Western staircase of the Palace of Xerxes, built by Artaxerses III Ochus, Persepolis, Iran

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Persepolis (city of Persians) is located NE of Shiraz, Iran. It was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire (ca. 550–330 BC). It became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979. Much of Persepolis was destroyed when it was sacked by the soldiers of Alexander the Great in 330 BC. A view of the Palace of Xerxes with its Egyptian style of door lintels and its Western staircase. The face of the stairway contaIns a lion and bull motif and script reading: "The great king Artaxerxes, the king of kings, the king of countries, the king of this earth, says: I am the son of king Artaxerxes [II Mnemon]. Artaxerxes was the son of king Darius [II Nothus]. Darius was the son of king Artaxerxes [I]. Artaxerxes was the son king Xerxes. Xerxes was the son of king Darius [the Great]. Darius was the son of a man named Hystaspes. Hystaspes was a son of a man named Arsames, the Achaemenid. King Artaxerxes says: This stone staircase was built by me in my reign".

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Size: 5000px × 3333px
Location: Palace of Xerxes, Persepolis, Iran
Photo credit: © Terry Allen / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No

Keywords: achaemenid, adventure, ancient, archeology, blue, bull, city, culture, doorways, egyptian, heritage, horizontal, iran, lintels, lion, massive, motif, palace, persepolis, persians, ruins, site, sky, stairway, stone, style, tachara, tourism, travel, unesco, western, winter, world, xerxes