Persepolis - A Lost CityHave you heard of Persepolis? It’s had a magnificent, long life that still is a great place to visit today. Follow my story, to find out about the Ancient city, and find out something that’s cool about ancient history, a lost city

Persepolis is located in the Middle-East Asian country of Iran. It is about 650 km south of the country’s capital, Tehran. It’s also built where the Achaemenid Empire first settled and organized themselves.

The site was made by Darius I, and Xerxes’ who is Darius’ son. Xerxes completed the Apadana (you may be thinking, what is an apadana? An apadana is an ancient Persian hall located in palaces) and a palace for himself. Darius was the third king of the persian Achaemenid Empire. He reigned Persepolis from September 522 BCE to October 486 BCE (32 years). There is an inscription carved on the southern face of the terrace. This shows and proves that Darius really was the first finder to those who think differently. Persepolis was destructed by Alexander the Great in 330 BC during the invasion of the Persian Empire.

Persepolis was founded in 6th century BCE but it was not completely done yet. Villagers decided to build it into a good place, knowing it would take a long time. However they had very little success. But a century later, their luck changed. It was fully completed a century later.(Who made Persepolis?) It had been made and reconstructed 3 times as far as UNESCO knows. 2 of them are mentioned in the paragraph before. The first time was a few days after it was established. Many villagers had already settled into it. However they wanted it to be a better place, because it was just a few buildings and shops. The villagers did not have a proper plan to make it. They started without knowing what they were doing. It only was a few weeks for them to give up. They decided to build it into a good place, knowing it would take a long time. However they had very little success. But a century later, their luck changed. A group of three men called Artaxerxes I, changed the city and built more complex and interesting palaces and homes for villagers. He had many more followers than the population of Persepolis at the time. And for the third time of reconstruction, happened in the 1800’s, because erosion had hit the city since the 7th century BCE (the time the second reconstruction had finished).

It was made as a royal home for the achaemenid empire (ca. 550 - 330 BC). It was fully used until the empire had stopped, due to the Greek followers of Alexander the Great destructing it with dangerous chemicals and weapons.

It needs protecting because there are more archaeologists use it to find out more of it. They believe that there is more information that can be found on the site. (Why is Persepolis classified as a W.H.S?) It is classified as a world heritage site because of the famous ruins and statues and buildings that remain there. Tourist and people who worship it are allowed to enter it. They must also have a security check-up before entering, just incase they have any dangerous material on them.

(How was Persepolis made/formed?) No one has really been able to find out how it was made. The earliest remains date from around 515 BC. In the early 1930s, a French archaeologist called André Godard excavated Persepolis. The terrace was built by Darius I and later by Artaxerxes I. It can be protected by the limit amount of tourists and professional people that work in service, e.g. Plumbers, Firefighters. These can identify if anything bad happens and fix it.

Interesting Facts

Bet you didn’t know some of the facts below about Persepolis!• The steps to the Apadana were so wide, that a total of 8 horses could be able to walk to the top, side-by-side.

• One of the Persian’s favourite things were animals. The insides of the palaces and the Apadana are decorated with different species of animals, such as deers, cows, horses, dogs, camels.

By Chris Ramazani

Bibliography: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persepolishttp://whc.unesco.org/en/list/114www.google.com/images“Ancient Civilizations” Philip Brooks, 1999“Unlocking the Past” Jennifer Lawless, Kate Cameron, Carmel Young, 1996

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FknBSQ2Y3QThe link above is a 41 minute documentary of Persepolis.