Book "Unforgettable Iran". Chapter 7.3 Persepolis and its environs
It was my last day in Shiraz and my fourth night at Sherwin's. On this day I was going to visit Persepolis with a couchsurfer Dominik from Austria.
- You need to wake up at five in the morning and leave at half past five to Marvdasht, - Sherwin admonished, - from there you will take a taxi to Takht e Jamshid (Iranians do not say Persepolis).
And we didn't want to get up so early to look at the historical ruins. We studied the weather forecast and found that in the desert, which is now Persepolis, the temperature rises to an incredibly high point during the day, so at half past six the next morning we were already packed and packed with food rations - bananas and apples, as well as bottles of water. Shervin took us to the station and put us on a regular bus to Marvdasht for five hundred tomans, from there we took a taxi to Persepolis, at first the driver offered to go for six thousand tomans, but was refused and easily dropped the price to three thousand.
Once this place was the capital of the huge Achaemenid Empire, an oasis surrounded by greenery with running water and sewerage. Now there was a desert here, huge as a disk, the sun rose higher and higher and began to burn unbearably. Dominic compared this extinct city to Dubai in five hundred years, when the oil runs out and every tree stops getting water. Entrance to the museum cost five hundred tomans, but since I had an international student "ISIC", I bought a ticket with a 50% discount. The cashier looked at my documents and read: "Alexander. "
- Alexander the Great, who destroyed Persepolis? he joked.
I also wanted to quip something about how much I regret and seriously think about the restoration of Persepolis, but I did not know how to say it in Farsi, and simply kept silent.
Foreigners call this place Perspolis, reading the name in the Greek manner, but the Iranians themselves call it "Takht e Jamshid" (throne of Jamshid), named after the king Jamshid, whose reign is described in Iranian mythology and epics.
All visitors to the palace had to pass through the "Gate of All Nations". The entrance from the western side is framed by two columns with reliefs of huge bulls, and from the east - by two creatures in the Assyrian style in the form of a bull-man. The walls are covered in visitor graffiti, the earliest inscription I have been able to find is from 1800.
The central attraction is the Apadana Hall. The reliefs carved on stone slabs of stairs and terraces are of the main value. On the outside of the stairs, a solemn procession of the royal guard is depicted, and on the inside - a procession of servants carrying rams, vessels, wineskins with wine. On the reliefs of Apadana itself, a walking procession of representatives of the conquered peoples is depicted.
The throne room is also called the "Hall of a Hundred Columns" by the number of found bases of the columns. Large stone bulls stood on the sides of the northern portico, and the eight stone gates leading to the palace were decorated with scenes from royal life and the king's battles with demons.
On the mountain there is an unfinished tomb intended for Artaxerxes II, and a little further along the mountain is the tomb of Artaxerxes III. From there you have a beautiful view of the ruined city.
For a small fee, you can visit the museum with interesting archaeological artifacts: stone tableware, marble vases, jewelry, cuneiform tablets and much more. However, the most valuable exhibits were taken to the National Museum in Tehran.
Hitchhiking through historical ruins
At the exit from Persepolis, I remembered that on the way from Isfahan to Shiraz I passed Pasargada. This city was founded in 546 BC, and was the first capital of the Achaemenid Empire. Now here you can see the mausoleum of Cyrus the Great, in Persian it is read "Kurush". The memorial is located 130 km from Shiraz, but, leaving at the turn to Pasargada, you will still need to drive about ten kilometers by hitchhiking to the very mausoleum. By this time, the sun was unbearably hot, and it was decided not to go anywhere, but simply to buy postcards with views of the monument missing in the camera.
In the souvenir shop, we accidentally saw stunning views of the necropolis "Naqsh e Rustam" (6 km from Persepolis), where the rulers of the Achaemenid dynasty are buried: Darius I, and, possibly, Xerxes I, Artaxerxes I, Darius II. After talking with taxi drivers, we realized that it would not be possible to leave cheaply, and we were going to hitchhike. However, instead of leaving the complex, we went to the parking lot. I stopped to ask an Iranian family for directions.
- We would love to give you a lift, but there are no places, - the driver answered in confusion, - but here is a tourist bus. Hundred-oh! he shouted after the departing tourists.
The bus stopped, the guide looked out of the opened door.
- We are travelers, we are going to Naksh e Rustam, can you give us a lift to the highway? I addressed him in English.
- We can, we're going there. Three dollars each.
- We do not need an excursion, if possible, give a lift at least to the track, and then we will get there ourselves.
- Yes, sit down for free, - the guide softened, - all the same, the tour was paid for the entire bus, some did not come, and we still had empty seats.
We jumped into the salon and settled in the back, where a guy and a girl from Austria, Dominik's countrymen, were having lunch. The girl said hello and continued to eat, the guy forgot to say hello and with us, he, it seems, did not say a word at all. I asked where they came from and where they were staying, the girl replied: "in a hotel. " I had a strange feeling from this couple: the guy was silent and did not participate in the conversation, as if he were a woman, but his companion spoke instead of him, they refused the fruits we offered, but did not offer anything in return. Probably, I'm used to oriental hospitality, so it seemed to me that these guys were poorly educated.
We thanked the guide for the delivery and went for a walk along “Naqsh e Rustam” (drawings by Rustam, the legendary hero of the Persian folk epic). This place is known for rock reliefs and tombs of kings and is a platform with mountains in which the tombs of kings are carved at a high altitude, and under them are reliefs showing the merits of these rulers to the people: the celebration of victory, the conclusion of peace. The most ancient reliefs date back to 1000 BC. Not far from the tombs is a mysterious building 12 m high, most of which is below the modern level of the earth, there is no consensus regarding its purpose, but the Iranians call it the Cube of Zarathustra (Kaab e Zartosht).
There was a souvenir shop nearby, and Dominik bought himself a figurine of Faravahar, a symbol of Zoroastrianism, which is a kind of winged disk depicting Fravashi, a kind of guardian angel, to which a human image was later added.
From here it was possible to go to the archaeological zone "Naqsh e Rajab", which is also known for rock reliefs showing scenes of coronations. The most interesting image is the portrait of Kartir, the famous Zoroastrian high priest. However, we never got there, because we immediately found a ride to Marvdasht, from where we got to Shiraz by local bus. Iranian passengers looked at us with curiosity and tried to talk, and the driver constantly asked why we decided to come to Iran and whether we like it here - a question that I have been asked more than one hundred times.
Author: Kozlovsky Alexander.
Book: "Unforgettable Iran". 159 days hitchhiking.
