Day 104: Persepolis – A True Ancient Wonder!

Persepolis was absolutely INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!  Easily one of the most impressive ancient sights I’ve ever seen – right up there with Tikal in Guatemala or Mt. Nemrut in Turkey.

The site of the ancient royal city of Persepolis is about 50km north of Shiraz.  It’s the remains of one of the three Achaemenid capitals and stood vacant apart from the time the royals were in town.  Work was begun at the site under the reign of Darius I (the Great) around 518 BC.  It was added to by successive royals over about 150 years until Alexander the Great swept through and razed it to the ground.

Persepolisis built onto the sloping escarpment of Mt. Rahmat at the edge of a large plain.  The foundation is constructed of large interlocking stones (done without a hint of mortar, which reminded me of the Inca walls I’ve seen), so the whole site is raised a good 10-20 metres above the valley floor and looks truly monumental as you enter from below.

We entered the city up the Grand Stairway, and passed under the massive Gate of All Nations which was flanked by some incredible stone carvings of bull-like figures that we were told had strong Assyrian character.  One thing I liked about the site is that the Achaemenids had integrated styles and designs from not just their 18-nation empire but from many different ancient worlds and religions (Egyptians, Zoroastrians etc.).

The Gate of All Nations.

    
Looking across towards the Palace of 100 Columns.

The Palace of 100 Columns was incredibly impressive, in particular the gates you enter through, which had some bas relief carvings in superb condition – especially considering they’ve been out in the elements for two millennia!  It was difficult to imagine what the palace must have been like with the columns still standing (they were timber and burnt down when Alexander the Great razed the city) and with additional huge timbers supporting the roofs of all the different palaces and halls.  The Apadana Palace (Central Hall) had 23m high columns with carved capitals on top – incredible!

The Apadana Staircase, which lead from the Palace of 100 Columns to the Central Hall, was another highlight.  Now under cover, the carvings on these staircases were just immaculate and showed a procession of people walking up the stairs bringing offerings to their king.

Here are a few photos from Darius’s Royal Palace, still in incredibly good condition and adorned with many of the same carvings as the staircase:

    
(L) Apadana Palace’s 23m high columns – when this building stood it must have been breathtaking.  (R) Looking across the Palace of 100 Columns (note the stone mounts for the wooden columns) towards one of the royal tombs cut into the hill.

Above the site were a couple of royal tombs cut into the cliffs, but we drove a quick 10 minutes from Persepolis to Naqsh-e Rostam, an ancient necropolis with more impressive rock tombs – cut high up into the cliff face – of four Achaemenid kings.  There were also some more fantastic Achaemenid and Sassanian rock carvings.  The site really reminded me of photos I’ve seen of Petra in Jordan, and I did definitely feel sort of like Indiana Jones exploring the area.  Or am I more of a Shot Round?  “Indyyyyyyyyyyy!!!”