The Palace of Darius at Susa : the great royal residence of Achaemenid Persia

The palace complex of the Persian King Darius I, the Great (522-486 BCE), provides unique evidence of the sophistication of Achaemenid architecture and construction. This palace, built 2500 years ago in western Iran, lay at the centre of the Persian Empire that stretched from the Nile and the Aegean to the Indus Valley. First rediscovered in 1851, the palace of Darius was partly excavated over the next century. But it was only field research between 1969 and 1979 by the noted French archaeologist Jean Perrot which revealed the site s full dimension and complexity. Its bull-headed capitals, enamel friezes of richly-clad archers holding spears, figures of noble lions and winged monsters, introduced a new iconography into the ancient Persian world. The discovery and excavation of the palace, which this book records, thus casts a new light on the beginnings of the Achaemenid period. Edited by the distinguished scholar of ancient Persia, John Curtis, the lavishly illustrated volume is a work of seminal importance for the understanding of ancient Persia, likely to be radically altered by Perrot s research and findings. Sponsors The Authors Acknowledgements Foreword Introduction Elam Key events in the Achaemenid Period Genealogical Table of the Achaemenid Dynasty The Palace of Darius at Susa 1 Susa and Elam in theA chaemenid Empire The Cyrus Cylinder 2. Darius the Great King Convention of the Persian Antiquities Concession 3. The Discoverers of the Palace of Susa Susa in Paris 1888 Maurice Pillet The ‘Château’ of Jacques de Morgan 4. The Franco-Iranian Programme 5. The Geophysical Survey of the Achaemenid Foundations 6. The Archaeological Results How the Statue of Darius broke The Apadana foundations Stoneworking The foundation wall of Artaxerxes II 7. Restoration, Reconstruction The northwestern quarter of the Residence 8. The Egyptian Statue of Darius Peoples and countries of the empire 9. The Main Achaemenid Inscriptions of Susa The palace decoration of Susa in the Louvre 10. The Fired Arts Small faience objects Wedjats of the Apadana 11. Decorative Arts at Susa during the Persian Period The Acropolis tomb The bronzes of the Acropolis 12. Other Works of Darius and His Successors Marks and stamps on fired clay products Electrical resistivity survey of the Shaur Palace Mercury in the walls of the Shaur Palace 13. Susa in Iranian and Oriental Architecture The small column bases The Achaemenid Persian palaces of Babylon Darius at Persepolis 14. Darius in his Time The ‘winged disc’ and Ahuramazda Persians and monotheism Susa and the Bible Appendix The inscriptions of Darius at Bisitun (DB Abbreviations Bibliography Index "The palace complex of the Persian King Darius I, the Great (522-486 BCE), provides unique evidence of the sophistication of Achaemenid architecture and construction. This palace, built 2500 years ago in western Iran, lay at the centre of the Persian Empire that stretched from the Nile and the Aegean to the Indus Valley. First rediscovered in 1851, the palace of Darius was partly excavated over the next century. But it was only field research between 1969 and 1979 by the noted French archaeologist Jean Perrot which revealed the site's full dimension and complexity. Its bull-headed capitals, enamel friezes of richly-clad archers holding spears, figures of noble lions and winged monsters, introduced a new iconography into the ancient Persian world. The discovery and excavation of the palace, which this book records, thus casts a new light on the beginnings of the Achaemenid period. Edited by the distinguished scholar of ancient Persia, John Curtis, the lavishly illustrated volume is a work of seminal importance for the understanding of ancient Persia, likely to be radically altered by Perrot's research and findings."--Bloomsbury Publishing "The palace complex of the Persian King Darius I, the Great (522-486 BCE), provides unique evidence of the sophistication of Achaemenid architecture and construction. This palace, built 2500 years ago in western Iran, lay at the centre of the Persian Empire that stretched from the Nile and the Aegean to the Indus Valley. First rediscovered in 1851, the palace of Darius was partly excavated over the next century. But it was only field research between 1969 and 1979 by the noted French archaeologist Jean Perrot which revealed the site's full dimension and complexity. Its bull-headed capitals, enamel friezes of richly-clad archers holding spears, figures of noble lions and winged monsters, introduced a new iconography into the ancient Persian world. The discovery and excavation of the palace, which this book records, thus casts a new light on the beginnings of the Achaemenid period. Edited by the distinguished scholar of ancient Persia, John Curtis, the lavishly illustrated volume is a work of seminal importance for the understanding of ancient Persia, likely to be radically altered by Perrot's research and findings."--Publisher's website.