We are so accustomed to ancient ruins - the Egyptian pyramids, Stonehenge, etc., etc., - all neatly excavated with appropriate information in many languages informing us of their origin, we can't imagine the sheer excitement when a ruin that was buried for thousands of years was discovered. Mr. Charles Breasted, author of Exploring the Secrets of Persepolis, National Geographic Magazine, October, 1933, gives us this sense of wonder right from the beginning paragraphs.
When I read the title, "Persepolis," I knew I had never encountered it. This is the name they gave to the city in ancient Persia, not knowing what the former inhabitants called it. Old Persia is the area in the Middle East conquered by Alexander the Great. This empire included all or part of the present countries of Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Israel, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, with small parts of Egypt and India. Quite a piece of real estate by any measure! Persepolis was in the present country of Iran.
"For the first time since Alexander the Great looted and burned it 331 years before Christ, the wonders of the ancient city of Persepolis are being revealed. . . This we know, that 2,500 years ago it was built by Darius the Emperor, father of that Xerxes, as so vividly told in all our school histories, sat on a height near Athens and watched the Greek navy destroy his Persian fleet," (p. 381).
The city was being excavated by the Oriental Institute from the University of Chicago. One important cache was a depository of Persian kings containing some 20,000 inscribed clay tablets, awaiting translation by experts. There was evidence of ashes and charcoal that the city had been gutted by fire at one time.
"On Alexander's famous march into Persepolis. . . he butchered the people of Susa (Shush) in western Persia" and found so much coined money that "it took 10,000 pairs of mules and 5,000 camels to carry away the furniture and other wealth there," (p. 383).
Many of the columns of the king's palace were still standing, but most of the architecture was broken and underground. "Because it is written in the Koran that all graven images are offensive to Allah, the Caliph's warriors, when galloping through Persepolis (through the many centuries), smashed and defaced, with true Moslem zeal, whatever carvings remained above ground," (p. 388).
In 1933, there were few motorcars in the Middle East but oil wells were being drilled by crews from Texas and Oklahoma, U.S.A. The author relayed that transportation on the few roads was extremely difficult and challenging. Whereas there were not many cars in the desert, there were even fewer airplanes, and when the expedition came in a plane, it was a most curious object for the local peoples.
At that time there were still walled cities in the desert. "With sentry towers and massive gates that close against attacking enemies, these villages shelter tradesmen and townspeople, and also the herdsmen and small farmers," (photo caption, p. 393).
"In the course of the excavations which led to his discovery of the amazing array of relief sculptures, Dr. Herzfeld (the field director) came upon the entrance to a large stairway descending into the terrace. This passageway had filled up with debris, and when cleared it was found to lead into a vast and complicated system of huge sewers or subterranean canals, through which the drainage from all the palaces was carried away. One can walk for several miles through this labyrinth today. . . their presence proves one thing: the palaces . . . were all carefully constructed in accordance with plans carefully prepared in advance, which Darius the Great must have approved," (p. 401). And for how many centuries did most of the Europeans toss their garbage and sewage into the streets!!
Let's leave more of this long article to be mined at another date.
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