Persia had many capitals, but this one, built by Darius the Great around 500 BC was the final center of the Achaemenid dynasty. When Alexander the Great conquered Persia this was the capial city he set afire. The ruins sprawl across the valley, just hinting at how magificent the palaces and temples might have been 2500 years ago.
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| The Gateway of Nations welcomes visitors to Persepolis. A great statue of a bull, alas decapitated, stands on either side of the processional route. Our guide, Reza, told us where the missing bulls' heads had gone. One ended up in the Universty of Chicago. Suddenly I realized where I'd seen a picture of that bull's head. While a freshman at the U of C my mother and a friend of hers had been asked by a photographer to pose with this ancient bit of art, and that's how Mom appeared in a December 1953 National Geographic! | |
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| According to the teacings of Zoroaster the great God of light, Ahuramazda, was in constant struggle with the darkness personified by "Shaitan." This was the "Satan" who is first written about in Hebrew Scriptures during the First Diaspora when the Jews had been held captive in Babylon and continued to live in the Persian empire. Cyrus the Great had liberated the Jews allowing them to return home, but Judea remained within the Persian Empire. Zoroaster's teachings about God's struggle with his enemy, Shaitan, would continue of course through Judaism into Christianity and Islam. Zoroaster and his religion were also helpful in developing astrology, and astrological art was everywhere to be found in Persepolis, and at other sites in Iran. | |
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| Here the solar Lion killing the lunar Bull represents the conquest of day over night. Astrologically, Leo the Lion, is ruled by the Sun while the Moon is exalted in Taurus, the Bull. A closer look at this image -- which appears often in Persepolis -- shows the mane of the lion resembling light pouring from the sun, and the curve of the bull's horn resembling the lunar crescent. | |
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Another common motif of astrolgoical reference is the twelve-petaled water-lily, each petal representaing a sign of the zodiac. Following the ancient astrological tradition, Iran still uses a calendar that starts the new year with the sun's entry into Aries. | |
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Persepolis was also home to King Xerxes and his Jewish wife Queen Esther. This is where Esther and her uncle Mordecai saved the Jews from the plotting of Haman. You can hear the whole megillah at a Purim party or read all about it in the biblical book of Esther. Here's a doorway to Xerxes' & Esther's palace. | |
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