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Apadana - Eastern stairs (8)
Unless otherwise indicated, pictures on this page © Marco Prins and Jona Lendering. Photos can be downloaded and used for non-commercial purposes, but you have to acknowledge Livius.
Map of the Persian empire. Design Jona Lendering. The eastern stairs of the Apadana at Persepolis show a procession of people bringing tribute to the Achaemenid king, Darius the Great (522-486). The relief consists of three parts: the northern wall, with representations of Achaemenid dignitaries; the center, with eight soldiers (picture); and the southern wall, showing representatives of all subject nations (picture above). The relief miraculously survived the sack of Persepolis by the soldiers of Alexander the Great in 330.
The Sagartians, which probably lived in the area of modern Yazd, wear a horseman's dress and cloaks. They were famous horsemen, fighting with lassoes. Their presents are garments and a bridled stallion.
A Sagartian. Eastern stairs of the apadana at Persepolis. Photo Marco Prins. They are dressed like Medes and Armenians. Their turban is used to protect their faces, which remains one of the fact that Yazd is an oasis in the desert.
The relief that showed the Sogdians, who lived in Uzbekistan, is badly damaged. Yet it is clear that they brought the great king a sword (akinakes), a pair of oblong rings, a pair of battle axes, and a bridled stallion.
A Persian officer leading the Sogdian delegation, taking their leader by the hand. The third man carries the akinakes. All men are dressed like archers.
A Sogdian. Eastern stairs of the apadana at Persepolis. Photo Marco Prins. The relief shows that they wore some sort of tight-fitting cap.
An Indian on the eastern Apadana stairs, Persepolis. Photo Marco Prins. An Indian carrying gold. The ancients told lots of tall stories about the proverbial wealth of the Punjab and the valley of the Indus. The Greek researcher Herodotus of Halicarnassus tells one of the most remarkable ones (text), which -no doubt- he had heard from a Persian spokesman. Next to this Indian was one of his compatriots, with a buffalo.
 
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