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PERSEPOLIS

(Gk. Persépolis)

Portico of the Hall of a Hundred Columns, audience hall of Xerxes I at Persepolis
(Courtesy of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago)

An Achaemenid royal capital (along with Babylon, Susa, and Ecbatana) until the end of the Achaemenid Empire in 330 b.c. Its Old Persian name was Parsa, meaning “Persian,” hence “city of the Persians.” The modern site is Takht-i Jamshid, located NE of Shiraz in the Marvdasht Plain of the Zagros Mountains. Most of the excavated portion of Persepolis was built from 500 to 460. In particular, Persepolis was the center of ceremonial display for the empire. It must be emphasized, however, that much of the site — including other palatial structures and the nonroyal settlement — has not yet been excavated and would presumably show both earlier and later occupation. The royal tombs at Naqsh-i Rustam, where four Achaemenid rulers were buried, is within 6 km. (3.7 mi.) of Persepolis and must be considered part of the settlement area.

The site of Persepolis as presently known consists of several well-preserved buildings, including a striking number of standing stone columns with capitals in the form of bulls or lions. The site was noted by many early explorers and first excavated by Ernst Herzfeld and Erich Schmidt during the 1930s. Excavation later continued under Iranian directorship. The palace complex is located on a stone platform 14 m. (643 ft.) high and provided with a drainage system. Darius I built a residential palace, an audience hall (Apadana), and a treasury building. Xerxes I built a larger palace and harem, fortification walls including the Gate of All Nations with a double stairway decorated with relief carving, and another audience hall, the Hall of a Hundred Columns. Subsequent construction included a palace of Artaxerxes I and an expansion of the Hall of a Hundred Columns. Many of the buildings were decorated in carved reliefs, notably the stairway to the Apadana. The reliefs depict a variety of scenes, including delivery of tribute from all the provinces ruled by the Achaemenids, as well as rows of soldiers. The ensemble demonstrated the successful unification of the empire and the power of its rulers. Excavations recovered two large groups of tablets: the Fortification tablets and the slightly later Treasury tablets. Written mostly in Elamite, with a minority in Aramaic, they record food disbursements to people of a wide range of statuses.

The Bible mentions Persepolis only once (2 Macc. 9:2), as one of several cities that rebelled successfully against the Seleucid king Antiochus IV (175-164 b.c.).

Geoff Emberling

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

PERSEPOLIS

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)