Ancient Persepolis Inexplicable Mysteries - Lost Civilisations Documentary in 4K

[Music] [Music] positioned in the heart of the continent sized Persian Empire was Persepolis the greatest of all Persian cities and the key to understanding their empires greatest achievements Persepolis is the Greek designation for the Acropolis of the city that plus months originally called Persis the Persians but today it is generally applied to both the city and its acropolis the name is attested in Hakeem indeed inscriptions that after the fall of the Persian Empire and the destruction of the city the population was no longer able to read the royal documents and inscriptions the name of the city was gradually forgotten and later the sassanids called it sad stone the 100 columns Persepolis is located in the fast province of modern-day Iran approximately 70 miles northeast of modern-day Shiraz ancient Persia was composed of a broad range of eco zones including plateaus rain forests deserts Plains and mountain ranges each containing a diversity of flora and fauna and a climate ranging from arid to subtropical the characteristics of the landscape in and around Persepolis were major factors in the site's growth and success in particular the city success depended strictly upon its relationship with the ecology climate and resources of the marv dashed plain a remote and barren land surrounded by sharp cliffs and fertile foothills of the Zagros Mountains and part of the cool River Basin this area was settled around the 1st millennium BCE the climate of the region affected Persepolis dramatically during the rainy season of the Iranian winter the surrounding landscape became muddy and impossible therefore most activity in the city took place during the warmest spring and summer seasons archaeologists have been able to attribute most of the structures and phases of construction in Persepolis to the reign of one Emperor Persepolis was founded shortly before 500 BCE by Darius the great the 4th king of the accommodate dynasty the first period of construction took place between 5:18 and 490 BCE during this time the monumental Terrace was constructed along with the upper Donna audience Hall and Treasury Building with the eastern stairs serving as the access point king after King added two terraces creation the second period of construction began from around 490 BCE as Darius initiated the construction of the takara Winter Palace and the gate of All Nations with its stairway and expanded the upper Donna many of these structures were completed during the third period of construction between 480 and 470 BCE under the rule of his son Xerxes the first the greatest foe of the Greeks who succeeded Darius in 486 and ruled until 465 BCE the largest part of Persepolis a sort of second city was built by the succeeding emperors of Xerxes down to Darius the third and dessert Caesars rule the hadees' queen quarters tree pylon and southern buildings were constructed after Xerxes Persepolis continued to expand considerably and freezes and best reliefs of this period depicted as a time of great celebration and expansion of the Empire this gives a sense of how strong and solid the Empire was quite the opposite of the barbarian images that the ancient Greeks handed down to Western civilization under the rule of artaxerxes the first the whole of 100 columns was constructed along with his palace and the garrison quarters the final phase of construction took place from the turn of the century to Alexander's invasion in 334 BCE during this time the royal tombs of artaxerxes the second and artaxerxes the third were excavated the palace of artaxerxes the third was constructed along with the whole of 32 columns and a new road and gate were started in approximately 518 BCE Darius selected a huge rock on the northwestern side of a hill called qu a Ramat mountain of Mercy for the construction of an immense Terrace upon which a fort palaces audience halls and a Treasury would later be built large sections of the original rock were cut away with the stone into immense stone blocks and these blocks were used together with ruff builders smaller stones and mud to construct the terrace it took almost a century for this giant platform to be completed but when it did it covered an area of more than 125,000 square meters due to its massive size the construction of the palatial complex took place in a series of stages the finished Terrace was between 45 and 55 feet high with the southern part lower than the rest the area was where the original access point was located water channels were dug into the bedrock and the hillside with an outlet dug in the form of a long and deep moat located behind the eastern wall originally there was a fortification wall that went around its entire circumference including the ridge and crest of the adjacent cuy Ramat the terrace was later accessed by a series of monumental double staircases on the northwestern side of the Acropolis platform the construction of the staircases was ordered by Xerxes each flight had 111 steps and each step was about 20 feet wide and 38 centimeters deep but with a very shallow rise of just 10 centimeters the steps were deliberately given broad width and short height so that the large number of military and civil officers and representatives of the subject nations who came to the city could climb with ease and in groups as seen in the frieze of the triple on staircase located east of these stairs was the gate of All Nations the monumental entrance portal that provided access to the ceremonial core of the city to massive Guardian bulls supported the pillars of the West doorway these were images of kingship and royal strength known as lamassu that had been adopted from the Babylonian civilization and became widely used throughout the Persian homeland they announced to visitors that they were entering the heart of Royal Persian power the gate was covered in a cedar wood roof and its doors were adorned with gold fittings walking through the enormous structure visitors were asked to stand and wait in a for columned Hall sitting on benches of black marble that have the walls these walls were covered in glazed tiles that were decorated with patterns of lotus flowers palm trees and stars here the foreign delegates would be arranged in groups depending on the distance they had traveled to reach Persepolis before being allowed to access the Imperial platform a master of ceremonies would stand on a platform abutting one of the walls observing the hall and within view of the king's palace where a representative would give him a signal to send forth the delegates they would then proceed through the southern doorway Persian dignitaries in contrast to those from vassal states outside of the Persian Heartland would pass through the eastern doorway the pillars of which were supported by additional human-headed lamassu Bulls at the heart of Persepolis was the Abba Donna an audience hall where the Persian King received his subjects and where the mysteries of the city truly begin the Abba Donna took 30 years to complete and covered an area of 3600 square meters almost as large as a modern-day football field it is believed that the enormous hall could have accommodated up to ten thousand people its walls were nearly six meters thick today only 14 of the original columns still stand but in its original state 72 columns each over 80 feet high held up another massive cedar wood ceiling each column was supported by a square base with a fluted shaft and a capital in the form of a double-headed bull and usually the capitals of the eastern portico had a double-headed lion instead the floor would likely have been covered in costly carpets and rugs and the walls would have been adorned with glazed tiles decorated with variegated floral motifs Rose of cedar and palm trees files of soldiers and even cuneiform inscriptions the construction of the sixth roarton Airy palace was a remarkable achievement so Darius the Great ordered a trilingual inscription in the old Persian Akkadian and elamite languages to be prepared it listed his name and the extent of his realm and was copied onto four pairs of gold and silver tablets each pair of tablets was placed within a stone box and deposited inside the found datian wall at each of the four corners of the hall King Xerxes made some modifications to the upper Donna as attested by an inscription on glazed bricks discovered day at that state the great King Xerxes says by the grace of a hora Mazda much that had been ordered by King Darius my father was well it was also by the grace of a horror master that I completed these works and made it excellent however it is unknown precisely what these later works were the upper Donna was where the Persian kings received tribute from all of the peoples of their empire and where they could portray themselves as conquerors of the world after climbing the staircases and through the deep portico the foreign dignitaries would have been led through a massive set of doorways each 60 feet high and covered with sheets of decorative gold patterns lions and Bulls unfortunately nothing remains today apart from the massive door sills visitors would have had to go through a specific series of ceremonial actions when they entered the Great Hall as indicated by the bass reliefs carved throughout the Acropolis they would have fallen to their knees in front of the king and then immediately prostrated themselves on the ground before giving the gifts or tribute and slowly backing out of the great throne room the most beautiful and important surviving part of the a putana is the eastern portico frieze which is decorated with exquisite sculptured bass release this frieze was likely created in the final years of the 6th century BCE and is believed to have been the work of your owner sculptors from Greece the inner facade of the upper Donna eastern portico frieze that faces the courtyard is decorated with lines of soldiers dignitaries and courtiers adorning one wing and 23 gift bearing delegations on another the northern part of the frieze depicts a troop of dignitaries from within the Persian homeland marching alongside horsemen and charioteers at the center are eight armed men and a winged Sun on the southern area of the frieze is depicted a procession of dignitaries from all over the Persian Empire traveling to Persepolis to give gifts and pay tribute to the great Persian king 23 nations have identified in the stairway freeze and among those represented are Thracians from Southeast Europe Syrians and Cappadocia ins from the Levant and Anatolia Aryans back trains and sogdians from the East Arabs from the south Babylonians from ancient Mesopotamia and Libyans from Africa the nations were identified by their styles of dress or facial features the Medes were those with round caps the Persians had straight caps and the Edomites had their distinctive robes they are shown bringing objects and commodities from different parts of the empire such as fine horses shagging mountain goats camels ivory tusks carts of gold and jewelry some of the figures possess characteristics that mark them as figures of great importance for example one elamite is wearing a diadem in his curly hair and brings with him Lions to offer to the Persian leader all of which are signs of royalty some of the objects that are shown on the freezes have been discovered by archaeologists such as tall golden vessels with handles in the shape of Griffin's most of these dignitaries are shown carrying a lotus-like flour and some hold round objects both of which are still associated with the now rose festival this displayed both the wealth and power of the Persian Empire the frieze was also covered in symbolic imagery floral rosettes with twelve petals are shown likely symbolizing the 12 months of the year as well as cypress trees and an evergreen plant that was considered auspicious and paradoxical by the Persians these have been interpreted as symbols of perpetual happiness and prosperity a lion attacking a bull is shown beneath the sculpted cypress trees with the lion's head depicted frontally a perspective that is very unusual compared to the Sidon profiles of the figures shown elsewhere across the city the most accepted interpretation of the scene is its astronomical Association the lion Leo was one of the signs of the Persian zodiac and was associated with the Sun the bull Taurus was also one of the star signs that had been identified by this time these stars are closely associated with the vernal equinox which in the Persian calendar marked the start of the naruse festival it may also have signified eternity the symbolism of which would not have been lost among those attending ceremonies at the site that were designed to strengthen the ties between the diverse parts of the Empire this frieze indicates that Persepolis was less a military capital and instead first and foremost a symbolic and ceremonial place from all over the Empire subject peoples came here to give their gifts to the king the formal presentation of tribute confirmed the loyalty of the subject nations and the power of the king a walk to the King followed a specific route through the complex intended to maximize the impact of the architecture thousands of years later it's still possible to imagine the cacophony of noise that would have been caused by the procession as they climbed the Great staircases of the unfamiliar City before they finally reached the gate of All Nations coming from the far-flung corners of the Empire few of these people would have ever seen a structure like this ensuring that every visitor in ancient times who was allowed to climb to the royal Terrace would have been in total awe the royal treasury was one of the first buildings to be constructed on the platform its function was interpreted from the artifacts discovered there among which was a cache of 750 clay tablets inscribed with texts in the elamite language these tablets preserve the record of payments to those employed in Persepolis needless to say this archive is crucial because it sheds light on the administration of the work and conditions of the laborers at Persepolis providing information on the division of work the ethnic background of many employees and their classification according to skills and gender both men and women were hired as laborers at Persepolis and were paid in kind or cash according to their skills and nature of their work the tablets also record the staff of the Treasury itself they indicate that more than 1300 people worked there also found in the Treasury was a statue of Penelope wife of the legendary Greek figure Odysseus the statue may have been stolen from Greece during the campaigns they're led by Darius the first in 480 BCE or it might have been gifted to the King by a foreign dignitary the second largest palace of Persepolis was a splendid building with a central hall containing 100 columns which gave the structure its name the whole of 100 columns its construction was started by Zek seized and completed by his son artaxerxes the first the columns of the building were laid out in 10 rows of 10 columns each built of a local dark grey stone each had a bell-shaped base fluted shaft and was adorned on the top with floral designs and a gilded double-headed bull upon whose backs rested the cedar rafters that supported the ceiling the hall was over 200 feet long and 200 feet wide and access was provided by four main doorways - to the south and - to the north the door waist of the south were decorated with the figures of the king in audience with subjects carrying his throne those to the north depict five rows of ten figures each shown from one perspective of their profile on either side of the doorway these 100 individuals represented the most senior officials of the Empire and analogy to the symbolism of the hundred columns within the hall it's believed that this structure was an additional audience Hall though at an unknown point in time it was converted into storage rooms not everyone was allowed to approach the king sometimes visitors would have to be content with a glimpse of the Emperor according to best reliefs when the King sat on his throne he was enclosed in curtains and shrouded in shadow the sparkling of his golden scepter was the signal that granted the right to speak only a select few would have been allowed to approach the king and pay homage to him with a differential kiss known as Pross Kinesis some of the most beautiful works of Persian art have been found in the Hall of 100 columns there art was depicted in a very stylized manner from the way they rendered the curls of hair to the extraordinarily detailed animals with evocative facial expressions there is also evidence that the friezes were painted in bright colors the costumes for all the foreign delegates are rendered in such detail that it is clear the Persian artists were fascinated by the variety of people's they witnessed visiting the city also founded the building was the miniature bust of a young prince made of lapis lazuli and eyes of precious stones now lost another work about there was a small tile ornamented with an eagle with outstretched wings the royal ensign of the Persian Empire after presiding over the grand procession in the a padana the king would withdraw to the central palace known as the triple on the triple gate a private room for the king and his counselors located in between the Abba Donna and Hall of 100 columns the building is composed of a main hall supported by four massive columns each decorated with capitals sculpted in the shape of lamassu bulls the eastern doorway depicts the mirror images of a ceremonial scene showing the Persian king seated on a royal chair with his Crown Prince standing behind him they are both upon a massive platform that is being carried into the Hall by 28 people an image that may allude to what happened inside the structure the north and south doors of the triple on led to the king's private apartments these were also heavily decorated this time showing the king leaving the building it was here that the king would meet with his trusted aides to improve the organization of his empire in this chamber the council resolved to build new roads chart new sea routes establish a unified system of weights and measures evidence of which has been discovered in the Treasury and adopt a common currency using bi-metal coins of gold and silver that said some scholars argue that this structure was nothing more than a monumental corridor connecting the upper Donna and Hall of 100 columns one of the first palaces built on the Persepolis platform was the Takara Winter Palace located to the south west of the a putana and facing south this was intended to serve as the private residence of Darius but he died before construction was completed so it was finished by his son Xerxes the facade of the building was almost exactly modeled after akima need royal tombs from Darius onwards and it's lintels carved in an Egyptian style also showed a striking resemblance to the Palace of the Sicilian King artists ear the first in the city of peru's about bass reliefs were carved into the door frames and facade depicting the king entering the building carried by a retinue of servants of the motif show the Kings Warriors slaying Lions winged Bulls and other beasts the columns and ceiling of this palace were probably wouldn't though no trace of them has survived there were many royal inscriptions carved into the walls doorways window frames and even on doorknobs of the palace the floor was paved with red tiles and likely covered in beautiful carpets one particularly splendid room within this complex was a room dimly lit by light streaming through the window spaces which then reflected off the highly polished stone work within the architectural work was created with such a refined polish and beauty the people called it the mirror Hall sometime after 375 BCE artaxerxes the third added a gate and staircase on the western side of the palace upon the doorframe he had inscribed messages that proclaimed his royal lineage and the buildings constructed during his reign in his belief that a garden was also cultivated during this period as small water channels were installed close to the gate and the clay tablets found in Persepolis lists the different trees and plants that were planted there they showed that the composition of the garden was deeply symbolic there were seedlings for thousands of different types of plants including mal berries olives and dates that had been collected by the king these were trees that he had imported from all over his empire to reflect the size and extent of his power in this garden space this garden was another form of political statement because by making plants grow in an otherwise barren landscape and by creating something ordered in an otherwise chaotic environment the Persian kings showed all who came that they were the Masters of the world close to the mirror Hall was the Palace of Xerxes built on the south side of the known as the Hadees it measured over 7,500 square feet making it twice as large as the Palace of Darius the main hall in the palace featured 36 columns and surrounding it with three rooms on its eastern side and three on its western side on the northern side was a wide portico facing the upper Donna the decorative scheme of this building was similar to that of Darius's Palace with best reliefs that depicted the king being carried by servants as he entered and exited his residence located in between the Palace of Darius and that of Xerxes is a very well preserved interconnecting stairway frieze depicting a hula master flanked on each side by Spinks ah's and members of the Kings bodyguard according to classical writers this elite core of the Persian army consisted of 10,000 foot soldiers carefully selected to protect the Emperor the number always remained at 10,000 because as soon as one died or was injured another immediately replaced him for this reason the Corps was known as the Immortals or the apple bearers based on the depictions of these troops at the Palace of Xerxes and on glazed bricks at Sousa their uniforms were very colorful and shown with brilliant golden and floral designs the King they defended represented the unified state and the sole ruler capable of imposing order out of the world in some parts of the Empire he was even viewed as a divinity the aforementioned halls represent the most well known structures on the Acropolis but many other buildings were constructed there there were various residential areas and small private palaces scattered throughout the Acropolis on the lower southern side of the platform was a complex known as the southern buildings which may have been used as storerooms or residential quarters for slaves and servants these were built by Xerxes between approximately 480 and 470 BCE it is believed that they stand on top of the earliest point of access to the Acropolis located west of the palaces of Darius and Xerxes was a series of structures known today as the garrison quarters though it is unknown precisely what they function why was these were constructed during the reign of artaxerxes the first and feature a very well preserved kitchen area complete with a mud brick oven east of Cirque Caesars Palace and west of the Treasury is the so-called Queens quarters an l-shaped complex also constructed during the period of xerxes rule although it has been called a harem these institutions did not exist in Persia during the Achaemenid period of rule the title was given by later European explorers drawing upon fanciful stories of the Persian kings 360 wives as described by the Greeks although less well preserved in comparison to those of Darius and Xerxes King Artaxerxes the third had his own splendid palace constructed on the Acropolis during his reign his palace was located in between the Palace of Xerxes and the upper downer the floor plan was roughly identical to that of Darius as Palace the western section of the palace was decorated with a series of horned stone crenellations artaxerxes the third also constructed a structure known as the Hall of 32 columns on the Acropolis though its function is not known to the north of the hall of 100 columns is an unfinished gate started under the rule of artaxerxes the third which was originally intended to be a counterpart to the gate of All Nations it is believed that from the mid 4th century on this served as the main access point of the terrace with a thoroughfare known today as the army road or procession road leading from this entrance to the gate of all nations located along the road where unfinished capitals carved in the shape of unusual eagle-headed Griffin's believed to represent the humor bird of Persian mythology the incomplete status of the gate has provided scholars with a glimpse at the process by which many of the structures in Persepolis were built for example unfinished slabs were laid over one another before being carved into shape because the artists did not want to damage the lower paths with falling chips as they were working on the upper sections there were also a series of fortifications separating the Acropolis from the lower city of Persis which surrounded the ceremonial or our per simplest of the Southwest and northwest this area was likely occupied before Darius started construction of the Terrace though little is known about its earliest history the Lower City was an entire city of servants houses artisans workshops and everything else that served life in the king's court much of this is still waiting to be revealed by archaeologists and for their secrets to be discovered the limited archaeological studies have revealed the foundations of a few large buildings most of which were built in the traditional Persian style of square shaped mud bricks much like those of the Acropolis many of the door jambs were made of stone which was very abundant in Persepolis perched as it was on a terrace of rock one is particularly well-preserved showing a floorplan that consisted of a residential core including a central hall surrounded by smaller rooms with the square courtyard accessed by a short flight of stairs the lower city seems to have been looted and raised during the period of Alexander's conquest and remained uninhabited after his armies had moved on in Persia if someone wanted to offer tribute to a deity they would have been hard-pressed to do so because there were no temples all over Persia altars have been found standing alone on open hilltops and the traces left by fires during sacrifices can still be found along with other evidence these have contributed to historians understanding of the Persian religion for the Persians all of creation was divine the sky the earth and all of its elements the Persians considered natural phenomena such as water wind earth and fire as sacred attributes hence sacrifices were not held in an enclosed temple but outside under the open sky they offered their sacrifices to the Sun the sky the moon the earth and fire the earliest believers may have worshipped these deities thanks to their association with some of the most fundamental aspects of daily life however around the eighth century BCE fundamental changes occurred in religious beliefs across the region as demonstrated in the anime the book of kings and epic history of the Iranian people written sometime in the late 1st millennium CE II by the persian poet Ferdowsi in this it is made perfectly clear that these people have begun to believe in a sort of monotheism which had been reformed and made more ethical by Zoroaster Zarathustra sometime during this time although little is known of Zora Esther's life other than that he was Persian his teachings were not actually compiled and documented until as late as the 3rd century CE II many centuries after his death nonetheless his teachings of a dualistic religion and of the eternal conflict between good truth and evil deception had a profound impact on Persian society their faith was directed towards the worship of a single deity known as Ahura Mazda who incarnated the supreme good other deities were reinterpreted as being nothing more than demons and devils Zoroastrianism became the principal religion of the Achaemenid dynasty on the southern retaining wall of the Acropolis Terrace there are two inscriptions that describe the extent and nature of its connection to Persian royal power both are written in the Aryan alphabet a script created under the orders of King Darius the first to be used for akima need royal inscriptions these are tests of the importance of Ahura Mazda to the rulers of Persepolis a Hooda master was the principal Zara a streon God the Lord of wisdom who was worshipped at fire temples however the Persians did not force the people of their empire to believe in a horror master they allowed freedom of worship sacrifices could be dedicated to any god they wished the Jewish book of Ezra offers an independent account in which the Persians are praised for liberating the Jews and allowing them to practice their religion freely to accumulate Kings artaxerxes the second and artaxerxes the third had their tombs cut into the rock above Persepolis on the sacred ku Amir mountain of Mithra which was known as the ku air remote mountain of mercy from the 13th century on this site was closely associated with the ancient Persian pea team through God of Oasis and of the Sun they were an additional for akima need royal tombs excavated at nook seee Rustom a necropolis located approximately 12 kilometers to the northwest of Persepolis a few miles from Persepolis archaeologists discovered a well-preserved small building with the square foundation known today as the cube of Zoroaster what it was is still a mystery sparking vigorous debate among scholars not just because of its unknown origin but also for its location close to the walls of mount nutsy are Rustom there are several hypotheses regarding the site some say that it is a temple of fire and others believe that it is a watchtower the most alluring idea is that it was once a library where sacred texts were kept upon closer inspection a number of figures were found carved into the rock face they appear to be in mourning for the death of their Emperor as evidenced by the cross-shaped incisions carved high in the rock face each with an entrance elevated far from the ground this is where King Darius the first Xerxes artaxerxes the first and Darius the second were buried most in stone sarcophagi Kings artaxerxes the fourth and Darius the third may also have been buried in the tomb of artaxerxes the second all six of these tombs share a similar form and decorative scheme and are believed to have all been copied from that of Darius the first they also share a resemblance to the carved facade of the Takara the king is shown on the tomb register are standing upon a platform that is carried by his servants depicted on these tombs are best reliefs that show the Persian King making sacrifices to a flame and to the god Ahura Mazda in front of the tomb of Darius the first is a well preserved water basin which is believed to have been used in funeral ceremonies from Persepolis the Persian kings managed their vast empire and they were unique in how they envisage how an empire should be run compared to the general consensus of the ancient world in which cultures would seek to conquer obliterate and rebuild according to their own terms this process was not the case with Persia where political were insured through tolerance of cultural diversity if subject nations paid their taxes and tribute to the Persian king that was all that was required for them to continue living according to their own customs and cultural setting to avoid confusing Babel a common language was adopted during ceremonies and official acts old Persian by using a language that they themselves had to study and learn the Persians once again displayed their desire to create a common world that all would be able to belong to old Persian was the official language of the Persian bureaucracy an important step between the creation of an empire encompassing many people's to a state composed of a single people the Persian representation of the Empire as being multifaceted and tolerant of diversity was a dramatic departure from the Imperial precedents of their forebearers the subjects of earlier empires such as of the Babylonian and Assyrian empires had also spoken and written many languages but when it came to putting inscriptions into palaces and monuments of the rulers the inscriptions were that of the rulers in this way the identity of the Empire was expressed in the terms of the rulers the languages of the Achaemenid inscriptions by contrast were unprecedented symbols of the relationships between rulers and the ruled as they were frequently provided in both the official old persian language and the languages of their vassal states namely elamite and Akkadian by allowing subject nations to live their own lives the Persians ensured that a multi-ethnic and multilingual Empire flourished in relative peace for 250 years that said it obviously took more than tolerance to maintain control over a territory that stretched nearly 3,000 miles from west to east empires need an infrastructure in order to maintain control 50 miles outside of Persepolis carved into the side of a hill is an ancient Persian road leading to the city and the sides of the road are up to 30 feet high such feats of Engineering were repeated across the Empire where a network of roads and highways allowed the Persians to get information people and materials from one corner of the Empire to wherever the king was as quickly as possible even the Greeks could not fail to be impressed by the Persian road system which stretched from Persepolis to souza and to Egbert anivia posaga T and then 1,500 miles to the west to Ephesus on the Mediterranean roads also went east to India the Greeks were particularly amazed by the messengers that traveled along these roads keeping the Persian kings at Persepolis informed of everything that occurred in the Empire the great Greek historian Herodotus wrote that no mortal thing travels faster than these Persian couriers such speed was possible because of another Persian innovation the staging post thanks to the system a messenger would ride on one horse and be able to quickly change animals at these Garrison's located approximately every 20 miles along the highways before continuing their journey straight away manned by Persian soldiers the staging posts also ensured that for the first time in antiquity traders and travelers could move around a vast tract of land in relative safety much is known about the nature and structure of imperial power through the art discovered in the city archaeological investigations discovered two particularly interesting sculptured scenes showing the royal audience one of which is stored in the Iran National Museum and the other in the Persepolis Treasury both of these had originally ornamented the central facade of the upper Danah stairways but were later removed to the Treasury for unknown reasons the king appointed members of his family almost trusted men to select positions King Darius the first is displayed enthroned beneath the canopy and the heir to the throne Xerxes stands alongside several senior officials behind him one of these officials is likely pharmacy's the son of arse amis and the chief economic official who was responsible for the payment of food gifts to the residents and visitors of the city the master of ceremonies stood before the throne and reported on the Proceedings of the festivals ashes are depicted introducing the groups of gift bearing occasions as they enter the exchange of gifts was therefore a key element in the Persian mechanisms of power and royal ideology and the upper donger served as the principal location at which this took place it was therefore no surprise that Alexander the Great targeted this structure in particular to be destroyed one particularly interesting inscription discovered in the Queen's quarters indicated that there might have been an element of competition when it came to a ruler succession describing the ascension of Xerxes to the Persian throne after the death of Darius the first it reads my father Darius had other sons but thus was a Huna masters desire my father Darius made me the largest after himself when my father Darius went away from the throne by the grace of a hooter master I became King on my Father's throne researchers from the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago began to excavate the Acropolis in 1931 and in 1933 they discovered fragments of tablets in two rooms of a gatehouse at the edge of the stone terrace these became known as the Persepolis fortification tablets as there had been discovered in the foundations of the ruin fortification wall that once surrounded the terrace 30,000 fragments and whole tablets were found which together provide one of the few sources of information about the workings of the Empire that were written by the Persians themselves information that we would otherwise never have access to they were written in several languages and composed of four main types of document cuneiform texts in the Edomite language with impressions of seals documents written in the Aramaic language and script also with seal impressions pieces with seal impressions but no text and various miscellaneous and unique pieces in Greek Phrygian Akkadian and the only tablet written in Old Persian ever discovered like a treasure trove of coins these were stored together in antiquity and found together in modern times what do these tablets tell people about Persepolis they were not about the deeds and characters of kings or armies on the march or the eunuchs and harem intrigues or other things that Hellenistic writers and artists were interested in they are mostly the receipts and invoices of the empire during a narrow time of fewer than 20 years around 500 BCE more specifically they are the record of one particular aspect of the Persian Empire the provision of food by a centralized body they describe transactions involving a range of grains beer wine animals fruit and vegetables for people that were on the Persian government's payrolls including workers craftsmen clerks travelers and members of the Kings own family one records one-and-a-half shekels of silver for carpenters making sculptures and another details one jug of wine each to the seventy-four Syrian laborers working on the columned Hall with their road infrastructure the Persians could establish an extensive trading network across their empire through which they acquired the luxury goods to maintain the loyalty of their elite the purpose of luxury at Persepolis was mainly linked to their perceptions of power and the propaganda of kingship to have superfluous articles of expensive clothing or to have once Palace strewn with textiles an expression of power and wealth through the conspicuous consumption of material goods in that vein one custom that both fascinated and appalled the Greeks was the Persian feast most of what is known of the Persian feast comes from the Greek sources who described the opulence of the objects used and the amount of drinking that was an essential part of the proceedings the Persians lived according to a principle of telling the truth something that the Greeks but grudgingly admired in them drinking during feasts had an important social role they tended to get very drunk because they believed that only in doing so they would tell the truth and be able to effectively settle arguments feasting brought groups together as a community with everyone partaking in the same food and engaging in the same experience perhaps not surprisingly the Persians were renowned for their luxury records and archaeological evidence indicate that they purchased spices go purple dyes and reams of the finest textiles although all that remains today are bare stone pillars and walls the halls and palaces of Persepolis were once splendidly decorated in sumptuous textiles these fabrics were a way of expressing status and would have been found on walls all over the floors and the furniture the cost of the site must have been immeasurable judging from its immense scale the opulence of its decoration and luxury of the ceremonies and events that took place there it seems the Persians were able to afford it through state investment and making sure the fertile region of the Persian homeland flourished under the Achaemenid rule agriculture served as their main form of income and the Persepolis fortification tablets indicate that grain and other produce served as the primary means of paying taxes in addition to the tributes and taxes paid by their vessels within the Empire the Persian royalty profited from the extensive trade that took place across their realm along the land-based routes known as the Silk Road and maritime routes via the Persian Gulf due to their position the Persians frequently acted as middlemen in transactions between their neighbors their economy made use of a system of standardized coinage and they even had a form of banking system by which the market could be made secure gift-giving was how the Persian kings reinforced the loyalty of their subjects but they also had other less benign ways of exercising power a bas-relief at bay he stood in northwestern Iran shows the Persian King at his most ruthless King Darius the great is shown enslaving those who threatened his throne and the prominent position of the image served as a public warning to those who may have considered resisting him many ancient Greek accounts also suggest that the Persians ruled with an iron fist including descriptions of how the Persians cut off the limbs and even noses of their prisoners however the best reliefs at Persepolis seem to present a very different perspective there the figures do not display the expected rigidity of court rule or enslavement instead they appear relaxed chatting and encouraging one another they are depicted as holding one another's hands or shoulders providing an image of peace and harmony there are no battle scenes depicted in the city and no violence in any form is demonstrated tolerant peaceful and wealthy the Achaemenid Kings believed that they were the masters of all that they surveyed [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] you [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] you [Music]

Channel: Viper TV - FILMS

Views: 54,037

Rating: 4.7411165 out of 5

Keywords: persepolis, ancient, civilization

Id: H4G-fssglFI

Length: 56min 31sec (3391 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 02 2019