Overview of the Achaemenid Empire
The Achaemenid Empire (First Persian Empire) was an imperial state of Western Asia founded by Cyrus the Great and flourishing from c. 550–330 B.C.E. The empire’s territory was vast, stretching from the Balkan peninsula in the west to the Indus River valley in the east. The Achaemenid Empire is notable for its strong, centralized bureaucracy that had, at its head, a king and relied upon regional satraps (regional governors).
A number of formerly independent states were made subject to the Persian Empire. These states covered a vast territory from central Asia and Afghanistan in the east to Asia Minor, Egypt, Libya, and Macedonia in the west. The Persians famously attempted to expand their empire further to include mainland Greece but they were ultimately defeated in this attempt. The Persian kings are noted for their penchant for monumental art and architecture. In creating monumental centers, including Persepolis, the Persian kings employed art and architecture to craft messages that helped to reinforce their claims to power and depict, iconographically, Persian rule.
Overview of Persepolis
Persepolis, the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Persian empire, lies some 60 km northeast of Shiraz, Iran. The earliest archaeological remains of the city date to c. 515 B.C.E. Persepolis, a Greek toponym meaning “city of the Persians”, was known to the Persians as Pārsa and was an important city of the ancient world, renowned for its monumental art and architecture. The site was excavated by German archaeologists Ernst Herzfeld, Friedrich Krefter, and Erich Schmidt between 1931 and 1939. Its remains are striking even today, leading UNESCO to register the site as a World Heritage Site in 1979.
Persepolis was intentionally founded in the Marvdašt Plain during the later part of the sixth century B.C.E. It was marked as a special site by Darius the Great in 518 B.C.E. when he indicated the location of a “Royal Hill” that would serve as a ceremonial center and citadel for the city. This was an action on Darius’ part that was similar to the earlier king Cyrus the Great who had founded the city of Pasargadae. Darius the Great directed a massive building program at Persepolis that would continue under his successors Xerxes and Artaxerxes I. Persepolis would remain an important site until it was sacked, looted, and burned under Alexander the Great of Macedon in 330 B.C.E.
Apādana
The Apādana palace is a large ceremonial building, likely an audience hall with an associated portico. The audience hall itself is hypostyle in its plan, meaning that the roof of the structure is supported by columns. Apādana is the Persian term equivalent to the Greek hypostyle (Ancient Greek: ὑπόστυλος hypóstȳlos). The footprint of the Apādana is c. 1,000 square meters; originally 72 columns, each standing to a height of 24 meters, supported the roof (only 14 columns remain standing today). The column capitals assumed the form of either twin-headed bulls (above), eagles or lions, all animals represented royal authority and kingship.
The Apādana stairs and sculptural program
Additional resources
Persepolis relief in the British Museum
Persepolis from the Oriental Institute, University of Chicago
John Boardman, Persia and the West: an archaeological investigation of the genesis of Achaemenid art (New York: Thames & Hudson, 2000).
John Curtis, Nigel Tallis, and Béatrice André-Salvini, Forgotten Empire: The World of Ancient Persia (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2005).
John Curtis, The world of Achaemenid Persia: history, art and society in Iran and the ancient Near East: proceedings of a conference at the British Museum, 29th September–1st October 2005 (London: I. B. Tauris, 2010).
R. Schmitt and D. Stronach, “Apadana,” Encyclopædia Iranica, II/2, pp. 145–48.
A. Shapur Shahbazi, “Persepolis,” Encyclopædia Iranica, online edition, 2010.
Wolfram Kleiss, “Zur Entwicklung der achaemenidischen Palastarchitektur,” AMI, volume 14 (1981), pp. 199–211.
Margaret Cool Root, “The king and kingship in Achaemenid art: essays on the creation of an iconography of empire,” Acta Iranica, volume 19 (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1979).
Margaret Cool Root, “The Parthenon Frieze and the Apadana Reliefs at Persepolis: Reassessing a Programmatic Relationship,” American Journal of Archaeology, volume 89, number 1 (1985), pp. 103–22.
Erich Friedrich Schmidt, Persepolis (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1953–1970).
R. Schmitt, “Achaemenid Dynasty,” Encyclopædia Iranica, I/4, pp. 414–26.
A. S. Shahbazi, “The Persepolis “Treasury Reliefs’ Once More,” AMI, volume 9 (1976) pp. 151–56.
Robert E. Mortimer Wheeler, Flames over Persepolis: Turning Point in History (London, 1968).