Damage to the Gate of Persepolis
“Siavash Aria,” a cultural heritage activist, reported damage to the gate of “Persepolis.”
Siavash Aria, a cultural heritage activist, released images of the city gate of Parsa, also known as Persepolis, located within the Achaemenid complex, which indicate damage to this gate. Regarding this matter, he stated: “Tel Ajareh, known by the name of the Parsa city gate (Persepolis), is one of the most important sites of the early Achaemenid period in the Marvdasht plain, which has considerable importance in the field of archaeological research and studies and holds a special place among experts and archaeologists.
This valuable and important site of the early Achaemenid period was transformed into a museum site in the second half of 1396 (Hijri solar calendar) by the supervisor of its archaeological excavations. At that time, due to the motivation of incomplete archaeological and historical excavations and research at the site, as well as damage caused to the site due to the creation of the museum site, it became the subject of criticism from cultural heritage and archaeology experts, and numerous critiques were published in the media on this matter.
Now, following minor rainfall in Marvdasht city, water from precipitation has seeped into the “Tel Ajareh” museum site and has caused damage to the significant and highly valuable remains of the Achaemenid architecture of the site, and urgent measures must be taken to address this.
Conservation and restoration experts have also reacted to the damage of this ancient site, and while referring to the roof created at this site which is built on multiple metal and concrete foundations, announced that this roof is not suitable for protecting Tel Ajareh and the bricks of the gate that emerged from the earth. This roof only covers part of the Tel Ajareh area, and due to the numerous foundations and design method, it is by no means suitable for an archaeological site and has not been able to provide much protection against rain.
The ancient site of “Tel Ajareh” is located approximately 5 kilometers northwest of Persepolis in an area known as Firuzabad Garden, where archaeologists have identified the gate of Cyrus or Persepolis at the site. Archaeologists had discovered Babylonian and Elamite cuneiform inscriptions there, which, given the function of the structure, led them to conclude that the aforementioned building was a gate remaining from the beginning of the Achaemenid period.
The dimensions of the Tel Ajareh site are 30 by 40 meters. An ancient mound with a height of 3 meters above the surrounding land level within the first degree boundary of Persepolis. This site was registered in the National Heritage List of the country on June 17, 2006 (Khordad 17, 1385) with the number 15530.
In the report of archaeologists at the Institute of Cultural Heritage, it is mentioned that this magnificent gate repeats a larger scale of the design of the famous “Ishtar” gate which existed around 580 years before the common era, which was built before the construction of the palace of Persepolis during the period of one of the first two Persian kings. They suggested that the purpose of constructing this gate was to commemorate the conquest of the city of Babylon in 539 BCE during the reign of Cyrus the Great. This structure was built entirely of brick and mud brick, and the entire appearance of the walls was decorated with glazed bricks. The lower parts of the walls were also decorated with geometric patterns and flowers. Additionally, numerous glazed bricks discovered from the building’s ruins show that the entire surfaces of the walls were decorated with depictions of mythical animals including bulls and hybrid creatures.
