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The Celebration of the 2,500th Anniversary of the Founding of the Persian Empire ( Persian: جشن‌های دو هزار و پانصد ساله شاهنشاهی ایران) was a national event in
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
that consisted of an elaborate set of grand festivities during October 1971 to celebrate the founding of the ancient
Achaemenid Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Based in Western Asia, it was contemporarily the largest em ...
by
Cyrus the Great Cyrus II of Persia (; peo, 𐎤𐎢𐎽𐎢𐏁 ), commonly known as Cyrus the Great, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire, the first Persian empire. Schmitt Achaemenid dynasty (i. The clan and dynasty) Under his rule, the empire embraced ...
. The intent of the celebration was to highlight Iran's ancient civilization and history as well as to showcase its contemporary advances under Shah
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi , title = Shahanshah Aryamehr Bozorg Arteshtaran , image = File:Shah_fullsize.jpg , caption = Shah in 1973 , succession = Shah of Iran , reign = 16 September 1941 – 11 February 1979 , coronation = 26 Octob ...
. The celebrations highlighted pre-Islamic origins of the country while promoting Cyrus the Great as a national hero. Some later historians argue that this massive celebration contributed to events that culminated in the 1979
Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dyna ...
, although others argue that the extravagance of the proceedings were exaggerated by revolutionaries motivated to discredit the Shah's regime. As a result, many accounts of the event overstate its cost and luxury.


Planning

The planning for the party took a year, according to the 2016 BBC '' Storyville'' documentary, ''Decadence and Downfall: The Shah of Iran's Ultimate Party''. The filmmakers interviewed people tasked by the Shah to organize the party. The
Cyrus Cylinder The Cyrus Cylinder is an ancient clay cylinder, now broken into several pieces, on which is written a declaration in Akkadian cuneiform script in the name of Persia's Achaemenid king Cyrus the Great. Kuhrt (2007), p. 70, 72 It dates from the 6th ...
served in the official logo as the symbol for the event. With the decision to hold the main event at the ancient city of
Persepolis , native_name_lang = , alternate_name = , image = Gate of All Nations, Persepolis.jpg , image_size = , alt = , caption = Ruins of the Gate of All Nations, Persepolis. , map = , map_type ...
, near
Shiraz Shiraz (; fa, شیراز, Širâz ) is the fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars Province, which has been historically known as Pars () and Persis. As of the 2016 national census, the population of the city was 1,565,572 p ...
, the local infrastructure had to be improved, including the
Shiraz International Airport Shiraz International Airport ( fa, فرودگاه بین‌المللی شیراز) is an international airport located in Shiraz, Iran. It is the main international airport of Fars province and southern region of Iran. It is also the largest a ...
and a highway to Persepolis. While the press and supporting staff would be housed in Shiraz, the main festivities were planned for Persepolis. An elaborate tent city was planned to house attendees. The area around Persepolis was cleared of
snake Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more ...
s and other vermin. Trees and flowers were planted, and 50,000 song birds were imported from Europe. Other events were scheduled for
Pasargadae Pasargadae (from Old Persian ''Pāθra-gadā'', "protective club" or "strong club"; Modern Persian: ''Pāsārgād'') was the capital of the Achaemenid Empire under Cyrus the Great (559–530 BC), who ordered its construction and the locatio ...
, the site of the Tomb of Cyrus, as well as
Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...
.


Tent City of Persepolis

The Tent City (also called Golden City) was planned by the
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
ian interior-design firm of
Maison Jansen Maison Jansen (; en, House of Jansen) was a Paris-based interior decoration office founded in 1880 by Dutch-born Jean-Henri Jansen. Jansen is considered the first truly global design firm, serving clients in Europe, Latin America, North America a ...
on . They referred to the meeting between
Francis I Francis I or Francis the First may refer to: * Francesco I Gonzaga (1366–1407) * Francis I, Duke of Brittany (1414–1450), reigned 1442–1450 * Francis I of France (1494–1547), King of France, reigned 1515–1547 * Francis I, Duke of Saxe-Lau ...
of France and
Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
of England at the
Field of the Cloth of Gold The Field of the Cloth of Gold (french: Camp du Drap d'Or, ) was a summit meeting between King Henry VIII of England and King Francis I of France from 7 to 24 June 1520. Held at Balinghem, between Ardres in France and Guînes in the English ...
in 1520. Fifty 'tents' (prefabricated luxury
apartment An apartment (American English), or flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that occupies part of a building, generally on a single story. There are ma ...
s with traditional Persian tent-cloth surrounds) were arranged in a star pattern around a central fountain. Numerous trees were planted around them in the desert, to recreate how ancient Persepolis would have looked. Each tent was provided with direct telephone and telex connections for attendees to their respective countries. The entire celebration was televised to the world by way of a satellite connection from the site. The large 'Tent of Honor' was designed for the reception of the dignitaries. The 'Banqueting Hall' was the largest structure, and measured . The tent site was surrounded by gardens of trees and other plants flown in from France and adjacent to the ruins of Persepolis. Catering services were provided by
Maxim's de Paris Maxim's is a restaurant in Paris, France, located at No. 3 rue Royale in the 8th . It is known for its Art Nouveau interior decor. In the mid 20th century Maxim's was regarded as the most famous restaurant in the world. History Early history ...
, which closed its restaurant in Paris for almost two weeks to provide for the glittering celebrations. Legendary hotelier Max Blouet came out of retirement to supervise the banquet.
Lanvin Lanvin () is a French luxury fashion house based in Paris. Founded in 1889 by Jeanne Lanvin, it is the oldest French fashion house still in operation. Since 2018, it has been a subsidiary of Shanghai-based Lanvin Group. Bruno Sialelli, a 31-year ...
designed the uniforms of the Imperial Household. 250 red
Mercedes-Benz 600 The Mercedes-Benz 600 (W100) is a line of ultra-luxury cars produced by Daimler-Benz from 1963 to 1981. The forerunner of the modern Maybach marque, the ''Grosser Mercedes'' ("Grand Mercedes") succeeded the Type 300d "Adenauer" as the compa ...
limousine A limousine ( or ), or limo () for short, is a large, chauffeur-driven luxury vehicle with a partition between the driver compartment and the passenger compartment. A very long wheelbase luxury sedan (with more than four doors) driven by a pr ...
s were used to chauffeur guests from the airport and back. The dinnerware was created using
Limoges Limoges (, , ; oc, Lemòtges, locally ) is a city and Communes of France, commune, and the prefecture of the Haute-Vienne Departments of France, department in west-central France. It was the administrative capital of the former Limousin region ...
porcelain and linen by D. Porthault.


Festivities

The festivities were opened on 12 October 1971, when the Shah and the
Shahbanu Shahbanu ( fa, شهبانو, ''Šahbānū'' lit. "Lady King") was the title for empress consort in Persian and other Iranian languages. The two Sassanian empresses regnant, Boran and Azarmidokht, c. 630, were the last two that carried the titl ...
paid homage to Cyrus the Great at his
mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be cons ...
at Pasargadae. For the next two days, the Shah and his wife greeted arriving guests, often directly at Shiraz's airport. On 14 October, a grand gala dinner took place in the Banqueting Hall in celebration of the birthday of the Shahbanu. Sixty members of royal families and heads of state were assembled at the single large serpentine table in the Banqueting Hall. They dined off a special dinner service of 10,000 plates commissioned from the English china manufacturer, Spode, each plate decorated in turquoise and gold, with the Shah's coat of arms. The official toast was raised with a Dom Perignon Rosé 1959. The food and the wine for the celebration were provided by the Parisian restaurant Maxim's. 600 guests dined over five and a half hours, thus making for the longest and most lavish official banquet in modern history as recorded in successive editions of the ''
Guinness Book of World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
''. A son et lumière show, the ''Polytope of Persepolis'' designed by
Iannis Xenakis Giannis Klearchou Xenakis (also spelled for professional purposes as Yannis or Iannis Xenakis; el, Γιάννης "Ιωάννης" Κλέαρχου Ξενάκης, ; 29 May 1922 – 4 February 2001) was a Romanian-born Greek-French avant-garde c ...
and accompanied by the specially-commissioned electronic music piece ''Persepolis'', concluded the evening. The next day saw a huge
military parade A military parade is a formation of soldiers whose movement is restricted by close-order manoeuvering known as drilling or marching. The military parade is now almost entirely ceremonial, though soldiers from time immemorial up until the la ...
of armies of different Iranian empires covering two and half millennia by 1,724 men of the Iranian armed forces, all in period costume, followed by representatives of the Imperial Armed Forces, with a large
military band A military band is a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind and percussion instruments. The conductor of a band commonly bears the ti ...
, manned by military musicians and providing the music for the parade, split into two - the modern band playing in Western instruments and a traditional band wearing uniforms of the bandsmen from different eras of Iranian history. In the evening, a less formal "traditional Persian party" was held in the Banqueting Hall as the concluding event at Persepolis. On the final day, the Shah inaugurated the Shahyad Tower (later renamed the
Azadi Tower The Azadi Tower ( fa, برج آزادی, ; "Freedom Tower"), formerly known as the Shahyad Tower (, ; "Shah's Memorial Tower"), is a monument on Azadi Square in Tehran, Iran. It is one of the landmarks of Tehran, marking the west entrance to the ...
after the
Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dyna ...
) in
Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...
to commemorate the event. The tower was also home to the Museum of Persian History. In it was displayed the
Cyrus Cylinder The Cyrus Cylinder is an ancient clay cylinder, now broken into several pieces, on which is written a declaration in Akkadian cuneiform script in the name of Persia's Achaemenid king Cyrus the Great. Kuhrt (2007), p. 70, 72 It dates from the 6th ...
, which the Shah promoted as "the first
human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...
charter in history".British Museum explanatory notes, "Cyrus Cylinder": "For almost 100 years the cylinder was regarded as ancient Mesopotamian propaganda. This changed in 1971 when the Shah of Iran used it as a central image in his own propaganda celebrating 2500 years of Iranian monarchy. In Iran, the cylinder has appeared on coins, banknotes and stamps. Despite being a Babylonian document it has become part of Iran's cultural identity."Neil MacGregor, "The whole world in our hands", in ''Art and Cultural Heritage: Law, Policy, and Practice'', p. 383–4, ed. Barbara T. Hoffman. Cambridge University Press, 2006. The cylinder was also the official symbol of the celebrations, and the Shah's first speech at Cyrus' tomb praised the freedom that it had proclaimed, two and a half millennia previously. The festivities were concluded with the Shah paying homage to his father,
Reza Shah Pahlavi , , spouse = Maryam Savadkoohi Tadj ol-Molouk Ayromlu (queen consort)Turan AmirsoleimaniEsmat Dowlatshahi , issue = Princess Hamdamsaltaneh Princess ShamsMohammad Reza Shah Princess Ashraf Prince Ali Reza Prince Gholam Reza Prin ...
, at his mausoleum. The event brought together the rulers of two of the three oldest extant monarchies, the Shah and Emperor
Haile Selassie I Haile Selassie I ( gez, ቀዳማዊ ኀይለ ሥላሴ, Qädamawi Häylä Səllasé, ; born Tafari Makonnen; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as Regent Plenipotentiary of Ethiopia ('' ...
of
Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
. Emperor
Hirohito Emperor , commonly known in English-speaking countries by his personal name , was the 124th emperor of Japan, ruling from 25 December 1926 until his death in 1989. Hirohito and his wife, Empress Kōjun, had two sons and five daughters; he was ...
of
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
was represented by his youngest brother,
Prince Mikasa was a Japanese prince, the youngest of the four sons of Emperor Taishō (Yoshihito) and Empress Teimei (Sadako). He was their last surviving child. His eldest brother was Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito). After serving as a junior cavalry officer in ...
. By the end of the decade, both the Ethiopian and Iranian monarchies had ceased to exist.


Security

Security was a major concern. Persepolis was a favoured site for the festivities as it was isolated and thus could be tightly guarded, a very important consideration when many of the world's leaders were gathered there. Iran's security services,
SAVAK SAVAK ( fa, ساواک, abbreviation for ''Sâzemân-e Ettelâ'ât va Amniat-e Kešvar'', ) was the secret police, domestic security and intelligence service in Iran during the reign of the Pahlavi dynasty. SAVAK operated from 1957 until prim ...
, captured and took into "preventive custody" anyone that it suspected of being a potential threat.


Criticism

The Ministry of the Court placed the cost at $17 million (at that time); Ansari, one of the organizers, puts it at $22 million (at that time). The actual figure is difficult to calculate exactly and is a partisan issue. According to the BBC documentary, Decadence and Downfall the celebrations cost about 120 million dollars, however, this claim has been described as having no real basis. For example, the documentary suggests supports Shah imported approximately 50,000 birds that died within a few days due to the desert climate, while historian Robert Steele has described this claim as infeasible, and given the October climate in
Persepolis , native_name_lang = , alternate_name = , image = Gate of All Nations, Persepolis.jpg , image_size = , alt = , caption = Ruins of the Gate of All Nations, Persepolis. , map = , map_type ...
, the birds would have been accustomed to the local weather. The event has been subject to a lot of exaggerated cost estimates in many journalist and historian accounts inaccurately claiming the regime wanted to spend whatever was necessary. However, the Shah only approved the celebration plans after the scope was reduced to one-quarter of the original plan in order to reduce costs.


List of guests

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...
had been advised not to attend, with security being an issue. The Duke of Edinburgh and
Princess Anne Anne, Princess Royal (Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise; born 15 August 1950), is a member of the British royal family. She is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the only sister of ...
represented her instead. Other major leaders who did not attend were
Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
and
Georges Pompidou Georges Jean Raymond Pompidou ( , ; 5 July 19112 April 1974) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1969 until his death in 1974. He previously was Prime Minister of France of President Charles de Gaulle from 1962 to 196 ...
. Nixon had initially planned to attend but later changed his mind and sent
Spiro Agnew Spiro Theodore Agnew (November 9, 1918 – September 17, 1996) was the 39th vice president of the United States, serving from 1969 until his resignation in 1973. He is the second vice president to resign the position, the other being John ...
instead. Some materials say that the attendee of China was Guo Moruo. According to his daughter, Guo was originally planned to attend, but he fell ill on the way arriving and then- Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Zhang Tong attended instead. Some of the guests who were invited include:


Royalty and viceroys


Presidents, Prime Ministers and others


Film

Iran's National Film Board produced a documentary of the celebrations, titled () in Persian and ''Flames of Persia'' in English. Farrokh Golestan directed, and
Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...
who had said of the event "This was no party of the year, it was the celebration of 25 centuries!" agreed to narrate the English text, written by Macdonald Hastings, in return for the Shah's brother-in-law funding Welles' own film, ''
The Other Side of the Wind ''The Other Side of the Wind'' is a 2018 satirical drama film, directed, co-written, co-produced and co-edited by Orson Welles, and posthumously released in 2018 after forty-eight years in development. The film stars John Huston, Bob Random, P ...
''. The film was aimed at a Western audience. Despite a requirement to show the film in 60 cinemas in Tehran, its "overheated rhetoric" and popular resentment at the extravagance of the event meant it did poorly at the domestic box office.


Legacy

Persepolis remains a major tourist attraction in Iran. In 2005, reports suggested that the Islamic regime of Iran intended to reconstruct the tent city created for the 1971 celebration. In 2005, it was visited by nearly 35,000 people during the Iranian new year holiday. The tent city remained operating until 1979 for private and government rent, when it was looted after the
Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dyna ...
and the departure of the Shah. The iron rods for the tents and roads built for the festival area still remain and are open to the public, but there are no markers making any reference to what they were originally for. The dedicated Shahyad Tower remains as a major landmark in
Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...
, although it was renamed
Azadi Tower The Azadi Tower ( fa, برج آزادی, ; "Freedom Tower"), formerly known as the Shahyad Tower (, ; "Shah's Memorial Tower"), is a monument on Azadi Square in Tehran, Iran. It is one of the landmarks of Tehran, marking the west entrance to the ...
in 1979.


See also

*
Iranian Art Museum Garden The Iranian Art Museum Garden is an art museum located in the Elahieh district of Tehran. The gardens have an area of less than one hectare. The main attraction of the museum gardens are about a dozen scaled-down replicas of well-known historical ...
*
2016 Cyrus the Great Revolt The 2016 Cyrus the Great Revolt was a pro-monarchy Iranian protest that took place at the Tomb of Cyrus the Great on Cyrus the Great Day. The protest was triggered by rising pro-Monarchy sentiment, governmental corruption and opposition to I ...


References


Further reading

*


External links


1971 Celebration of the Shah of Persia in Persepolis
(ARTE Documentary Film)
2,500 year celebration of the Persian Empire on Facebook
{{DEFAULTSORT:2, 500 Year Celebration of the Persian Empire Anniversaries Historical events in Iran 1971 in Iran Historiography of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi Achaemenid Empire Persepolis Pahlavi Iran
Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
Persia