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PERSIAN

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Originally appearing in Volume V02, Page 377 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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PERSIAN See also:

ARCHITECTURE The origin of Persian architecture must be sought for in that of the two earlier dynasties,—the See also:Assyrian and Median, to whose See also:empire the Persian See also:monarchy succeeded by See also:conquest in 56o B.C. From the former, it borrowed the raised See also:platform on which their palaces were built, the broad flights of steps leading up to them and the wingedhowever, to show that it was of the simplest See also:kind, and consisted of a central See also:hall, the roof of which was carried by two rows of See also:stone columns, 30 ft. high, and porticoes in antis on two if not on three sides. The See also:great platform, also at See also:Pasargadae, known as the Takht-i-See also:Suleiman, or See also:throne of See also:Solomon, covered an See also:area of about 40,000 sq. ft., and is remarkable for the beauty of its See also:masonry and the large stones of which it is built. These are all sunk See also:round the edge, being the earliest example of what is known as " drafted masonry," which at See also:Jerusalem and I-Iebron gives so magnificent an effect to the great walls of the See also:temple enclosures. No remains have ever been traced on this platform of the See also:palace which it was probably built to support. We pass on therefore to See also:Persepolis, the most important of the Persian cities, if we may See also:judge by the remains still existing there. Here, as at Pasargadae, builders availed themsehes of a natural rocky platform, at the See also:foot of a range of hills, which they raised in parts and enclosed with a stone See also:wall. Here the masonry is not drafted, and the stones are not always laid in See also:horizontal courses, but they are shaped and fitted to one another with the greatest accuracy, and are secured by See also:metal clamps. The See also:plan (fig. II) shows the See also:general configuration of the platform on which the palaces of Persepolis are built, which covered an area of about I,600,00o sq. ft. The See also:principal approach to it was at the See also:north-See also:west end, up a magnificent See also:flight of steps (A) with a See also:double ramp, the steps being 22 ft. wide, with a tread of 15 in. and a rise of 4, so that they could be ascended by horses. The first See also:building opposite this See also:staircase was the entrance gateway or See also:propylaea (B), a square hall, with four columns carrying the roof and with portals in the front and See also:rear flanked by winged bulls.

The earliest palace on the platform (D) is that which was built by See also:

Darius, 521 B.C. It was rectangular on plan, raised on a platform approached by two flights of steps, and consisted of an entrance See also:portico of eight columns, in two rows of four placed in antis, between square See also:chambers, in which were probably staircases leading to the roof. This portico led to the great hall, square on plan, whose roof was carried by sixteen columns in four rows. This hall was lighted by two windows on each See also:side of the central See also:doorway, all of which, being in stone, still exist, the lintels and jambs of both doors and windows being monolithic. The walls between these features, having been built in unburnt See also:brick, or in See also:rubble masonry with See also:clay See also:mortar, have See also:long since disappeared. There were other rooms on each side of the hall and an open See also:court in the rear. The bases of the columns of the portico still remain in situ, as also one of the See also:antae in solid masonry; and as these in their relative position and height are in exact accordance with those ((~~^^ II ~ I n Jl;~l~'~ near Persepolis. represented on the See also:tomb of Darius (fig. 12) and other tombs carved in the See also:rock near Persepolis (q.v.), there is no difficulty in forming a fairly accurate conjectural restoration of the same. In the See also:representation of this palace, as shown on the tomb, and above the portico, has been sculptured the great throne of Darius, on which he sat, rendering See also:adoration to the See also:Sun See also:god. All the other palaces on the site, built or added to by various monarchs and at different periods, preserve very much the same plan, consisting always of a great square hall, the roof of which was carried by columns, with one or more porticoes round, and smaller rooms and courts in the rear. In one of the palaces (G) the roof was carried by too columns in ten rows of ten each.

The most important building, however, and one which from its extent, height and magnificence, is one of the most stupendous See also:

works of antiquity, is the great palace of See also:Xerxes (C), which, though it consists only of a great central hall and three porticoes, covered an area of over too,000 sq. ft., greater than any See also:European See also:cathedral, those of See also:Milan and St See also:Peter's at See also:Rome alone excepted. It was built on a platform raised in ft. above the See also:terrace and approached by four flights of steps on the north side, the principal entrance. The columns of the porticoes and of the great hall were 65 ft. high, including See also:base and See also:capital. In the See also:east and west porticoes the capitals consist only of the double See also:bull or See also:griffin; the See also:cross corbels on their backs, similar to those shown on the tomb of Darius, have disappeared, being probably in See also:wood. In the north or entranceportico, and in the great hall, the capitals are of a much more elaborated nature, as under the double capital was a See also:composition of Ionic capitals set on end, and below that the calix and See also:pendant leaves of the See also:lotus plant. It can only be supposed that Xerxes, thinking the columns of the east portico required more decoration, instructed his architects to add some to those of the entrance portico and hall, and that they copied some of the spoils brought from Branchidae and others from See also:Egypt. Fig. 13 shows the plan of the palace according to the researches of Mr Weld Blundell, who found the traces of the walls surrounding the great hall and of the square chambers at the angles, and also proved that the lines of the drains as shown in Coste's and Texier's plans were incorrect. M. Dieulafoy also traced the existence of walls enclosing the Apadana at See also:Susa from the paving of the hall and the portico which stopped on the lines of the wall. The plan of I^ ^I See also:Rain See also:Water _ • • • • t ® • • as • • b • • Is ^I • • I N • • . .• • • • 1^ ^I • • I • ® • • • • c • • I ti • • i • ® • • • ; • d • • I I I.

0241 2 • • • • • • i,! e/%! • • • • • • IIIIIII!Ilillllllll IIIIIIIIIIIIPIIIII llli!IIIIIIII!lill IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII 5,0 '05 2 5P '40 150 spofeet From R. P. Spiers's Architecture, East and West. the palace at Susa was similar to that of the palace of Xerxes, except that on the side facing the See also:

garden facing See also:south the apadana or throne See also:room was See also:left open. M. Dieulafoy's discoveries at Susa of the See also:frieze of archers, the frieze of the lions, and other decorations of the walls flanking the staircase, all executed in See also:bright coloured enamels on See also:concrete blocks, revealed the exceptional beauty of the decoration both externally and internally applied to the Persian palaces. The only other monumental works of Persian architecture are the tombs; to those cut in the solid rock, of which there are some examples, we have already referred. The most See also:ancient tomb is that erected to See also:Cyrus the See also:Elder at Pasargadae, and consists of a small See also:shrine or See also:cella in masonry raised on a See also:series of steps, inspired (according to See also:Fergusson) by the ziggurat or terrace-temples of See also:Assyria, but on a small See also:scale. The tomb was surrounded on three sides by porticoes of columns. There are two other tombs, one at Persepolis and one at Pasargadae—small square towers with an entrance opening high up on one side, sunk panels in the stone, and a See also:dentil See also:cornice, copied from See also:early Ionian buildings. (R.

P.

End of Article: PERSIAN

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