The Palace of Darius in Susa was a palace complex that was built at the site of Susa,

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 ...

, during the reign of Darius I over the Achaemenid Empire. The construction was conducted parallel to that 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 ...

. Manpower and raw materials from various parts of the Achaemenid Empire contributed to its construction. It was once destroyed by fire and was partially restored later; little has remained from the complex, which is today part of an archaeological site.

History

The palace complex was constructed by the

Achaemenid 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 emp ...

king Darius I in Susa, his favorite capital. Construction works continued under Darius I's son, Xerxes, and to a lesser extent, Artaxerxes I (465–424 BC) and Darius II (423–404 BC).

Artaxerxes II Arses ( grc-gre, Ἄρσης; 445 – 359/8 BC), known by his regnal name Artaxerxes II ( peo, 𐎠𐎼𐎫𐎧𐏁𐏂 ; grc-gre, Ἀρταξέρξης), was King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire from 405/4 BC to 358 BC. He was the son and suc ...

(404–358 BC) partially restored the palace as it was destroyed by a fire during the reign of Artaxerxes I fifty years earlier. The palace was captured and plundered by the invading Macedonians under

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...

in December 330 BC. The site of the palace has been greatly damaged during the past seven decades.

Construction

Construction was carried out at Susa parallel to those at

. Built on an artificially raised platform high, covering , the complex at Susa consists of a residential palace, an

apadana Apadana ( peo, 𐎠𐎱𐎭𐎠𐎴) is a large hypostyle hall in Persepolis, Iran. It belongs to the oldest building phase of the city of Persepolis, in the first half of the 6th century BC, as part of the original design by Darius the Gre ...

(audience hall), and a monumental gate. A covered passage (" Propylaeum") faces these structures. The apadana at Susa is similar to that of Persepolis, using the distinctive

Persian column Persian columns or Persepolitan columns are the distinctive form of column developed in the Achaemenid architecture of ancient Persia, probably beginning shortly before 500 BCE. They are mainly known from Persepolis, where the massive main columns ...

, topped by two bulls, which was probably developed here. Sources describing Achaemenid-era Susa are rare. The Achaemenid constructions at Susa are mostly known through the royal inscriptions, which are mostly trilingual—in Old Persian,

Elamite Elamite, also known as Hatamtite and formerly as Susian, is an extinct language that was spoken by the ancient Elamites. It was used in what is now southwestern Iran from 2600 BC to 330 BC. Elamite works disappear from the archeological record ...

, and Babylonian. Unlike the massive number of clay tablets found in Persepolis, only few clay tablets have been found in Susa, despite its important political and economic situation. According to Gene R. Garthwaite, the Susa Palace served as Darius' model for

. Comparing the palace to that of Pasargadae, the former Achaemenid capital, he argues that Susa even more represented Achaemenid simultaneous rulership, and "what was symbolic was actualized", such that Darius's rule "could command craftsmen and material from the breadth of the empire" to build the monument, as is described in Darius' "charter of foundation" of the palace (or the DSf inscription), which enumerates the workers and the material used:

Gallery

File:IranSusaDariusPalast1.jpg, Site of the palace File:Apadana remnants.jpg, Ruins of the Apadana of Susa File:Iran's heritages in Musée du Louvre - 16.jpg, Reconstruction drawing of the

Apadana Apadana ( peo, 𐎠𐎱𐎭𐎠𐎴) is a large hypostyle hall in Persepolis, Iran. It belongs to the oldest building phase of the city of Persepolis, in the first half of the 6th century BC, as part of the original design by Darius the Gre ...

of the Susa Palace File:Ionian Column Portico Apadana Susa.jpg, Remains of a

File:Bull capital Apadana (6).jpg, Bull capital from the Apadana of the Susa Palace,

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

File:Carved Rosace Apadana Susa.jpg, Relief of rosace File:Archers frieze Darius 1st Palace Suse Louvre AOD 488 a.jpg, The Frieze of Archers, glazed siliceous bricks, Louvre File:Decorative panel with sphinxes from the palace of Darius I at Susa 522-486 BC, Louvre Museum (12254570975).jpg, Decorative panel with sphinxes File:Winged lion of Darius palace (Louvre) D20070602.jpg, Relief of winged lion File:National Meusem Darafsh 6 (42).JPG, Statue of Darius, with a quadrilingual inscription at its base File:Lion-shaped weight-Sb 2718-P5280901-gradient.jpg, Lion-shaped weight File:Bracelet-Sb 2762-P5280925-gradient.jpg, Bracelet ornated with a pair of lion heads File:Achaemenian rhyton (4475088057).jpg,

Rhyton A rhyton (plural rhytons or, following the Greek plural, rhyta) is a roughly conical container from which fluids were intended to be drunk or to be poured in some ceremony such as libation, or merely at table. A rhyton is typically formed in t ...

File:Wall of Shush castle with unicorn.jpg, Winged Aurochs File:سرستون کاخ آپادانای شوش درموزه شوش.jpg, Capital remains of the Apadana palace of Susa located in the museum of Susa File:Decorative motives2 griffins frieze Louvre Sb3323.jpg, Glazed siliceous bricks with a decorative spirals pattern, from palace of Darius the Great at Susa, currently in the Louvre, France. File:Perspolisic Abstract Patterns of Ferdowsi Tomb.jpg, Similar patterns of Ferdowsi

tomb A tomb ( grc-gre, τύμβος ''tumbos'') is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be called ''immureme ...

, modeling from palace of Darius, Susa.

References

External links

"Susa, Palace of Darius the Great"
Livius {{Iranian architecture Susa Darius the Great Xerxes I Artaxerxes I Darius II Artaxerxes II Buildings and structures completed in the 5th century BC Achaemenid architecture Archaeological sites in Iran Demolished buildings and structures in Iran Fires in Iran Royal residences in Iran Ruins in Iran Buildings and structures in Khuzestan Province

History

Construction

Gallery

References

Further reading

External links