Susa
"By The grace of Ahura Mazda, I constructed a magnificent palace
Susa"
Thus spake Darius The Great in 521 BC following the construction of the
Apadana Palace, his administrative capital at Susa.
Susa( Soo sah) also called Shoush, was once the capital of the ancient
Kingdome of Ilam and the Persian Empire. The partly uncovered ruins
of this city lie in the province of Khouzestan, in southeastern
Iran.
Susa appears several times in the Bible, where it is called "Shushan".
The Old Testament story of Esther took place in Susa. The tomb of
Daniel is said to be in Susa.
Archaeologists unearthed the famous " Code of Hammurabi
" which is a group of Babylonian
laws, in the ruins of Susa in 1901 and 1902.
Susa flourished until about 640 BC., when Assyrians plundered it.
Darius I built palaces in the city in the late 500's BC., and
made it a capital of the Persian Empire. Susa declined after
Alexander the Great conquered it in the late 300 BC.
According to archaeologists, Susa is 5000 years old. The authenticity
of the age of this ancient city, verified by the ancient hills and
excavations there are beyond doubts. These ancient hills covering an
area of 400 hectares are divided into four sections: Acropolis,
Apadana, Royal town and Business town.
A – Acropolis, originally a Greek word, refers to the highest
part of the hill where
the town is built. The most ancient civilization discovered here
belongs to the end of 5th millennium B.C.
The tablet of the first ever legislator on the earth, Hamourabi, and
that of Aked's King Narramssin were discovered during excavation in
Susa.
Shoutrok Nakhonteh, one of the 13th century B.C. kings of
Ilam, brought both tablets to this city .
For the first time in history, archaeologist discovered drawings (used
instead of Words) of Ilam in this city. The statue of queen
Napirasso wife of "Ontash Gaul" founder of Ziggurat Chagha
Zanbil, was discovered there.
French archaeologists headed by Jaque De Morgan, during excavations in
1879 utilized the excavated construction materials taken from the
ruins of Ilam temples in Susa, Apadana Palace of the Achaemenidae,
the Parthian's and Arsacides' buildings, and Sassnides and
those of the Islamic era, to build a castle there in order to store
the antiquities and preserve the
excavations. The architecture was influenced by that of Europe's
middle ages.
B - Apadana is the name of palace built on Apadana hill by
Darius the Great of achaemenian Dynasty in 525 B.C. This magnificent palace caught fire during the reign
of "Ardeshir I" in 461 B.C,
and was reconstructed during the reign of " Ardeshir II
" ( 404 - 359 B.C. ). It was again ruined when Alexander
invaded Persia and most of its construction material were used
elsewhere. Also, during World War II the invaders, to construct roads
and bridges, used whatever remained of that material. The stone statue of Darius was found among the ruins of
this palace.
C - The Royal Town of 7,000 sqm., was the residential quarters
of court people and business-men during Achaemenid era .
D - The Business Town
The present city of Shoush : This town is located in Khozestan Province
on the northwestern side of Ahwas and the main Ahwaz-Dezful highway
runs through this city (
110 km distant from
Ahwaz and 40 km from Dezful ) . The temperature of this hot and dry
city reaches to 53 degrees Centigrade in summer and drops to plus
one degree in winter.
Chogha
Zanbil
Chogha Zanbil is situated in southwest Iran about 40 Kms southeast of
ancient city of Susa. It was built on a plateau above the bank of
river Dez. Its ancient name is Dur-Untash, which means the castle of
the city of Untash. In 13th century BC. King Untash Napirisha founded an entirely new city. Its
size and splendor was intended to honore of Gods and to manifest the
power of King Untash Napirisha . At the center of the city a
Ziggurat (Temple tower) was built, of which two floors still exist.
It was surrounded by a wall, which is the inner wall of three
concentric walls in Dur Untash. Between the inner wall and middle
wall several temples belonging to different Elamites divinities were
built. The outer city wall was 4 Kms long enclosing an area of
approximately 100 Hectares. The royal quarter was situated adjacent
to a major city gate some 450 meters east of the Ziggurat. In this
area a group of three major buildings with large courts surrounded
by lengthy hall and rooms were excavated. Beneath one of these
buildings (Palace I) five underground tombs were found similar to
those of Haft-Tappah.
The tombs in Chogha Zanbil however were of a much more monumental
dimensions.
The building materials in Chogh Zanbil are mainly mud bricks and
occasionally baked bricks. The monuments were well built and
beautifully decorated with glazed baked bricks, gypsum, ornaments of
faience and glass. Thousands of baked bricks bearing inscriptions
with Elamite cuneiform characters were all inscribed by hand,
ornamenting the most important buildings. Glazed terracotta statues
such as bulls and winged griffins guarded the entrance of the
Ziggurat. Near the temples of Kirrisha and Hishmitik kilns were
found that probably were used for the production of baked bricks and
decoration materials. The Ziggurat was built in two stages and in
the second phase took its multi-layered form.
Beyond Babylonia and Assyria this is the only preserved Ziggurat. It
was obviously constructed according to the models of the
Mesopotamian culture. There is scarce information about the actions
during the divine service. However, it is known that the Elimites
were religious and held regular divine services. Some reliefs give
us a glimpse about how these might have been carried out.
Roman Ghirshman excavated most of Ziggurat and the vast surrounding
area from 1951-1962. He excavated the temples, palaces, tombs and
three concentric walls of the site and gates.
After the excavations most of the monuments were exposed to erosion.
Due to rainfalls, water penetrates into the structure of the
building, accelerating the deterioration processes. During last few
years the monuments have been taken by The Cultural Heritage
Organization to protect the Zigurrat from further erosion.
