It included delegations from foreign nations in an attempt to advance the Iranian culture and history. First concert In a groundbreaking cultural event, Iranian vocalist Alireza Ghorbani performed the first-ever concert at Persepolis from 29 June to 1 July 2024, and received an overwhelmingly enthusiastic response from attendees. Another historic event took place on September 6th, 2025, with Persepolis hosting the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra. Over 1,500 people attended. With ambassadors from 23 countries and envoys from the UN, it was the first-ever international public concert at Persepolis, a historic cultural milestone for Iran-Armenia, and the site's second international event since the 2,500-year celebration of the Persian Empire in 1971. Nowruz Celebrations Every year during Nowruz, a large number of people come to Persepolis to celebrate the new year. In 2024, 10,000 people were at Persepolis when Nowruz started. Cultural events Various events are held in Persepolis every year, including the Shahnameh reading festival and other cultural events. Conservation issues The site is also threatened by the presence of lichens that have grown on the surface of the monuments, some of which have eroded intricate carvings and motifs. Some of the lichens are estimated to be around 1,700 years old, and their spread has been attributed to industrialisation, acid rain and the extreme desert climate. The controversy of the Sivand Dam Construction of the Sivand Dam, named after the nearby town of Sivand, began on 19 September 2006. Despite 10 years of planning, Iran's Cultural Heritage Organization was not aware of the broad areas of flooding during much of this time, and there is growing concern about the effects the dam will have on the surrounding areas of Persepolis. Activists expressed concern that the dam's placement between the ruins of Pasargadae and Persepolis will flood both. Engineers involved with the construction deny this claim, stating that it is impossible, because both sites sit well above the planned waterline. Of the two sites, Pasargadae is considered the more threatened. ==Museums (outside Iran) that display objects from Persepolis==

One bas-relief from Persepolis is in the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, England. The largest collection of reliefs is at the British Museum, sourced from multiple British travellers who worked in Iran in the 19th century. The Persepolis bull at the Oriental Institute in Chicago is one of the university's most prized treasures, part of the division of finds from the excavations of the 1930s. New York City's Metropolitan Museum and Detroit Institute of Art houses objects from Persepolis, as does the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology of the University of Pennsylvania. The Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon and the Louvre of Paris hold objects from Persepolis as well. A bas-relief of a soldier that had been looted from the excavations in 1935–36 and later purchased by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts was repatriated to Iran in 2018, after being offered for sale in London and New York. File:Forgotten Empire Exhibition, (Room 5).1.JPG|Forgotten Empire Exhibition, the British Museum File:The British Museum, Room 5-Persepolis Bas-relief.jpg|Forgotten Empire Exhibition, the British Museum File:UC Oriental Institute Iranian artifacts ancient 10.JPG|Persepolitan rosette rock relief, kept at the Oriental Institute File:Persian Objects at Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York - 2015.jpg|alt=Museum display case showing Achaemenid objects.|Achaemenid objects at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, including a bas relief from Persepolis File:Head of an archer of the royal guard, 2 of 2, from the Palace of Xerxes, Achaemenid Persia, 486-465 BC, limestone - Sackler Museum - Harvard University - DSC01732.jpg|Head of an archer of the royal guard from Hadish palace, Sackler Museum - Harvard University == Foreign visitors graffiti at Persepolis ==

inscription on an ancient monument at the entrance of Persepolis (Iran) Some European travelers throughout history have left graffiti on the walls of Persepolis during their visits. ==Gallery==

File:Persepolis 2012.jpg|A general view of the Persepolis. File:آرامگاه اردشیر سوم در نمای کلی.jpg|The tomb of Artaxerxes II at Persepolis File:Persepolis-horn shaped stones.jpg|Horn-shaped stones at Persepolis. File:Entrance Museum of Persepolis.jpg|The Queen's Quarters, built by the order of Xerxes. The palace was excavated and rebuilt by Ernst Herzfeld in 1931, and today it is used as a museum and the central office of Persepolis. File:Persépolis, Irán, 2016-09-24, DD 01.jpg|The entrance of Persepolis. File:030614-Perspolice-IMG 1273-2.jpg|Persepolis, Fars province, Iran ==See also==