Persepolis - Iran

Persepolis is situated 70 km northeast of the modern city of Shiraz, Iran.

Persepolis was the capital of the Persian kingdom. To the ancient Persians the city was known as Parsa (The City of Persians). Persepolis is a transliteration of the Greek name of the city which means: "Persian city"

According to Diodorus Persepolis was the richest city under the sun and the private houses had been furnished with every sort of wealth over the years…many of the houses belonged to the common people and were abundantly supplied with furniture and wearing apparel of every kind….

The bas-relief in the public hall of Darius, where The King of Kings received the tribute from all the nations in the Achaemenid Empire on the New Year occasions and gave presents in return, depicts Darius sitting on his throne with a monarchic stick in his right hand and a lotus with two buds in his left hand. The details of his clothes and throne as well as parts of the fine vessels in front of the king can be seen very delicately and precisely. All the relief works were done on dark-grey marble and were painted in ancient times. Apart from that the walls were tiled and decorated with pictures of lions, bulls, and flowers.

a postcard showing detail of Darius Public Hall bas-relief in the eastern staircase of Apadana Palace

Darius on his throne with the crown prince Xerxes