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Persepolis : text
Persepolis : photos by Marco Prins;
text Jona Lendering © |
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Persepolis - Apadana north stairs
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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. |
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The northern stairs of the Apadana
at Persepolis
are hard to date. They may belong to the original design by Darius
I the Great, but it is perhaps more likely that they were built after
Xerxes
had ordered the building of the Gate
of All Nations. This was the official access to the terrace,
and from here, the easiest entrance of the Apadana were its northern stairs. |
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Compared to the eastern stairs, the reliefs are of a rather poor quality.
The theme, however, is the same. People are bringing tribute to the great
king. Many courtiers are shown, like the Persians and Medes
on the pictures below. |
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The center of the stairs consisted of this famous relief,
showing crown prince Xerxes, king Darius, and the mayor of the palace,
Pharnaces
- and, in a more abstract sense, the rulers and their courtiers. This relief
was later removed and placed in the Treasury.
It is not known why. Now, it is in the Archaeological museum of Tehran. |
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The relief was replaced by another relief showing eight guardsmen;
these are three of them. |
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The motif of the fight between the lion and the bull is well-known:
it stands for the eternal cosmological struggle. |
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An inscription (XPb)
was included in the relief. |
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This drawing was made in 1704 by the Dutch artist Cornelis
de Bruijn, the first western visitor who tried to obtain really reliable
information for scholars. |
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to part
two
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