Persepolis
Persepolis(see map: The Hellenistic world), in Persis (SW Iran), a residence of the Achaemenid Persian kings. Alexander the Great in 331 BC took and looted Persepolis and set fire to the palaces (Diodorus 17. 71–2); this served to bake a number of clay sealings. The royal quarters, built on a hill-terrace, contained a treasury and symmetrically planned palaces with immense square columnar halls.
Excavations on the site have revealed that Darius I levelled the rock-terrace and began the great Apadana (audience hall), the main palace-buildings, and the ‘harem’. These were completed by Xerxes; Artaxerxes I finished the Hall of a Hundred Pillars and built his own palace. Around the whole complex was a fortification wall, and a great gate and stairway led up to the terrace. The bas-reliefs of these palaces are...
[The entire page is 215 words long]
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
Oxford University Press Titles
