Geographical and historical context of Persepolis Flashcards
- Overview of Persian Empire from Cyrus the Great to Darius I - Early capital cities - Geographic location of Persepolis
pre-Achaemenid Empire background
1200 BC: Persians and Medes were nomads moving through Central Asia, motivated by the search for access to more resources
600 BC: Persians conquered by Medians and became subsumed into the Median empire. Medians allowed them to keep their leaders if they didn’t rebel
559 BC
Cyrus the Great becomes king of Persians
550 BC
Cyrus the Great overthrew Median king and became ruler of Persia and Media
547-546 BC
Cyrus the Great conquered Lydia
539 BC
- Cyrus the Great conquered Phoenicia
- Babylon surrendered peacefully
- Cyrus freed Jews from captivity and helped them reconstruct Jerusalem temple → hailed “the shepherd of the Lord” in the Book of Isaiah
538 BC
Cyrus the Great conquered Elam
530 BC
- Cyrus killed by Queen Tomyris of the Massagetas
- His son Cambyses II succeds him and expands the empire into Egypt
522 BC
- Darius I succeeds Cambyses II by quelling a revolt that occurred after Cambyses’ death
- Established satrap system, a permanent army, and expanded the empire
- Darius I reign was golden age of the Persian empire. Empire tried to expand into Greece
Early capital cities
- Ecbatana
- Babylon
- Susa
- Pasargadae
- Persepolis
Ecbatana location + significance
- Located in Zagros Mountains
- Originally capital of Median kingdom, conquered by Cyrus the Great during his revolt against the Median king
- Summer residence of Achaemenid kings (social purpose)
Medium egg batana
Ecbatana sources
Polybius of Megalopolis “World History”
- Ecbatana was well-fortified and had a citadel with 300m circumference → built for military defense
- Cedar and cypress was used to create buildings → indicates trade with Lebanon (economic)
Herodotus “Histories”
- Ecbatana was fortified with strong walls in concentric circles of increasing size. May have been a ziggurat with people living around it → military defense + residential function of city
Chronicle of Nabonidus
- Ecbatana was a monumental building with people living around the walls, but doesn’t describe circle of walls → residential city
Pasargadae location + significance
- Located east of economic and military centres in a fertile plain surrounded by mountains → impractical for trade and governance
- Used for royal coronation and rites (political and ceremonial)
- Royal gardens watered by irrigation channels and an apadana built from white stone → built to exude luxury and wealth (social, ceremonial)
Pasargadae sources
Plutarch
- Inauguration ceremony of a new king takes place at Pasargadae. King strips himself of his own robe, dons robe worn by Cyrus the FIRST before he became king
- King eats a frail of figs, leaves of terebinth tree, and drinks a cup of sour milk → political and ceremonial purpose of city
Archaeological evidence
- Had a gatehouse carved with a bas-relief of a genius, a 2.7m four-winged guardian spirit; irrigation channel → opulence displays might of Persian empire (political)
- Tomb of Cyrus the Great located at Pasargadae → political, ceremonial
Susa location + significance
- Former Elamite capital, sits in a fertile plain in the lower Zagros Mountains (like Ecbatana), 250km east of Tigris River
- Symbol of Persian conquest of the Elamites
Susa sources
Archaeological evidence:
- Darius I recorded his restoration of Susa in inscriptions. Inscriptions describe using Lebanese cedar, Gandaran and Carmanian yaka timber, Lydian and Bactrian gold, Chorasmia turquoise in reconstructing the city → flaunting of cosmopolitan building materials show Susa was a political, social, and cultural symbol of Persian power
