Editing Persepolis (section)

==History==
[[File:Persepolis, capital of Persia (TerraX, English redub).webm|thumb|Animated reconstruction of Persepolis]]

===Construction===
Archaeological evidence shows that the earliest remains of Persepolis date back to 515 BC. [[André Godard]], the French archaeologist who excavated Persepolis in the early 1930s, believed that it was [[Cyrus the Great]] who chose the site of Persepolis, but that it was [[Darius I]] who built the terrace and the palaces. Inscriptions on these buildings support the belief that they were constructed by Darius.

With Darius I, the sceptre passed to a new branch of the royal house. The country's true capitals were [[Susa]], [[Babylon]] and [[Ecbatana]]. This may be why the Greeks were not acquainted with the city until [[Alexander the Great]] took and plundered it.

[[File:Darius.jpg|thumb|upright=.7|left|[[Darius the Great]], by [[Eugène Flandin]] (1840)]]
[[File:Harold f Weston - Iran13.jpg|thumb|Persepolis in 1920s, photo by [[Harold Weston]]|321x321px]]

Darius I's construction of Persepolis was carried out parallel to that of the [[Palace of Darius in Susa|Palace of Susa]].<ref name=Perrot>{{cite book |last1=Perrot |first1=Jean |title=The Palace of Darius at Susa: The Great Royal Residence of Achaemenid Persia |date=2013 |publisher=I.B.Tauris |isbn=978-1848856219 |page=423 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fDimj7F2VVgC&pg=PA423 |language=en |access-date=25 December 2021 |archive-date=20 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230420100929/https://books.google.com/books?id=fDimj7F2VVgC&pg=PA423 |url-status=live }}</ref> According to Gene R. Garthwaite, the Susa Palace served as Darius' model for Persepolis.<ref name="The Persians">{{cite book |last1=Garthwaite |first1=Gene R. |title=The Persians |date=2008 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1405144001 |page=50 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=unG8_JqzYQQC&pg=PA50 |language=en |access-date=19 October 2020 |archive-date=20 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230420100921/https://books.google.com/books?id=unG8_JqzYQQC&pg=PA50 |url-status=live }}</ref> Darius I ordered the construction of the [[Apadana]] and the Council Hall ({{transliteration|grc|Tripylon}} or the "Triple Gate"), as well as the main imperial Treasury and its surroundings. These were completed during the reign of his son, [[Xerxes I]]. Further construction of the buildings on the terrace continued until the downfall of the [[Achaemenid Empire]].<ref>2002. Guaitoli. M.T., & Rambaldi, S. ''Lost Cities from the Ancient World''. White Star, spa. (2006 version published by Barnes & Noble. Darius I founded Persepolis in 500 BC as the residence and ceremonial center of his dynasty. p. 164</ref> According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, the Greek historian [[Ctesias]] mentioned that Darius I's grave was in a cliff face that could be reached with an apparatus of ropes.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Persepolis |title=Persepolis |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=16 October 2017 |archive-date=10 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210410060736/https://www.britannica.com/place/Persepolis |url-status=live }}</ref>

Around 519 BC, construction of a broad stairway was begun. Grey [[limestone]] was the main building material used at Persepolis. The uneven plan of the terrace, including the foundation, acted like a castle, whose angled walls enabled its defenders to target any section of the external front.

<gallery mode=packed>
File:General view of the ruins of Persepolis.jpg|General view of the Persepolis
File:Plan of Persepolis.png|Aerial architectural plan of Persepolis
</gallery>

===Destruction===
After [[Battle of the Persian Gate|invading Achaemenid Persia]] in 330 BC, [[Alexander the Great]] sent the main force of his army to Persepolis by the [[Royal Road]]. [[Diodorus Siculus]] writes that on his way to the city, Alexander and his army were met by 800 Greek artisans who had been captured by the Persians. Most were elderly and suffered some form of mutilation, such as a missing hand or foot. They explained to Alexander the Persians wanted to take advantage of their skills in the city but handicapped them so they could not easily escape. Alexander and his staff were disturbed by the story and provided the artisans with clothing and provisions before continuing on to Persepolis. Diodorus does not cite this as a reason for the destruction of Persepolis, but it is possible Alexander started to see the city in a negative light after this encounter.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Persepolis |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/persepolis/ |access-date=2021-02-16 |website=[[World History Encyclopedia]] |archive-date=17 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417123147/https://www.worldhistory.org/persepolis/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Upon reaching the city, Alexander [[Battle of the Persian Gate|stormed]] the [[Persian Gates]], a pass through [[Zagros Mountains]]. There, [[Ariobarzanes of Persis]] successfully ambushed Alexander the Great's army, inflicting heavy casualties. After being held off for 30 days, Alexander the Great outflanked and destroyed the defenders. Ariobarzanes himself was killed either during the battle or during the retreat to Persepolis. Some sources indicate that the Persians were betrayed by a captured tribal chief who showed the Macedonians an alternate path that allowed them to outflank Ariobarzanes in a reversal of [[Thermopylae]]. After several months, Alexander allowed his troops to loot Persepolis.
[[File:Georges-Antoine Rochegrosse Incendie de Persepolis 1890.jpg|thumb|left|"The Burning of Persepolis", led by [[Thaïs]], 1890, by [[Georges-Antoine Rochegrosse]]]]

Around that time, a fire burned "the palaces" or "the palace".
[[File:Joshua Reynoldsre thais.jpg|thumb|left|[[Thaïs]] setting fire to Persepolis|357x357px]]
[[File:بقایای_منسوجات_سوخته_در_لهیب_آتش_اسکندر.jpg|thumb|Remains of burned textiles in Alexander fire (Persepolis Museum)|200px]]

It is believed that the fire which destroyed Persepolis started from Hadish Palace, which was the living quarters of [[Xerxes I]], and spread to the rest of the city.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.toiran.com/en/directory/shiraz-persepolis-339 |work=toiran.com |title=Persepolis |access-date=2015-01-02 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150205211047/http://www.toiran.com/en/directory/shiraz-persepolis-339 |archive-date=5 February 2015}}</ref> It is not clear if the fire was an accident or a deliberate act of revenge for the burning of the [[Acropolis of Athens]] during the [[second Persian invasion of Greece]]. Many historians argue that, while Alexander's army celebrated with a [[symposium]], they decided to take revenge against the Persians.<ref name="The Chronology">{{cite book |title=The Chronology of Ancient Nations |publisher=Kessinger Publishing |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-7661-8908-9 |page=484 |author=Sachau, C. Edward}} p. 127</ref> If that is so, then the destruction of Persepolis could be both an accident and a case of revenge. The fire may also have had the political purpose of destroying an iconic symbol of the Persian monarchy that might have become a focus for Persian resistance.

Several, much later, Greek and Roman accounts (including [[Arrian]], [[Diodorus Siculus]] and [[Quintus Curtius Rufus]]) describe that the burning was the idea of [[Thaïs]], mistress of Alexander's general [[Ptolemy I Soter]], and possibly of Alexander himself. She is said to have suggested it during a very drunken celebration, according to some accounts to revenge the destruction of Greek sanctuaries (she was from Athens), and either she or Alexander himself set the fire going.<ref>Mark, Joshua J. [https://www.worldhistory.org/article/214/alexander-the-great--the-burning-of-persepolis/ "Alexander the Great & the Burning of Persepolis"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210422095918/https://www.worldhistory.org/article/214/alexander-the-great--the-burning-of-persepolis/ |date=22 April 2021 }}, 2018, ''[[World History Encyclopedia]]''</ref>

The ''[[Book of Arda Viraf|Book of Arda Wiraz]]'', a [[Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrian]] work composed in the 3rd or 4th century, describes Persepolis' archives as containing "all the [[Avesta]] and [[Zend]], written upon prepared cow-skins, and with gold ink", which were destroyed. Indeed, in his ''Chronology of the Ancient Nations'', the native Iranian writer [[Biruni]] indicates unavailability of certain native Iranian historiographical sources in the post-Achaemenid era, especially during the [[Parthian Empire]]. He adds: "[Alexander] burned the whole of Persepolis as revenge to the Persians, because it seems the Persian King Xerxes had burnt the Greek City of Athens around 150 years ago. People say that, even at the present time, the traces of fire are visible in some places."<ref name="The Chronology" /><ref>{{Cite book |title=Al-Beruni and Persepolis |journal=Acta Iranica |volume=1 |place=Leiden |year=1974 |isbn=978-90-04-03900-1 |pages=137–150 |author1=Anonimo |publisher=Peeters Publishers}}</ref>

On the upside, the fire that destroyed those texts may have preserved the [[Persepolis Administrative Archives]] by preventing them from being lost over time to natural and man-made events.<ref name="Wiesehöfer 10-11">Wiesehöfer 10–11.</ref> According to archaeological evidence, the partial burning of Persepolis did not damage what are now referred to as the ''Persepolis Fortification Archive'' tablets, but rather may have caused the eventual collapse of the upper part of the northern fortification wall, preserving the tablets until their recovery by the [[University of Chicago Oriental Institute|Oriental Institute]]'s archaeologists.<ref name="Henkelman 2008:Ch 2">Henkelman 2008:Ch 2.</ref>

===After the fall of the Achaemenid Empire===
[[File:Faravahar relief.jpg|thumb|[[Faravahar]] symbol in Persepolis|215x215px]]
In 316 BC, Persepolis was still the capital of Persia as a province of the great [[Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|Macedonian Empire]] (see Diodorus Siculus xix, 21 seq., 46; probably after [[Hieronymus of Cardia]], who was living about 326). The city must have gradually declined in the course of time. The lower city at the foot of the imperial city might have survived for a longer time;<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wondermondo.com/Countries/As/Iran/Fars/Persepolis.htm |title=Persepolis |publisher=Wondermondo |date=2012-02-13 |access-date=13 February 2012 |archive-date=28 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180528064826/http://www.wondermondo.com/Countries/As/Iran/Fars/Persepolis.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> but the ruins of the Achaemenids remained as a witness to its ancient glory.

The nearby [[Estakhr]] gained prominence as a separate city very shortly after the decline of Persepolis. It appears that much of Persepolis' rubble was used for the building of Istakhr.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | title =Iṣṭak̲h̲r| first1 = M. | last1 = Streck | first2 = G.C. | last2= Miles | encyclopedia = The Encyclopedia of Islam, Second Edition |editor=P. Bearman |editor-link1=Peri Bearman|editor2=Th. Bianquis |editor-link2=Thierry Bianquis|editor3=C.E. Bosworth |editor-link3=Clifford Edmund Bosworth|editor4=E. van Donzel |editor-link4=Emeri Johannes van Donzel|editor5=W.P. Heinrichs | editor-link5=Wolfhart Heinrichs|publisher = Brill Online | year = 2012| url = https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/*-SIM_3672 }}</ref> At the time of the [[Muslim conquest of Persia|Muslim invasion of Persia]], Estakhr offered a desperate resistance. It was still a place of considerable importance in the first century of [[Islam]], although its greatness was speedily eclipsed by the new metropolis of [[Shiraz]]. In the 10th century, Estakhr dwindled to insignificance. During the following centuries, Estakhr gradually declined, until it ceased to exist as a city.

[[File:پانوراما روز تخت جمشید.jpg|center|thumb|800x800px|Persepolis Panorama (17 May 2024)]]