Persian architecture
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The document outlines the history and architectural features of the Persian Empire and its notable structures, such as the mausoleum of Cyrus the Great and the palace of Persepolis. It highlights the distinctive columnar architecture, use of materials, and the simplicity and significance of these structures. Additionally, it covers the tomb of Darius and other edifices, emphasizing their artistic and historical value within the Persian architectural tradition.
Persian architecture
- 1. PERSIAN ARCHITECTUREPresentation By- Ar. Roopa Chikkalgi 1
- 2. 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 the Great in 550 BC, with the Persian conquest of Media, Lydia and Babylonia. • Persian dynastic history was interrupted by the Islamic conquest (651 AD) and later by the Mongol invasion. • The most successful cultures became empires with control over vast areas. One of the most successful empires in the Near East, however, was the Persian Empire. • The empire's lifespan was from around 539 BCE to 651 CE. Persia was situated in modern-day Iran. The empire spanned from Egypt to Turkey. The expansion occurred under the rule of rulers like Cyrus II, Darius and Xerxes. • Extending its boundaries into culture-rich areas like Egypt and Greece, Persia influenced and was influenced by many of the surrounding native groups.
- 3. 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.
- 4. 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.
- 6. • 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.
- 7. 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.
- 8. 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.
- 11. 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.
- 14. • The size of the palace is smaller by comparison to the other structures in the complex, is present on the south of the Apadana near 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
- 16. 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.
- 19. 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.
- 20. 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.