: Iran : Susa : photos by Marco Prins ; text Jona Lendering ©
Susa (1)
This picture shows modern Susa, from the terrace of the ancient city.
| home
: index
: picture
archive
: Iran : Susa : photos by Marco Prins ; text Jona Lendering © |
||
Susa (1) |
||
| 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. | ||
|
Susa, seen from the east. The capital of ancient Elam, situated on a strip of land between the rivers Karkheh (Choaspes) and Dez (Eulaeus), is in the hottest part of Iran, Khuzestan. Even in March, the light is more intense than we have ever experienced, and we found it difficult to take photos, so the pictures on this page are a of a rather poor quality. | |
|
Another complication is that the troops of Saddam Hussein bombarded
this site during the First Gulf War (1980-1988), so that many architectural
remains are badly damaged. We will improve these pages in May 2005.
This picture shows modern Susa, from the terrace of the ancient city. |
|
|
A map of the Achaemenid palace. Here is a satellite photo. | |
|
This is the western gate of the royal palace, which is situated on a hill. When the Persian rulers took over Elam, they built started to live in Susa. A palace was built by Darius I the Great. A terrace was made (cf. the terrace at Persepolis) with very deep foundations. | |
|
This picture shows the foundations. | |
|
From the western gate, one proceeds to the first of three courts. In the Biblical book of Esther, this is called the Inner Court. This court gives access to... | |
|
... the King's Hall. Here, a famous inscription (known as DSf) was found, in which Darius describes how he had constructed the palace and mentions the nations of his empire (text). According to Esther, it is the place where the king received his guests. | |
|
A similar text, found on a clay tablet, lists the satrapies. This tablet is now in the British Museum. The full text can be found here. | |
|
This is the second court from the southwest. Archaeologists have tried to reach lower, pre-Achaemenid stratums. That's why it looks so deep. | |
|
The second court from the northeast. The big building in the background is the castle that the French archaeologists built. Many precious objects from this excavations are now in the Louvre, Paris, like the beautiful mosaic of glazed bricks below. | |
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
||
|
|
||