Editing Persepolis (section)

===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>