Layout of Persepolis



Darius' I Palace
The skeletal frame of Darius's palace consists of large, well-hewn stones. The staircase, the entrance jambs, and some of the interior walls are preserved. The platform on which the main building is constructed and the ramps leading to the main entrance are repeated in the construction of future Achaemenian palaces and Apadanas.

The decoration includes the use of carved wall slabs representing the endless processions of courtiers, guards, and tributary nations from all parts of the Persian Empire. Sculptors working in teams carved these relieves, and each team signed its work with a distinctive mason's mark.

These relieves are executed in a dry and almost coldly formal, though neat and elegant, style which was henceforth characteristic of Achaemenian art and contrasts with the movement and zest of Assyrian and neo-Babylonian art. This art was supposed to capture the spectator by its symbolism, and convey a sense of grandeur; artistic values were therefore relegated to second place.

The king is the dominant figure in the sculpture at Persepolis, and it seems that the whole purpose of the decorative scheme was to glorify the king, his majesty and his power.

Stairways
Access to the Platform is by a monumental double-ramped ceremonial staircase, carved from massive blocks of stone (five steps are carved from a single block 7m. long), and shallow enough for the most important guests to be able to take their horses up. The stairs were closed at the top with gates whose hinges fitted into sockets in the floor, seen at the top of the northern flight.

The arrival of the delegations was announced by trumpeters who stood at the top of the staircase in front of the Gate of All Nations. Portions of the bronze trumpets are preserved in the Persepolis Museum. The Persian and Median ushers received the delegations, led them through the Gate of All Nations to the Hundred Column Palace to the presence of the king.   Image courtesy of http://www.iranaccess.com





The Apadana
The largest and most magnificent building is the Apadana, begun by Darius and finished by Xerxes, that was used mainly for great receptions by the kings. Thirteen of its seventy-two columns still stand on the enormous platform to which two monumental stairways, on the north and on the east, give access. They are adorned with rows of beautifully executed reliefs showing scenes from the New Year's festival and processions of representatives of twenty-three subject nations of the Achaemenid Empire, with court notables and Persians and Medes, followed by soldiers and guards, their horses, and royal chariots.

Delegates in their native attire, some completely Persian in style, carry gifts as token of their loyalty and as tribute to the king. These gifts include silver and gold vessels and vases, weapons, woven fabrics, jewelry, and animals from the delegates' own countries. Although the overall arrangement of scenes seems repetitive, there are marked differences in the designs of garments, headdresses, hair styles, and beards that give each delegation its own distinctive character and make its origin unmistakable.





The Throne Hall/Hundred-Column Hall
Next to the Apadana, the second largest building of the Persepolis Terrace is the Throne Hall (also called the "Hundred-Column Hall"), which was builed by Xerxes and only completed by his son Artaxerxes I. Largest of all the palaces - 70x70 m - is the Hall of One Hundred Columns, to the north-east of the Tripylon, covered with some 3 m. of soil and cedar ash when it was first Partly excavated by Motamed-al Dowleh Farhad Mirza, Governor-general of Fars, in 1878. Iranian archaeologists completed the excavation in 1940. Here only the column bases remain, badly scorched and damaged by the fire.

The Hundred Column Palace was used for the reception of the Subject Nations and the collection of their tribute.

The delegations waited in the small 4-column palace opposite the main court. They entered the Hundred Column Palace from the north between two large bull figures carrying the portico. The gate shows rows upon rows of soldiers, indicating the military might of the king, which protects them from enemies and guarantees their peace, as well as controls their spirit of independence. The king is carried upon the power of the army. He sits surrounded by incense burners, accompanied by his successor and receives the report of the chief of the treasury, a Mede.

The gifts were received by the king, appreciated, the delegations admonished or lauded. Petitions, handed in before the reception, were answered. Before the next delegation arrived, the gifts were removed through the southern gate to the stores of the Treasury.

The southern gate was never seen by the delegations and shows an entirely different relief. Here the king is supported by the subject nations. This conveys the message lo the court officials, that whatever is carried through this gate is the tax extracted from these subject nations, whose strength has to be preserved to support the monarchy.

The delegations returned the way they came or registered at a building at the edge of the platform and the mountain in the extreme north-east.

The royal archives of 3500 cuneiform clay tablets, including pay lists, were found in the vicinity.

The Gate of Xerxes or "The Gate of The Nations"
At the head of staircase is the Gateway of All Nations, built by Xerxes I and guarded at east and west by vast bull-like colossi closely akin to the bull figures of Assyria. Above the bulls, on the inner side of the Gateway is a three-language cuneiform inscription in the main languages of the realm: Persian, Babylonian and Elamite. It says:

"Great God is Ahuramazda, who has created this Earth, who has created the heaven, who has created man, who has created good things for man, who has made Xerxes King, sole King of many, sole Commander of many. I am Xerxes, Great King, King of Kings, King of lands, King of many races, King of this earth reaching even far off, son of Dariush the King, the Achaemenian. King Xerxes says: By the grace of Ahuramazda I constructed this Gateway of All Nations. Many other beautiful things were constructed in Persia. I constructed them and my father constructed them. Everything we have constructed which looks beautiful we have constructed by the grace of Ahuramazda. King Xerxes says: May Ahuramazda protect me and my kingdom and whatever is constructed by me as well as what has been constructed by may father."

Within the entrance hall which was originally roofed, well-polished black marble benches line the walls.

The roof was supported by four columns. The capitals are stylized representations of pendants of date palm leaves and represent therefore the trunks of holy palms. Everybody Participating in the festivities entered through this gate. The nobles left through the southern doorway facing the Apadana palace, the delegations through the eastern gate which faces the mountain- The winged man-bull figures are only along the path of the Subject Nations.

The narrow roadway connects the Gate of All Nations to a similar palace with four columns which probably was used as a waiting hall for the delegations before they entered the Hundred Column Palace. This roadway was walled off with a high double retaining wall of mud-brick, which obstructed any view of the Apadana and the private palaces. Only the lower remnants of this wall are preserved. If one can imagine these walls to reach the level of the head of the man-bull figure, then the massiveness and power of the structure of the Gate of All Nations will become more apparent, heightened by a narrow enclosure. Guard rooms and storage areas were on both sides of the road.

A recess to the left contains two partially restored griffin capitals. These were never put on top of columns and remained in situ for unknown reasons, possibly intended for buildings yet unfinished when Alexander attacked. In a pit towards the mountain, in front of the wail separating the Apadana from the Hundred Column Palace court, rests a magnificent lion capital. Nobody knows how it got there and why it is below ground level.

The function of this capital was to cradle the main roof beam. The columns were probably raised with the help of earth ramps, up which the stones were pulled to the desired height and positioned. More earth was added and the ramp heightened, until the capital could be positioned on top of the column. The earth was then dug away. The roof was then carried by the capitals in a fashion as illustrated on the royal tombs at Naqsh-e Rustam or behind Persepolis. A wooden replica has been constructed in the portico of the Persepolis Museum.

A heavy cedarwood crossbeam was laid across the saddle between the two heads, protruding about 1 m. on each side. Two long beams were laid on each side, connecting two neighboring columns. The inter-space was covered with secondary wood beams, finally matting and a thick layer of earth was rolled over this construction, to form the mud roof. Lateral stabilizers fitted between the lion's ears. Everything was brightly painted.

When Alexander burned Persepolis the Apadana roof fell eastwards, covering and preserving the eastern reliefs for 2100 years. Image courtesy of caravanserai-tours.com

Xerxes' Palace
An unfinished palace of Artaxerxes III lies across this courtyard to the south, and to the east of this, on the highest part of the platform and, like all the palaces, standing on its own terrace, is the main hall of the Hadish (literally, 'a Dwelling place'), Xerxes' Private Palace which can be reached by a staircase from the courtyard.

The central hall of the Hadish with its 36 columns, is surrounded by small chambers on the cast and west, and has five doorways whose portals depict Xerxes entering or leaving the palace, accompanied by attendants. Not all the columns in the palaces were of stone; where it was possible to find tree trunks tall and strong enough, columns were made of these, standing on stone bases. The trunks themselves would be covered with painted plaster or gold leaf. These, together with the sunbaked mud-brick walls, roof beams and their mud-straw covering, have all disappeared with time, leaving only the stone elements of the construction. South of the Hadish is a series of smaller, columned apartments of sun-dried brick which have been described as the Queen's apartments, but which were more likely to have been warehouses and stores for the Treasury. There are two unexcavated mounds, one east of the Hadish and the other east of the Tachara, both of which await full explanation.
Image courtesy of www.caravanserai-tours.com

Sources taken from http://www.enel.ucalgary.ca