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Construction of Persepolis

Type Event Region Persia Time -518–-460

From around 518 BCE, Darius I of Achaemenid Persia chose a site in Fars, Iran, to build the new capital Persepolis as the empire's ceremonial and tri…

Timeline

  1. -518–-515Persepolis · PersiaDarius I chose a site on the Marvdasht plain and began building Persepolis on a natural terrace, first completing the Apadana and the initial platform works, and left a foundation inscription recording his building achievement.
  2. -486–-465Persepolis · PersiaXerxes I carried out large-scale expansion on Darius's foundations, completing the Gate of All Nations, the Hundred-Column Hall, and numerous reliefs depicting tribute envoys and the empire's peoples, shaping Persepolis into a ceremonial center displaying the tributary system of all nations.
  3. -465–-460Persepolis · PersiaArtaxerxes I continued to perfect the complex, and Persepolis became the imperial ceremonial capital where tribute envoys from the provinces gathered each Nowruz, forming a functional division of roles with the administrative center Susa and the winter capital Ecbatana.

Sources