Achaemenid Empire/ (Persia) BY: HOZAN LATIF RAUF General Architectural features ▪ The architecture of Persians was more columnar and that led to vastly different massive architectural features from that of the Mesopotamian era. ▪ The use of flat timber roofs rather than vaults led to more slender columns and were rather more beautiful. This also led to rooms being squarer in shape than simple long rectangle. ▪ The roofing system was also very different, wherein the wooden brackets were covered in clay and provided more stability. The use of a double mud wall might have provided room for windows just below ceiling in structures like Palace of Persepolis. VOCABULARY WORDS ▪ The COLUMN is divided into three parts: ▪ The BASE ▪ The SHAFT- FLUTED ▪ The CAPITAL- Double Animal most with bulls Ancient Susa/Shush The city of SUSA was the Persian capital in succession to Babylon, where there is a building with a citadel complex. There was a good skill set of artisans and laborers available which made the palace complex more of a piece of art than just a building structure. Cedar wood was got from Lebanon and teak from the mountain of Zagros. The baked bricks were still made in the Babylonian method. Ancient Susa/Shush Ancient Persepolis PERSEPOLIS ▪ 518 BCE ▪ King Darius utilized influences and materials from all over his empire, which included Babylon, Egypt, Mesopotamian and Greece Architectural Plan of Ancient Persepolis The Great/Apadana Staircase ▪ King Xerxes (486-465 BC) built the Grand Staircase and the Gate of All Nations. ▪ The Grand Staircase is located on the northeast side of the city and these stairs were carved from massive blocks of stone. ▪ Whenever important foreign allocations arrived, their presence was indicated by trumpeters at the top of the staircase. Acolytes then led the VIPs through Xerxes’ Gateway (also known as the Gate of All Nations). The Great/Apadana Staircase THE PALACE OF DARIUS ▪ The size of the palace is smaller by comparison to the other structures in the complex, is present on the south of the Apadana near the west terrace wall. ▪ This was finished in his life time and almost at the same period, the terraced “Tripylon” was also finished. ▪ It lay centrally among the buildings and acted as the reception chamber and guard room for more private affairs of the palace. A treasury was also a contribution by Darius eventually into the entire complex. APADANA/Audience hall A third gateway on the South led towards Apadana, a grand audience hall 76.2m square hall with thirty six columns within 6m thick wall. It stood on an own terrace 3m high and had three porticos each with double colonnades and stairway on north and eastern side. There are minor rooms on the southern side of the hall. APADANA/Audience hall THE PALACE OF XERXES ▪ The contribution of Darius in the complex had all the buildings very lightly arranged, in between the existing buildings Xerxes made his contribution. The palace of Xerxes was built in the South-west angle, connected with an L shaped building which was identified as women’s quarters. The major contribution of Xerxes was the hall of hundred columns which was his throne room. The throne room was 68.6m square room with columns to a height of 11.3m supporting a flat roof made of cedar wood. The walls were double except for the north side where it had a portico facing the apadana. The throne room had two doorways and seven windows on the main wall. The Tomb of Darius, Naksh-I-Rustam • 13 km from north of Palace of Persepolis, is the tomb of ruler Darius. The façade of this rock- hewn structure is 18.3m wide and reproduces the south front of the Palace of Darius. • There are four columns of double bull type central doorway, with Egyptian like cornice and upper compartment in which elaborate throne is 2.7m high is supported. Near the tomb there is a Fire temple a stone square tower with a single room with external staircase. • The kings were interred behind a cliff-cut bas-relief that would resemble an accurate depiction of the king's own palace and its structural details. • The accuracy of the facade and its association with the actual structure of the kings' palaces is so close that they almost produce a view of how the structures would have looked before time reduced them to remains; Tomb of Darius the Great, for instance mirrors his palace in Persepolis, the "Tachar" even in scale and dimensions. The Tomb of Darius, Naksh-I-Rustam ▪ The tombs are carved into the mountain's side, in form of a cross depressed into the mountain's limestone background, and elevated from the ground. The relief which is found in the depressed cruciform is that which depicts the respective king's palace, and also depicts on its roof, the relief figure of the king praying, to Ahuramazda or what most believe is a reference to the Zoroastrian icon, Faravahar. ▪ One of the enigmatic features of the complex is a cubical, stone structure standing 12.5 meters tall, and around 7 meters wide, called the "Ka'ba-ye Zartosht" translating to the "Cube of Zoroaster" believed to have been constructed during the Acahemenid era and modified and changed during the Sassanid era. The structure is cubical in base, with blind impressions on the side resembling windows, and a ruined staircase leading to a small door in the front leading to a completely empty interior. There are varied speculations as to its function discussed below. Tomb of Cyrus the Great • The site of Pasargadae (which was then the capital city of the Persian Empire) compromises of four free standing structures. Centered on a citadel, a residential palace, the tomb of Cyrus and a sacred precinct. • The Tomb of Cyrus, despite having ruled over much of the ancient world, Cyrus the Great would design a tomb that depicts extreme simplicity and modesty when compared to those of other ancient kings and rulers. Tomb of Cyrus the Great ▪ The simplicity of the structure has a powerful effect on the viewer, since aside from a few moldings below the roof and a small rosette above its small entrance, there are no other stylistic distractions. ▪ This box like monument made of limestone measures 3.2m x 2.3m) gabled and standing on a platform with 6 steps. The feature is that of a typical Achaemenian architectural style with large blocks accurately cut and smoothly dressed without use of mortar but reinforced by lead and iron. Tomb of Cyrus the Great ▪ The edifice, or the "small house" is a rectangular, elongated cube that lies directly on top of the pyramidal stone steps, and is 6’6” (2m) in width x 6’6” (2m) in height, and 10 ft (3m) in length. The inside of the edifice is occupied by a small chamber a few feet in width and height, and around ten feet deep. ▪ It was inside this chamber where the bed and coffin of Cyrus the Great would have been situated. ▪ The structure has a pediment roof possessing the same length and width dimensions as the edifice itself. ▪ Around the tomb were a series of columns, the original structure which they supported is no longer present. Tomb of Cyrus the Great ▪ Arrian's direct testimony indicates that Cyrus the Great was indeed hidden in the chamber inside the structure, it is also a possibility that the body of Cyrus the Great had been put in the ground below the edifice, and that the tomb seen on the top is in fact a monument or a false tomb. ▪ There was originally a golden coffin inside the mausoleum, resting on a table with golden supports, inside of which the body of Cyrus the Great was interred. ▪ Upon his resting place, was a covering of tapestry and drapes made from the best available Babylonian materials, using fine Median workmanship; below his bed was a fine red carpet, covering the narrow rectangular base of his tomb. THANK YOU!.