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A Pictorial Tour of Persepolis

Persepolis, located in present-day Iran, was once the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire. This ancient city, founded by Darius the Great in 518 BC, boasts magnificent ruins that offer a glimpse into the grandeur of the Persian Empire. As you embark on a pictorial tour of Persepolis, you are greeted by the imposing Gate of All Nations. Thi...

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Stone relief from the Apadana

Stone relief from the Apadana (audience hall) at Persepolis Achaemenid Persian, 6th-5th century BC. From Persepolis, south-west Iran. This broken relief from the Persian royal capital Persepolis depicts a row of so-called Susian guards. They are very similar to figures formed from moulded glazed bricks from the city of Susa. They may represent the...

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Silver bowl with applied gold figures

Achaemenid Persian, about 5th-4th century BC. This silver bowl is decorated with applied gold sheet cutouts. It dates to a period when vessels of precious metal became widespread. While a variety of styles and forms are found throughout the Achaemenid empire, because of its great size, there is also a recognizably Achaemenid style, perhaps promoted...

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Cast silver statuette of a bearded man

From the Oxus treasure Achaemenid Persian, 5th-4th century BC. From the region of Takht-i Kuwad, Tadjikistan. This statuette is part of the Oxus treasure, the most important collection of gold and silver to have survived from the Achaemenid period. The treasure, probably from a temple on the banks of the river Oxus, dates mainly from the fifth and...

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Necropolis of Naqsh-e Rostam - Iran

The Necropolis of Naqsh-e Rostam is an ancient necropolis located in Iran, near the city of Persepolis. This site is home to a series of impressive rock tombs that date back to the Achaemenid Empire. The tombs are carved into the rock face and are believed to have been the final resting places of Achaemenid kings, including Darius the Great and Xer...

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Achaemenid gold plaque from the Oxus Treasure

A Persian magus carries the barsom - the sacred twigs associated with priesthood....

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Choqa Zanbil

The well-preserved ziggurat, or pyramid, at Choqa Zanbil, is by far the best preserved and most dramatic example of Elamite architecture extant... It was built at Dur Untashi, a city near Susa, by Untash-gal, King of Elam, circa 1250 BC....

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Shushtar - Ancient Hydro Engineering Exhibition

Shushtar: the old name of Shushtar, Achaemenian times. The name itself, Shushtar, is connected with the name of another ancient city, Susa, and means "greater (or better) than Shush". During the Sassanian era, it was an island city on the Karun river and selected to become the winter capital. The river was channelled to form a moat around the city....

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Stone relief showing a charioteer

Achaemenid Persian, 5th century BC. From Persepolis, south-west Iran. This relief of a charioteer driving his horse comes from the great Achaemenid Persian centre of Persepolis. It was excavated in July 1811 by Robert Gordon who was part of a diplomatic mission to Iran led by Sir Gore Ouseley, British Ambassador to Persia from 1811 to 1814. It orig...

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Painted vessel with bridge-spout

Early Iron Age, about 1000-800 BC. Probably from Tepe Sialk, central Iran. This type of painted pottery is a local central Iranian variation of the Grey Ware typical of sites of this period in northern Iran. In the early centuries of the first millennium BC new forms of a type of pottery called Late Western Grey Ware emerged. This bridge-spouted ve...

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