Hansen/Curtis, 1/e, Ch - Cengage



Visual Evidence: The Parade of Nations at Darius’ Palace at Persepolis

This activity corresponds to the "Visual Evidence: The Parade of Nations at Darius' Palace at Persepolis" feature in your textbook. The questions below are designed to help you learn more about the topic. Once you have answered the Comprehension questions, submit your answers and move on to the subsequent questions included in the Analysis and Outside Sources sections. Each section is designed to build upon the one before it, taking you progressively deeper into the subject you are studying. After you have answered all of the questions, you will have the option of emailing your responses to your instructor.

Introduction

The first civilizations of the Near East established certain ideas of kingship and ways of representing those ideas. Those ideas and forms of representation persisted, with each new civilization adopting them and introducing subtle variations. Darius's palace at Persepolis can be viewed as a culminating monument in this process, one that recapitulates by-then ancient conceptions of kingship and blends them with uniquely Persian ideas of empire. The Persian conception of kingship, in turn, shaped the royal forms and practices of the Hellenistic dynasties and the Parthian and Sasanian empires. The ancient Near Eastern way of understanding kingship finally came to an end in the seventh century, when Arab invaders conquered the Sasanian Empire and established their own, very different form of rulership. Use the questions and links below to explore the history and legacy of Persian kingship.

Comprehension

1. How large was Darius' audience hall?

2. Why are the visitors depicted in the friezes coming to Persepolis to celebrate spring?

3. What does the omission of certain Greek peoples from the friezes signify?

Analysis

1. Take a look at the following samples of royal art from the period of the Akkadian Empire (See Chapter 2 in your textbook):

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How do these two stelae depict the king and his victories? In what ways do they resemble the later Persian friezes from Persepolis?

2. Now take a look at these relief sculptures from the royal palace at Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian Empire (see Chapter 2 in your textbook):

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How do these images resemble and differ from the earlier Akkadian images? What do these images suggest about the Assyrian concept of kingship and its similarities to and differences from the Achaemenid conception?

3. Review "The Paerthians and the Sasanians, Hiers to the Achaemenids, 247 B.C.E.–651 C.E." in Chapter 6 of your textbook. Now examine this frieze depicting the coronation of a Sassanid king at . What does this sculpture tell you about the ways in which the Sasanians borrowed from the Achaemenid conception of kingship? What elements of the sculpture strike you as distinctively Sasanian?

Outside Sources

1. Take a look at these two views of the Gate of All Nations at Persepolis:

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What reaction do you think this gate was designed to instill in visitors to the palace at Persepolis?

2. Go to and examine the slides of the Palace of Xerxes at Persepolis. What does the sculptural program of Xerxes' palace borrow from that of his father's audience hall? What new forms and arrangements does the program of Xerxes' palace introduce?

3. Go to and read about the fall of Persepolis. Why did Alexander treat Persepolis as he did? How does Diodorus of Sicily describe the Macedonian looting of the city?

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