Introducing
Your new presentation assistant.
Refine, enhance, and tailor your content, source relevant images, and edit visuals quicker than ever before.
Trending searches
Discovery and Excavation of Persepolis
138
Discovery and Excavation of
Persepolis
Hemisha Lal
PRE- 20TH CENTURY
PRE- 20TH CENTURY
Persepolis was known as Sad-sotun (‘Hundred columns’) or Čehel Menār (‘Forty-columned’) during the Sasanian period from AD 224 to 651.
These rulers of this period started mythological traditions of trying to explain the presence of the ruins (in which Alexander the Great) left. From these ruins they adopted these achievements as their own, as they said it belonged to their ancestors.
Investigations in 17th and 18th centuries of Persepolis resulted in collections of inscriptions from the site to enable the decipherment of cuneiform script also known as pictographs.
The first organised excavations of the Persepolis ruins however, took place in the early 19th century. During these excavations sketches of the site were formed, engravings were found and photographs were taken. Some interesting figures from this time include Herbert Weld, whose particular interest was in making casts of the sculptures, and Lord Curzon, who wrote an extensive, highly regarded study of the site and its history.
Early -20th Century
In the early 20th century, there were many excavations at the site of Persepolis due to increase interest and government support from Iran. Ernst Herzfeld as well as Friedrich Krefter in 1931 paved the way for modern archaeologists with their miraculous discoveries.
Herzfeld found the north and eastern staircases of the Apadana (which is the great audience hall) and the Harem of Xerxes (which is where the noble ladies once lived) in ancient Persia. Meanwhile his expedition architect, Friedrich Krefter also discovered the gold and silver Foundation Tablets of Darius I in the Apadana which was written in Old Persian, Elamite and Babylonian. These tablets conveyed a series of administrative texts giving a key insight on how the Achaemenid empire was governed.
EARLY 20TH CENTURY
Figure 1: This is the ruins of Persepolis
Persepolis
Figure 2: This is how Persepolis would have looked
Early 20th Century Continued
Early 20th Century
Herzfeld was then succeeded in 1934 by Erich Schmidt, who carried out a more organised and large-scale excavation of the site and its surrounding area. Schmidt's major finds included seven foundation tablets belonging to Xerxes’ reign (see Figure 1) which conveyed the titles and attributes of Xerxes, the lists the countries that he ruled that brought him tribute and obeyed his commands. These tables also told a story about how Xerxes suppressed disorder and the worship of “evil ones” which were the Babylonian or the Jewish community and restored the proper of worship of Ahuramazda (who was the sole god of Zoroastrianism).
Schmidt also discovered two archives of cuneiform texts. The older collection contains 30 000 tablets called the Persepolis Fortification Tablets. The smaller set however, is called the Persepolis Treasury Tablets which recorded the origins of workers and the amounts they were paid. Schmidt’s work at Persepolis ended with the outbreak of World War II in 1939.
Xerxes
Figure 1: This is one of the seven foundation slabs found by Schmidt containing elements about Xerxes.
Iranian Excavations
IRANIAN EXCAVATION
The excavation and restoration of Persepolis was renewed in 1941 during WWII by the Iranian government under the Iranian archaeologist Ali Sami. Contributions made by Ali Hakemi, Sami's architect include an important study in the topography of the site, excavating the underground canal system of Persepolis and restoring the Apadana stairways, the Central Palace and the Treasury walls.
Sami was succeeded by Ali-Akbar Tadjvidi in 1961. Tadjvidi vision for Persepolis, or Parsa as it is called in Iran, was part of a much larger settlement on the surrounding plain.
Iranian ExcavationContinued
Iranian Excavations
The government funded Tadjvidi's research generously because it coincided with the preparation of the site as a venue for the festivities that would mark the 2500th anniversary of Iranian monarchy to be held in 1971.
The Institute of Achaemenid Research at Persepolis was established in 1973, which directed and coordinated excavation and restoration, and published excavation records of the monuments at the site.
Post-Islamic Revolution
POST-ISLAMIC REVOLUTION
The year of Islamic Revolution, Persepolis was deemed a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979. After this in 1991, the visit of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani caused the archaeological work came to a virtual standstill. The government then gave support and funding for new excavation and conservation of Persepolis.
Post - Islamic Revolution
Challenges
The Parsa-Pasargadae Research Foundation was established in 2002 and new archaeological investigations have taken place as a result. These new investigations include: a geomagnetic survey of the Marvdasht plateau, a study of pottery found in fortications on the top of the adjacent mountain, excavation and dredging of underground canals.
In the early 21st century there has been interest in reconstructing Persepolis, particularly making models through media and other forms. In 2006, there was also a film makde about Persepolis called Persepolis Recreated.