PERSIAN ARCHITECTUREPresentation By- Ar. Roopa Chikkalgi

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An Introduction – Empire• The Persian Empire is any of a series

of imperial dynasties centered in Persia(now Iran).

• The first of these was established by Cyrus theGreat in 550 BC, with the Persian conquestof Media, Lydia and Babylonia.

• Persian dynastic history was interrupted bythe Islamic conquest (651 AD) and later bythe Mongol invasion.

• The most successful cultures became empireswith control over vast areas. One of the mostsuccessful empires in the Near East, however, wasthe Persian Empire.

• The empire's lifespan was from around 539 BCE to651 CE. Persia was situated in modern-day Iran.The empire spanned from Egypt to Turkey. Theexpansion occurred under the rule of rulers likeCyrus II, Darius and Xerxes.

• Extending its boundaries into culture-rich areaslike Egypt and Greece, Persia influenced and wasinfluenced by many of the surrounding nativegroups.

An Introduction – General Architectural features

• The architecture of Persians was more columnar and that led to vastly different massive

architectural features from that of the Mesopotamian era.

• The use of flat timber roofs rather than vaults led to more slender columns and were rather more

graceful. This also led to rooms being squarer in shape than simple long rectangle.

• The roofing system was also very different, wherein the wooden brackets were covered in clay

and provided more stability. The use of a double mud wall might have provided room for

windows just below ceiling in structures like Palace of Persepolis.

Mausoleum of Cyrus the Great

• The site of Pasargadae (which was then the capital city of the Persian Empire)

compromises of four free standing structures. Centered on a citadel, a residential palace,

the tomb of Cyrus and a sacred precinct.

• The Tomb of Cyrus, despite having ruled over much of the ancient world, Cyrus the Great

would design a tomb that depicts extreme simplicity and modesty when compared to

those of other ancient kings and rulers.

• The simplicity of the structure has a powerful effect on the viewer, since aside from a few

moldings below the roof and a small rosette above its small entrance, there are no other

stylistic distractions.

• This box like monument made of limestone measures 3.2m x 2.3m (10ft6in x 7ft 6in) gabled

and standing on a platform with 6 steps. The feature is that of a typical Achaemenian

architectural style with large blocks accurately cut and smoothly dressed without use of

mortar but reinforced by lead and iron.

• The edifice, or the "small house" is a rectangular, elongated cube that lies directly on

top of the pyramidal stone steps, and is 6’6” (2m) in width x 6’6” (2m) in height, and 10 ft

(3m) in length. The inside of the edifice is occupied by a small chamber a few feet in

width and height, and around ten feet deep.

• It was inside this chamber where the bed and coffin of Cyrus the Great would have been

situated.

• The edifice has a pediment roof possessing the same length and width dimensions as the

edifice itself.

• Around the tomb were a series of columns, the original structure which they supported is

no longer present.

• Arrian's direct testimony indicates that Cyrus the Great was indeed buried in the chamber

inside the edifice, as he describes Alexander seeing it during his visit to Pasargadae, but it

is also a possibility that the body of Cyrus the Great had been interred below the

structure, and that the tomb seen on the top is in fact a cenotaph or a false tomb.

• There was originally a golden coffin inside the mausoleum, resting on a table with golden

supports, inside of which the body of Cyrus the Great was interred.

• Upon his resting place, was a covering of tapestry and drapes made from the best

available Babylonian materials, using fine Median workmanship; below his bed was a fine

red carpet, covering the narrow rectangular base of his tomb.

The City of Susa

The city of SUSA was the Persian capital in succession to

Babylon, where there is a building with a citadel complex.

There was a good skill set of artisans and laborers available

which made the palace complex more of a piece of art

than just a building structure. Cedar wood was got from

Lebanon and teak from the mountain of Zagros. The baked

bricks were still made in the Babylonian method.

The Palace of Persepolis

The work on palace of Persepolis began in 518 BC and mostly was executed by Xerxes (son of

Darius ii) in 465 BC. The various buildings stood on a platform and were partly excavated to find

out the original layout. The layout was 460m X 275m (1500ft X 900ft) and raising to an extent of

15m. The approach on the North West was by magnificent stairway 6.7m wide and shallow

enough for the hoses to ascend. A gateway by Xerxes had mud brick walls and front and rear

portals guarded by the winged bulls.

APADANA – Audience hall. A third gateway on the South led towards Apadana, a grand

audience hall 76.2m (250ft) square hall with thirty six columns within 6m thick wall. It stood on

an own terrace 3m high and had three porticos each with double colonnades and stairway

on north and eastern side. There are minor rooms on the southern side of the hall.

• The size of the palace is smaller by comparison to the other structures in the complex, is present on the south of the Apadananear the west terrace wall. This was finished in his life time and almost at the same period, the terraced “Tripylon” was also finished. It lay centrally among the buildings and acted as the reception chamber and guard room for more private affairs of the palace. A treasury was also a contribution by Darius eventually into the entire complex.

THE PALACE OF DARIUS

THE PALACE OF XERXES

The contribution of Darius in the complex had all the

buildings very loosely arranged, in between the

existing buildings Xerxes made his contribution. The

palace of Xerxes was built in the South-west angle,

connected with an L shaped building which was

identified as women’s quarters. The major

contribution of Xerxes was the hall of hundred

columns which was his throne room. The throne room

was 68.6m square room with columns to a height of

11.3m supporting a flat roof made of cedar wood.

The walls were double except for the north side

where it had a portico facing the apadana. The

throne room had two doorways and seven windows

on the main wall.

The Tomb of Darius, Naksh-I-Rustam

• 13 km from north of Palace of Persepolis, is the tomb of ruler Darius. The façade of this rock-

hewn structure is 18.3m wide and reproduces the south front of the Palace of Darius.

• There are four columns of double bull type central doorway, with Egyptian like cornice and

upper compartment in which elaborate throne is 2.7m high is supported. Near the tomb there

is a Fire temple a stone square tower with a single room with external staircase.

• The kings were interred behind a cliff-cut bas-relief that would resemble an accurate

depiction of the king's own palace and its structural details.

• The accuracy of the facade and its association with the actual structure of the kings' palaces

is so close that they almost produce a view of how the structures would have looked before

time reduced them to remains; Tomb of Darius the Great, for instance mirrors his palace

in Persepolis, the "Tachar" even in scale and dimensions.

The tombs are carved into the mountain's side, in form of a cross depressed into the

mountain's limestone background, and elevated from the ground. The relief which is found in

the depressed cruciform is that which depicts the respective king's palace, and also depicts on

its roof, the relief figure of the king praying, to Ahuramazda or what most believe is a reference

to the Zoroastrian icon, Faravahar.

One of the enigmatic features of the complex is a cubical, stone structure standing 12.5 meters

tall, and around 7 meters wide, called the "Ka'ba-ye Zartosht" translating to the "Cube

of Zoroaster" believed to have been constructed during the Acahemenid era and modified

and changed during the Sassanid era. The structure is cubical in base, with blind impressions on

the side resembling windows, and a ruined staircase leading to a small door in the front

leading to a completely empty interior. There are varied speculations as to its function

discussed below.