Persepolis (TAKHT-E JAMSHID), Apadana, East Stairs 360° 4K

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IRAN/Shiraz/ Location: 29°56′04″N 52°53′29″E
The East Stairs of the Apadana at Persepolis show a procession of people bringing tribute to the Achaemenid king. The reliefs were made in the last years of the sixth and first years of the fifth century, and were probably executed by Greek artists. We are allowed to identify the king on the central scene with Darius the Great (r. 522-486), but the relief is also an idealization: the king who receives the presents is not a particular individual, but embodies Persian rule.
The relief, which has miraculously survived the sack of Persepolis by the soldiers of Alexander the Great in 330 BCE, consists of three parts and is flanked by the Old Persian inscription known as XPb:
1. The northern wall: representations of all kinds of Persian dignitaries, horsemen, and chariots.
2. The center: eight soldiers.
3. The southern wall (picture above): all nations of the Persian Empire, in the following arrangement:
The central scene of the relief consists of eight soldiers, dressed like Medes and Persians. Between them is an empty space, and above them is a traditional representation of a winged sun, flanked by two sphinxes. It is not a very striking image and the truth is that the eight soldiers do not belong in this place. They replace an older relief.
The rather damaged original consisted of the king and the crown prince receiving an official, who salutes them (proskynesis). The relief was found in the Treasury and it is not known why it was replaced. The same happened to the central relief of the northern stairs.
The original relief makes it possible to interpret the entire monument. What we see is the king, receiving representatives from the various nations in the Achaemenid Empire. Behind him are the crown prince, the aristocrats, and the most important courtiers (northern wall); in front of him is the mayor of the palace, who announces the arrival of the visitors (southern wall).
The eight soldiers belong to the regiment of "apple bearers" or Immortals. They are ready for battle, carrying a sword, spear, and shield. This is remarkable because, on other reliefs, we see soldiers dressed as civilians. The sphinxes in the upper register have the wings of an eagle, the body of a lion, the ears and tail of a bull, and the head of a man. One possible interpretation of this symbol (if an interpretation is needed) is that it represents freedom (the eagle's wings), power (the lion's body), strength (the bull), and intelligence (the human head).
Northern wall: courtiers
At the far ends of the relief are inscriptions with fairly stereotypical texts by king Xerxes (known as XPb). In the south, the text is in Old Persian, while the two northern texts are in Elamite and Babylonian.
" A great god is Ahuramazda, who created this earth, who created that heaven, who created man, who created happiness for man, who made Xerxes king: the king of many kings, one ruler of many rulers.
I am Xerxes, the great king, king of kings, king of all nations, having various kinds of people, king in this great earth far and wide, the son of King Darius, an Achaemenid.
The great king Xerxes says: What has been done by me here, and what has been done by my father, all this was done by the grace of Ahuramazda. Me Ahuramazda and the other gods preserve me, my kingdom, and what has been done by me."

On the northern wall, we can see a large procession of dignitaries. Some of the dignitaries wear round caps that are usually identified as Median, while straight caps are identified as Persian. Closest to the king, the Persian dignitaries are walking; people with horses are next; at the end, we see two chariots. One may have been for the crown prince and the other for the king. note Another interpretation is that one chariot was the "sacred chariot of Zeus" (i.e., Ahuramazda) that is mentioned by the Greek researcher Herodotus of Halicarnassus.
motif, known from the fourth millennium BCE, and therefore belonging to the age before the invasion of the Indo-Iranians (the "Aryans"). It may represent, in a way we do not really understand, eternity. The same message is more or less implied in the representation of the sun.
It is an excellent theme for this place. The people who visited the Apadana offered a tribute to the great king and received presents in return. This reciprocity strengthened the ties between the ruler and the subjects and contributed to the continuation of the empire.