Excursion To Persepolis And Pasargadae

Persepolis, whose magnificent ruins rest at the foot of Kuh-e Rahmat (Mountain of Mercy) in south-western Iran, is among the world’s greatest archaeological sites. Renowned as the gem of Achaemenid (Persian) ensembles in the fields of architecture, urban planning, construction technology, and art, the royal city of Persepolis ranks among the archaeological sites which have no equivalent and which bear unique witness to a most ancient civilization. The city’s immense terrace was begun about 518 BCE by Darius the Great, the Achaemenid Empire’s king. On this terrace, successive kings erected a series of architecturally stunning palatial buildings, among them the massive Apadana palace and the Throne Hall (“Hundred-Column Hall”).

Founded in the 6th century BC in the heartland of the Persians (today the province of Fars in southwestern Iran), Pasargadae was the earliest capital of the Achaemenid Empire. The city was created by Cyrus the Great with contributions from the different peoples who comprised the first great multicultural empire in Western Asia. The archaeological remains of its palaces and garden layout, as well as the tomb of Cyrus, constitute an outstanding example of the first phase of the evolution of royal Achaemenid art and architecture, and exceptional testimony to the Achaemenid civilization in Persia. The “Four Gardens” type of royal ensemble, which was created in Pasargadae, became a prototype for Western Asian architecture and design.

NAQŠ-e ROSTAM, a perpendicular cliff wall on the southern nose of the ?osayn Kuh in F?rs, about 6 km northwest of Persepolis. The site is unusually rich in Achaemenid and Sasanian monuments, built or hewn out from the rock. The Persian name “Pictures of Rostam” refers to the Sasanian reliefs on the cliff, believed to represent the deeds of Rostam.

The archaeological site known as Naqš-e Rajab is just 3 kilometers north of the ruins of Persepolis, along the road to the Sasanian city Istakhr. The name means something like "The carvings of Rajab", and is a little joke about the nearby Naqš-i Rustam, the carvings of the great hero Rustam. Rajab was an inn-keeper. The site was also called Naqš-e Qahraman, "Carvings of the heroes".