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

Susa Susa ( ) was an ancient city in the lower Zagros Mountains about east of the Tigris, between the Karkheh River, Karkheh and Dez River, Dez Rivers in Iran. One of the most important cities of the Ancient Near East, Susa served as the capital o ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, during the reign of

Darius I Darius I ( ; – 486 BCE), commonly known as Darius the Great, was the third King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 522 BCE until his death in 486 BCE. He ruled the empire at its territorial peak, when it included much of West A ...

over the

Achaemenid Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire, also known as the Persian Empire or First Persian Empire (; , , ), was an Iranian peoples, Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. Based in modern-day Iran, i ...

. The construction was conducted parallel to that of

Persepolis Persepolis (; ; ) was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire (). It is situated in the plains of Marvdasht, encircled by the southern Zagros mountains, Fars province of Iran. It is one of the key Iranian cultural heritage sites and ...

. 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, also known as the Persian Empire or First Persian Empire (; , , ), was an Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. Based in modern-day Iran, it was the large ...

king

, his favorite capital. Construction works continued under Darius I's son, Xerxes, and to a lesser extent,

Artaxerxes I Artaxerxes I (, ; ) was the fifth King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, from 465 to December 424 BC. He was the third son of Xerxes I. In Greek sources he is also surnamed "Long-handed" ( ''Makrókheir''; ), allegedly because his ri ...

(465–424 BC) and

Darius II Darius II ( ; ), also known by his given name Ochus ( ), was King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire from 423 BC to 405 or 404 BC. Following the death of Artaxerxes I, in 424 BC or 423 BC, there was a struggle for power between his sons. The vic ...

(423–404 BC).

Artaxerxes II Arses (; 445 – 359/8 BC), known by his regnal name Artaxerxes II ( ; ), was King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire from 405/4 BC to 358 BC. He was the son and successor of Darius II () and his mother was Parysatis. Soon after his accession, Ar ...

(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 (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

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 (, or ) 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 5th century BC, as part of the original design by Darius I, Darius the Great. Its cons ...

(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 Old Persian is one of two directly attested Old Iranian languages (the other being Avestan) and is the ancestor of Middle Persian (the language of the Sasanian Empire). Like other Old Iranian languages, it was known to its native speakers as (I ...

Elamite Elamite, also known as Hatamtite and formerly as Scythic, Median, Amardian, Anshanian and Susian, is an extinct language that was spoken by the ancient Elamites. It was recorded in what is now southwestern Iran from 2600 BC to 330 BC. Elamite i ...

, 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 Pasargadae (; ) was the capital of the Achaemenid Empire under Cyrus the Great (559–530 BC), located just north of the town of Madar-e-Soleyman and about to the northeast of the city of Shiraz. It is one of Iran's UNESCO World Heritage Site ...

, 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:Reconstitution de l'Apadana d'après la mission Delafoy 1885-1886 (16).jpg, Reconstruction drawing of the

Apadana Apadana (, or ) 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 5th century BC, as part of the original design by Darius I, Darius the Great. Its cons ...

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 a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

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'' (: ''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; in other words, a cup. A ...

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 Abu'l-Qâsem Ferdowsi Tusi (also Firdawsi, ; 940 – 1019/1025) was a Persians, Persian poet and the author of ''Shahnameh'' ("Book of Kings"), which is one of the world's longest epic poetry, epic poems created by a single poet, and the gre ...

tomb A tomb ( ''tumbos'') or sepulchre () 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 '' immurement'', alth ...

, 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