Parsa emerges from the shadow of Persepolis

Payvand's Iran News ^ | Monday, December 1, 2008 | Hamid Golpira

[SunkenCiv]

The ancient town of Parsa has begun to emerge from the shadows of Persepolis. An Iranian-Italian joint archaeological team has brought to light the first remains of the town of Parsa, which was the residential area of commoners just outside the palaces of Persepolis... Professor Callieri said the team, in collaboration with the Parsa-Pasargadae Research Foundation, is also studying the possibility of setting up a centralized data base compiling all the information on Persepolis and the surrounding area, which may also be put online on a web site.

Asked if the excavation provided further evidence of the fact that Persepolis was the only major monument of ancient times that was built by paid workers and not by slaves, Professor Callieri replied, "No new information, not yet. We understand that one of the cities which had exchanges with the Persepolis Terrace was very near Persepolis. Probably it is the city we are going to excavate." However, he noted that in previous excavations tablets have been found that record the payments to the workers, and added that these "objective" documents prove the workers were paid.

Asked if he found any similarities between the excavations in the Bolaghi Valley in 2005 and 2006 and the recent excavations on the outskirts of Persepolis, he... explained the differences by saying that the recent dig was at an inner suburb area close to Persepolis, whereas the site in the Bolaghi Valley that the team excavated was a rural village about 19 or 20 kilometers from Pasargadae.

[SunkenCiv]

A five-centimeter fragment of a blue ware in the form of a wing is one of most important artifacts unearthed by the Iranian-Italian joint archaeological team during their latest excavation at the ancient town of Parsa near Persepolis.

[SunkenCiv]

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[yarddog]

I wonder if Persepolis would have survived to modern times if Alexander had not burned it.

[SunkenCiv]

Hey, I wonder if the Persian Empire would have survived to modern times if Alexander had not conquered it. ;')

Regarding that, no, probably not -- the Parthians (really the Persians, under a different dynasty) wound up getting destroyed by the Muzzie Arab invaders, and they didn't keep much intact.

On the other hand, Balkh, in Central Asia, they called "the Mother of Cities" (which it isn't, but anyway) was one city which thrived despite Moslem rule (there's something like forty mosques, or perhaps it's more, inside the capacious city wall circuit) and obviously impressed 'em. It was a major stop on the old silk route.

Alexander used it as one of his campaign HQs because of the massive walls; he had to recuperate over the winter after suffering some setbacks (troops on an away mission got massacred) and getting severely wounded. By spring he'd been reinforced to the tune (and I know this sounds amazing) of 200K troops, broke them into four columns of about 50K each, and proceeded to clear-cut four different river basins, simultaneously.

He's not called "the Great" for no reason.

[SunkenCiv]

some Balkh pix, roughly in order by size:

http://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10002/Walls%20of%20Balkh.jpg
http://i.pbase.com/g6/06/767706/2/78541508.VkBpaVNN.jpg
http://bp0.blogger.com/_-hqDH_BnWE0/R1oISJZ43_I/AAAAAAAABcc/inY7ne0b378/s320/Balkh3.jpg
http://img3.travelblog.org/Photos/45169/191684/t/1423566-Balkh-0.jpg
http://www.afghanmagazine.com/april98/journey/images/balkh.jpg

[bigheadfred]

Iranian-Italian joint archaeological team

Even though they tried to disguise this by not using the correct term Iranian-Italian archaeological joint team, the identities of the other "18 researchers" not in China has just been revealed...

[Sharrukin]

Actually it was the Sassanids who fell to the Muslim invaders, not the Parthians.

[SunkenCiv]

Whoops, sorry, thanks!

[Sherman Logan]

Asked if the excavation provided further evidence of the fact that Persepolis was the only major monument of ancient times that was built by paid workers and not by slaves, Professor Callieri replied, "No new information, not yet. We understand that one of the cities which had exchanges with the Persepolis Terrace was very near Persepolis. Probably it is the city we are going to excavate." However, he noted that in previous excavations tablets have been found that record the payments to the workers, and added that these "objective" documents prove the workers were paid.

For those who don't understand the context here, Iranians are trying to prove that the Persian Empire under Cyrus and his successors outlawed slavery.

This is, of course, ludicrous, if only because every person in the Empire was in a very real sense the slave of the Shah. The King was the Law and nobody had any rights against him.

It is on the verge of being declared politically correct, as giving Iranians something to be proud about as opposed to those enslaving Greeks, Romans and other Europeans.

[Ciexyz]

Possibly Iskander himself gazed upon the statue or wall that contained that fragment of blue wing.

[Sharrukin]

Parthians are my favourite and they don’t get no love. Someone has to stick up for them!

[bigheadfred]

I’m wondering if either of you could point me in the direction of any decent books on the Sumerians? Thanks.

[Sharrukin]

Not really. I concentrate mostly on pre-Islamic Iranian, and Assyrian.

[tarheelswamprat]

I’m wondering if either of you could point me in the direction of any decent books on the Sumerians? Thanks.

Just do a search on "Zecharia Sitchin" and his books... /g,d & r (that's grinnin', duckin' & runnin')

[bigheadfred]

That’s in the children’s book section, right?

Tried to avoid this conversation by adding the word “decent”.

I’m just kidding ya Rat, The Lost Book of Enki CHANGED MY LIFE.

And HERE YOU ARE MAKING JOKES!!!!

THAT’S MY JOB!!! LOLLOLLOL

But really. The request is genuine. My small town library only has six books, and after reading each of them 38 times (this year alone), it would be nice to try something else. If I can get anything on library loan. Or buy some if they were, like I said, decent.

[dsc]

“By spring he’d been reinforced to the tune (and I know this sounds amazing) of 200K troops”

Amazing indeed.

How in the world did he persuade so many men to fight for him?

[SunkenCiv]

The Persian imperial army was mostly not ethnically Persian. This is analogous to the situation in the Roman empire. Augustus reduced the size of the army after he prevailed in the civil war with Antony, cutting it roughly by half to 28 legions (plus the Praetorian Guard, which originally was selected from the best of the best in the army), but then supplementing Roman forces with 28 sort-of legions recruited from conquered peoples, and used in situations where their tactical specialties were needed.

Anyway, the Persian armies Alexander defeated had a lot of Greek mercenaries, as well as Greek soldiers born in various Persian provinces (such as those in Anatolia, but also in Syria, Palestine, Phoenicia, Egypt, etc) serving in regular units of the Persian army. After he whipped everyone he faced, he took Persepolis and seized the massive treasury. The Persian king (or by that time, it may have been the pretender, I can’t remember when the Persians themselves whacked Darius) had fled, and no longer had the cash to pay his army. Also, the Greeks in Anatolia and points east were (mostly) grateful for their liberation, and of course the soldiers needed the work.

[SunkenCiv]

?

[SunkenCiv]

[SunkenCiv]

Samuel Noah Kramer. Or maybe it’s spelled Cramer. I’m too lazy to check. Seriously though, only six books? They could keep the entire collection on the librarian’s desk. And the library would be an office.