Thanks for providing the history and links surrounding this image. It is nice to see images from Iran and forgotten places filled with beauty, especially when they are stricken from textbooks here in the States.
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The magnificent palace complex at Persepolis (Takhte Jamshid)
was founded by Darius the Great around 518 B.C. the wealth of the Persian empire was evident in all aspects of its construction. The splendor of Persepolis, however, was short-lived; the palaces were looted and burned by Alexander the Great in 331-330 B.C.
The magnificent ruins of Persepolis lie at the foot of Kouh-e Rahmat, or "Mountain of Mercy," in the plain of Marv Dasht about 850 kilometers south of the present capital city of Tehran and about 50 kilometers north of Shiraz.
The exact date of the founding of Persepolis is not known. It is assumed that Darius I began work on the platform and its structures between 518 and 516 B.C., visualizing Persepolis as a show place and the seat of his vast Achaemenian Empire. He proudly proclaimed his achievement; there is an excavated foundation inscription that reads, "And Ahuramazda was of such a mind, together with all the other gods, that this fortress (should) be built. And (so) I built it. And I built it secure and beautiful and adequate, just as I was intending to."
. . , and THEN
after so many years passed, in our modern history few countries mainly Western Countries plundered these priceless Historical Treasures and put them in their museums or sold to rich collectors!!!!???
[url=http://www.iran-heritage.org/interestgroups/bitterstory.htm]doc 1 [/url]
[url=http://www.cais-soas.com/CAIS/Culture/plundering_culture.htm]doc 2 [/url]
[url=http://cpprot.te.verweg.com/2005-December/002104.html]doc 3 [/url]
[url=http://www.iran-heritage.org/aboutus/locations.htm]doc 4 [/url]
[url=http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/line-16/0511294962171507.htm]doc 5[/url]
[url=http://www.cais-soas.com/News/2005/june2005/01-06.htm]doc 6[/url]
[url=http://www.iranian.com/ala.html]doc 7[/url]
[url=http://www.iranian.ws/iran_news/publish/printer_6590.shtml]doc 8[/url]