Reliefs & royal inscriptions
Name 3 societies/ groups pf people represented in reliefs at Persepolis
Ionians, Medians (Medes), Lydians
This destructive event accidentally preserved the Persepolis tablets by baking them hard
Alexander’s burning of Persepolis
According to Darius’s Susa inscription, these people dug the foundations, packed rubble and moulded sun-dried bricks
the Babylonians
According to Tom Holland, this network formed the “nervous system” of the Persian Empire.
the royal road network
This high-purity gold coin introduced under Darius provided the empire with a standardised form of currency.
the daric
This German archaeologist began excavating Persepolis in 1932.
Ernst Herzfeld
Darius repeatedly credited this god with granting him his kingdom and protecting Persia.
Ahura Mazda
These tablets number more than 3,000 and record rations, travel, goods and exchange rates during the reign of Darius
Persepolis Fortification Tablets
Cedar timber used in Darius’s palace was obtained from this region
Lebanon
Royal couriers found these facilities at the end of each day, providing beds, provisions and fresh horses.
posting stations
On daric coins, the Persian king was commonly represented in this military role
the archer
This enormous audience hall had 36 columns and stairways decorated with tribute-bearing delegations.
the Apadana
Darius and Xerxes both used this title to emphasise that he ruled over many different peoples and territories.
King of Kings
Unlike the Fortification Tablets, these later texts mainly record silver transactions within Persepolis and its surrounding district.
the Treasury Tablets
These two groups worked as stonecutters on the stone columns used at Darius’s palace
the Greeks and Lydians
An urgent message could travel from the Aegean to Persepolis in approximately this amount of time.
under two weeks
In the Behistun Inscription, Darius claimed that this god had granted him the kingdom
Ahura Mazda
his mountain range formed an important physical barrier within the Persian Empire.
Zagros Mountains
Xerxes claimed that he built this structure at Persepolis “by the favour of Ahura Mazda”
Gate of all nations
This man, possibly Darius’s uncle, was the chief economic official named in the tablets and passed on royal orders.
Pharnaces
In the twentieth year of Xerxes’s reign, more than 2,000 workers were probably employed on this major building.
the Hall of a Hundred Columns
This official travel pass was required before a person could use the king’s roads
viyataka
Xerxes had a strong claim to the throne because his mother was this daughter of Cyrus the Great.
Atossa
The Persian Empire was divided into administrative provinces known by this name.
satrapies
Darius, Xerxes and Artaxerxes repeatedly identified their fathers and ancestors in inscriptions for this political purpose.
establishing the legitimacy and continuity of their rule
Evidence that mothers of sons received twice as much as mothers of daughters reveals this feature of Persian society
gender inequality or the higher social value placed on male children?
What did the Daeva inscription describe?
Xerxes harsh treatment of satraps that revolted and the implementation of Persian religion into those satraps, removing their religious and political freedom.
completed in approximately 498 BCE, this construction connected a branch of the Nile with the Red Sea and encouraged interregional trade
Darius’s early Suez Canal
Historians must treat surviving manuscripts carefully because most ancient works survive in this form.
medieval copies of earlier copies rather than the authors’ original manuscripts?
Archaeological and written evidence suggests that Persepolis did not serve only one purpose. Identify three likely functions of the city.
a ceremonial centre, an administrative centre and a royal residence