The chief cities of the land--Susa, Pasargadæ, and Persepolis, for which latter, a name known through Greek historians, we might substitute New Metropolis of the Persians--strove, at least in their royal palaces, to surpass the cities of the Assyrians and Babylonians. Diodoros speaks of Persepolis as “the world-renowned royal fortress,” imposing even to the Greeks. The thousands of years that have passed have yet left remains sufficient for an ideal reconstruction of the whole, and a conception of the artistic ability of the Persians may there be obtained. This is less the case with Susa, more destroyed, and in no wise thoroughly examined. Its site, known by the name Shush, which still clings to the ruins, is revered by Mohammedan pilgrims as that of the tomb of Daniel, in like manner as the location of Nineveh found traditional confirmation among them in the Mohammedan chapel of Jonas. The remains of Pasargadæ, near Murgab, are somewhat better preserved than are those of Susa. Beside its palace terraces, among its other tombs, altars, etc., there rises, nearly intact, one of the most wonderful monuments of the world--the tomb of the great Cyrus. Most important, however, and worthy of chief consideration, is New Pasargadæ, or Persepolis, where the massive palace ruins near Istakr, known under the name of Chehil-Minar (forty columns) or Takt-i-Jemshid (throne of Jemshid), have for centuries been the wonder of travellers.
[Illustration: Fig. 78.--Plan of Persepolis.
_A._ Grand Stairway. _B._ Propylæa of Xerxes. _C._ Cisterns. _D_, _E_, _F_, _G_. Great Hall of Xerxes. _H._ Portal between the Palaces and Harem. _K._ Palace of Darius. _L_, _M_, _N_. Palace of Xerxes. _O._ Unrecognized Ruins. _P._ Harem. _Q._ Portal to the Court of the Harem.]
The Persians, of later development than the Mesopotamians, naturally based their art upon the older culture of the people conquered by them. The palaces were similarly placed upon extensive terraces, which, like those in Nimrud, seem to have been afterwards enlarged to make room for several royal dwellings. The palace terrace of Persepolis (_Fig._ 78) is, as an exception, not isolated, but so placed as to employ a rocky plateau, which, levelled partly by excavation, partly by filling, acquired architectural character by the vertical revetment of its borders: it abutted with one of its oblong sides upon a cliff, this forming a background of richly carved tomb-façades. The casing of the platform beneath the Palace of Kisr-Sargon (Corsabad) consisted of a masonry formed of quite regularly hewn stones. At Persepolis, on the other hand, is employed, in a similar position, a kind of Cyclopean masonry with predominant horizontal lines--a proof that this wall does not necessarily indicate a greater age than does a facing of hewn stone.