Iran - Andrew Burke [230]
ROYAL PALACES
The southwestern corner of the site is dominated by palaces believed to have been constructed during the reigns of Darius and Xerxes. The Tachara (8; or Winter Palace) is easily the most striking, with many of its monolithic doorjambs still standing and covered in bas-reliefs and cuneiform inscriptions. The stairs on the southern side bear highly skilled reliefs and are some of the most photogenic. The palace opens onto a royal courtyard flanked by two palaces. To the east is the Hadish (9), a palace completed by Xerxes and reached via another monumental staircase. Some scholars speculate that its wooden columns on stone bases might have served as kindling for Alexander’s great fire – especially as it had been Xerxes who had put Athens to the torch. To the south of the square are the remains of an unfinished palace known as Palace H (10).
HAREMSARA (MUSEUM)
Accessed via stairs east of the Tripylon, the Haremsara (11; admission IR5000; 8am-5pm) is the most argued about building at Persepolis. Despite the depictions around the door of the king defeating evil, scholars argue that is was either a harem for the king’s consorts and concubines or a residence for visiting ambassadors (it has the same number of rooms as the number of subject nations). Restored in the 1930s, today it houses a museum and administrative offices. The museum contains a stone foundation tablet and a range of artefacts discovered during excavations: alabaster vessels, cedar wood, lances and arrow tips. Note the highly polished walls; almost every wall in Persepolis was finished in this expensive, labour-intensive fashion.
TREASURY & TOMBS
The southeastern corner of the site is dominated by Darius’ Treasury (12), one of the earliest structures at Persepolis. Archaeologists have found stone tablets in Elamite and Akkadian detailing the wages of thousands of labourers. When Alexander looted the Treasury it’s reported he needed 3000 camels to cart off the contents. The foundations of walls and bases of more than 300 columns are all that remain. On the hill above the Treasury are the rock-hewn tombs of Artaxerxes II (13) and Artaxerxes III (14). It’s worth sitting on the hill for a while to get a feel for the enormous scale of Persepolis.
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THE LAST SHAH’S TENT CITY
Outside the entrance to Persepolis, through the pine trees behind the toilets, are the remains of a luxurious tent city built by Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi to celebrate the 2500th anniversary of the Persian monarchy in 1971. The tents played host to a lavish and incredibly expensive party, attended by dignitaries including 60 monarchs or heads of state, but few Iranians. Food was flown in from Maxims in Paris, and many of the VIPs were put up in luxury tented apartments, complete with marble bathrooms. They were arranged on five streets, each representing a geographical area (Europe, Oceania, Asia, Africa and America), which came together to form a five-pointed star.
The celebration had two main objectives: to promote Iran to the rest of the world, and nurture Iranian nationalistic pride and love of their monarch. The first was a huge success, but the second was a public relations disaster. Opponents quickly pointed to the unnecessary extravagance, and some believe the party was a turning point from which the shah never recovered. It has stood rusting, with canvas slowly decaying, ever since.
In late 2007 it seemed the tent city, so long portrayed as a symbol of wasteful monarchy, would be rehabilitated through the uncomfortable mix of politics, pragmatism and ideology that is Iranian life. Reports suggested the city would be restored to its original luxury to house wealthy tourists. Talk about ironic…