Persepolis in the context of Stonework

The Partition of Babylon was the first of the conferences and ensuing agreements that divided the territories of Alexander the Great. It was held at Babylon in June 323 BC.Alexander’s death at the age of 32 had left an empire that stretched from Greece all the way to Pakistan. The issue of succession resulted from the claims of the various supporters of Philip Arrhidaeus (Alexander’s half-brother), and the as-of-then unborn child of Alexander and Roxana, among others. The settlement saw Arrhidaeus and Alexander’s child designated as joint kings with Perdiccas serving as regent. The territories of the empire became satrapies divided between the senior officers of the Macedonian army and some local governors and rulers. The partition was solidified at the further agreements at Triparadisus and Persepolis over the following years and began the series of conflicts that comprise the Wars of the Diadochi. The term "Partition of Babylon" is a modern designation.

Cyrus II of Persia (c. 600 – 530 BC), commonly known as Cyrus the Great, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire. Hailing from Persis, he brought the Achaemenid dynasty to power by defeating the Median Empire and embracing all of the previous civilized states of the ancient Near East, expanding vastly across most of West Asia and much of Central Asia to create what would soon become the largest empire in history at the time. The Achaemenid Empire's greatest territorial extent was achieved under Darius the Great, whose rule stretched from Southeast Europe in the west to the Indus Valley in the east.

After absorbing the Median Empire, Cyrus conquered Lydia and eventually the Neo-Babylonian Empire, granting him control of Anatolia and the Fertile Crescent, respectively. He also led a major expedition into Central Asia, where his army brought "into subjection every nation without exception" before he allegedly died in battle with the Massagetae, a nomadic Eastern Iranian people, along the Syr Darya in December 530 BC. However, according to Xenophon of Athens, Cyrus did not die fighting and had instead returned to the capital city of Pasargadae. Regardless of the date of his death, he was succeeded by his son Cambyses II, whose campaigns into North Africa led to the conquests of Egypt, Nubia, and Cyrenaica during his short rule.

Stonemasonry or stonecraft is the creation of buildings, structures, and sculpture using stone as the primary material. Stonemasonry is the craft of shaping and arranging stones, often together with mortar and even the ancient lime mortar, to wall or cover formed structures.

The basic tools, methods and skills of the banker mason have existed as a trade for thousands of years. It is one of the oldest activities and professions in human history. Many of the long-lasting, ancient shelters, temples, monuments, artifacts, fortifications, roads, bridges, and entire cities were built of stone. Famous works of stonemasonry include Göbekli Tepe, the Egyptian pyramids, the Taj Mahal, Cusco's Incan Wall, Taqwesan, Easter Island's statues, Angkor Wat, Borobudur, Tihuanaco, Tenochtitlan, Persepolis, the Parthenon, Stonehenge, the Great Wall of China, the Mesoamerican pyramids, Chartres Cathedral, and the Stari Most.

Old Persian cuneiform is a semi-alphabetic cuneiform script that was the primary script for Old Persian. Texts written in this cuneiform have been found in Iran (Persepolis, Susa, Hamadan, Kharg Island), Armenia, Romania (Gherla), Turkey (Van Fortress), and along the Suez Canal. They are mostly inscriptions from the time period of Darius I, such as the DNa inscription, as well as his son, Xerxes I. Later kings down to Artaxerxes III used more recent forms of the language classified as "pre-Middle Persian".

Iranian architecture or Persian architecture (Persian: معمارى ایرانی, romanized: Me'māri-e Irāni) is the architecture of Iran and parts of the rest of West Asia, the Caucasus and Central Asia. Its history dates back to at least 5,000 BC with characteristic examples distributed over a vast area from Turkey and Iraq to Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Iranian buildings vary greatly in scale and function, from vernacular architecture to monumental complexes. In addition to historic gates, palaces, and mosques, the rapid growth of cities such as the capital Tehran has brought about a wave of demolition and new construction.

According to American historian and archaeologist Arthur Pope, the supreme Iranian art, in the proper meaning of the word, has always been its architecture. The supremacy of architecture applies to both pre- and post-Islamic periods. Iranian architecture displays great variety, both structural and aesthetic, from a variety of traditions and experience. Without sudden innovations, and despite the repeated trauma of invasions and cultural shocks, it developed a recognizable style distinct from other regions of the Muslim world. Its virtues are "a marked feeling for form and scale; structural inventiveness, especially in vault and dome construction; a genius for decoration with a freedom and success not rivaled in any other architecture".

A tribute (/ˈtrɪbjuːt/; from Latin tributum, "contribution") is wealth, often in kind, that a party gives to another as a sign of submission, allegiance or respect. Various ancient states exacted tribute from the rulers of lands which the state conquered. In the case of alliances, lesser parties may pay tribute to more powerful parties as a sign of allegiance. Tributes are different from taxes, as they are not collected in the same regularly routine manner that taxes are. Further, with tributes, a recognition of political submission by the payer to the payee is uniquely required.

Media (Old Persian: 𐎶𐎠𐎭, romanized: Māda, Middle Persian: Mād) is an Iron Age region of north-western Iran, best known for having been the political and cultural base of the Medes. During the Achaemenid period, it comprised present-day Iranian Azerbaijan, Iranian Kurdistan and western Tabaristan. As a satrapy under Achaemenid rule, it would eventually encompass a wider region, stretching to southern Dagestan in the north. However, after the wars of Alexander the Great, the northern parts were separated due to the Partition of Babylon and became known as Atropatene, while the remaining region became known as Lesser Media.

The Arts of Iran include a variety of traditional disciplines, including architecture, painting, literature, music, weaving, pottery, calligraphy, and metalwork.

Today, there is an active modern Iranian art scene, including cinema and photography. For a history of Persian visual art up to the early 20th century, see Persian art or Iranian architecture.

The various states and civilizations in Iran (Persia) have had numerous capital cities and royal centers throughout history.

• Ahar; Pishkinid dynasty
• Anshan; pre-Achaemenid era
• Ardabil; early Safavid era, Sajid
• Asaak; Parthian era royal center
• Astara; Ispahbads of Gilan
• Alamut Castle; Nizari Ismaili state
• Amol; Ziyarid, Alavid, Marashis, Dabuyid, Bavandid, Chalavi, (Parthian Empire climate capital)
• Babylon; Achaemenid era
• Baghdad; caliphates, Jalayerid, Buyid
• Balkh; in legend, the governmental center of the Kayanian dynasty
• Bardsir; Banu Ilyas
• Basra; Jalayerid
• Bukhara; Samanid era
• Ctesiphon; Parthian, Sasanian era
• Damavand; Masmughans of Damavand
• Dinavar; Hasanwayhids
• Diyarbakır; Aq Qoyunlu
• Fuman; Dabuyid
• Farim (Perim); Bavandid
• Firozkoh; Ghurid
• Firuzkuh; Chalavi
• Shahr-e Qumis (Hecatompylos); Parthian era
• Ghazna; Ghurid, Khwarazmid, Ghaznavid
• Gor (Firuzabad); Sasanian era
• Gorgan (Astarabad); Ziyarid, Alavids
• Herat; Ghurid, Kartids, Timurid Empire
• Hulwan; Annazids
• Ij (Ig); Shabankara
• Isfahan; Ziyarid dynasty, Kakuyid Emirate, Injuid dynasty, Seljuk era, Safavid era
• Istakhr; Sasanian era
• Izeh (Idaj); Hazaraspids
• Ecbatana (later Hamadan); Median Empire, Achaemenid era, Eldiguzids, Seljuks (Greater and Iraq Seljuks)
• Kerman; Muzaffarid, Qutlugh-Khanids
• Khorramabad; Khorshidi dynasty
• Kunya Urgench; early Khwarezmid era
• Lafur; Qarinvand dynasty
• Lankaran; Talysh Khanate
• Lahijan; Karkiya dynasty
• Maragheh; Ilkhanid, Ahmadilis, Sajid
• Mashhad; Afsharid
• Merv; capital during al-Mamun's caliphate, and Taherid era, Seljuk Empire
• Mosul; winter capital during Qara Qoyunlu
• Nakhchivan; Eldiguzids
• Nishapur; Ilkhanid, Seljuq, Taherid eras
• Nisa, Turkmenistan; periodical capital of the Parthian era
• Pasargadae; Achaemenid
• Persepolis; Achaemenid ceremonial capital
• Rey (Rhagae); Median, Ziyarid, Buyid, Seljuk Empire
• Rudbar; Justanids
• Qazvin; early Safavid era
• Sabzevar; Sarbadars
• Samarkand; Samanid, Khwarazmid, Timurid era
• Shiraz; Buyid dynasty, Injuid dynasty, Muzaffarid dynasty, Salghurid dynasty, Zand dynasty
• Soltaniyeh; Ilkhanid
• Susa; Achaemenid, Parthian era
• Tabriz; Ilkhanid, Khwarezmid, Rawadid, Chupanid, Jalayerid, Eldiguzids, Kara Koyunlu, Aq Qoyunlu, early Safavid era
• Tarom; Sallarid
• Sari; Qajar, Dabuyid, Alavid, Bavandid, Marashis
• Yazd; Kakuyid, Atabegs of Yazd
• Zaranj; Saffarid Empire, Mihrabanid, Nasrid
• Tehran; Qajar era, Pahlavi era, Islamic Republic of Iran 1796–present

The Vorderasiatisches Museum (German: [ˈfɔʁdɐ.ʔaˌzi̯atɪʃəs muˈzeːʊm], Near East Museum) is an archaeological museum in Berlin. It is in the basement of the south wing of the Pergamon Museum and has one of the world's largest collections of Southwest Asian art. 14 halls distributed across 2,000 square meters of exhibition surface display southwest Asian culture spanning six millennia. The exhibits cover a period from the 6th millennium BCE into the time of the Muslim conquests. They originate particularly from today's states of Iraq, Syria and Turkey, with singular finds also from other areas. Starting with the Neolithic finds, the emphasis of the collection is of finds from Sumer, Babylonia and Assyria, as well as northern Syria and eastern Anatolia.

Excavations in historically important cities like Uruk, Shuruppak, Assur, Hattusha, Tell el Amarna, Tell Halaf (Guzana), Sam'al, Toprakkale and Babylon built the foundation of the museum's collection. Further acquisitions came from Nimrud, Nineveh, Susa and Persepolis. The museum shows finds from the cultures of Sumer, Akkad, Babylonia, Assyria, the Hittites and the Aramaeans. These finds often found their way to Berlin via the German Oriental Society. In 1899, the Middle East Department at the royal museums was created. In 1929, they were provisionally accommodated in the Bode Museum and the Pergamon Museum, where they have been accessible to the public since 1930. During the Second World War, there were hardly any war-related losses. The mobile exhibits, which were taken as art spoilage to the Soviet Union, were returned to East Germany in 1958. The collection had already opened again as the Vorderasiatisches Museum in 1953.

The function of battlements in war is to protect the defenders by giving them part of the parapet to hide behind, from which they can quickly expose themselves to launch projectiles, then retreat behind the parapet. A defensive building might be designed and built with battlements, or a manor house might be fortified by adding battlements, where no parapet previously existed, or cutting crenellations into its existing parapet wall. A distinctive feature of late medieval English church architecture is to crenellate the tops of church towers, and often the tops of lower walls. These are essentially decorative rather than functional, as are many examples on secular buildings.

During the second Persian invasion of Greece, which took place from 480 to 479 BCE, Athens was captured and subsequently destroyed by the Achaemenid Empire. A prominent Greek city-state, it was attacked by the Persians in a two-phase offensive, amidst which the Persian king Xerxes the Great had issued an order calling for it to be torched. The Persian army commander Mardonius oversaw the razing of several structures of political and religious significance throughout the city, including the Acropolis, the Old Temple of Athena, and the Older Parthenon. Two years later, the Greek coalition retook Athens and dealt a devastating defeat to the Persian army during the Battle of Plataea, killing Mardonius and setting the stage for the eventual expulsion of all Persian troops from southern Greece.

Athens' destruction by the Persians prompted the Greeks to build the Themistoclean Wall around the city in an effort to deter future invaders, and the event continued to have an impact on Greek society for a prolonged period; a number of Athenian artifacts that had been taken to Persia during the Greco-Persian Wars were returned to Greece during the Wars of Alexander the Great, and according to the Greek historians Plutarch and Diodorus, it was the legacy of the Persian assault on Athens that ultimately influenced Alexander's decision to burn down the Palace of Persepolis near the end of his conquest of Persia in 330 BC.

Peucestas (Ancient Greek: Πευκέστας, Peukéstas; lived 4th century BC) was a native of the town of Mieza, in Macedonia, and a distinguished officer in the service of Alexander the Great. His name is first mentioned as one of those appointed to command a trireme on the Hydaspes. Prior to this he must have distinguished himself for his personal valour and prowess, as he was the person selected by Alexander to carry before him in battle the sacred shield, which he had taken down from the temple of Athena at Troy. In this capacity he was in close attendance upon the king's person in the assault on the capital city of the Malavas (325 BC); and all authors agreed in attributing the chief share in saving the life of Alexander upon that occasion to Peucestas, while they differed as to almost all the other circumstances and persons concerned.

For his services on this occasion he was rewarded by the king with almost every distinction which it was in his power to confer. On the arrival of Alexander at Persepolis, he bestowed upon Peucestas the important satrapy of Persis, but, previous to this, he had already raised him to the rank of somatophylax (the king's bodyguard), an honour rendered the more conspicuous in this instance by the number of those select officers being augmented on purpose to make room for his admission. At Susa, also, Peucestas was the first of those rewarded with crowns of gold for their past exploits. After this he proceeded to take possession of his government, where he conciliated the favour of the Persians subject to his rule, as well as that of Alexander himself, by adopting the Persian dress and customs, in exchange for those of Macedonia; whence he is considered a Persophile.

Achaemenid architecture includes all architectural achievements of the Achaemenid Persians manifesting in construction of spectacular cities used for governance and inhabitation (Persepolis, Susa, Ecbatana), temples made for worship and social gatherings (such as Zoroastrian temples), and mausoleums erected in honor of fallen kings (such as the burial tomb of Cyrus the Great). Achaemenid architecture was influenced by Mesopotamian, Assyrian, Egyptian, Elamite, Lydian, Greek and Median architecture. The quintessential feature of Persian architecture was its eclectic nature with foreign elements, yet producing a unique Persian identity seen in the finished product. Achaemenid architecture is academically classified under Persian architecture in terms of its style and design.

Achaemenid architectural heritage, beginning with the expansion of the empire around 550 B.C., was a period of artistic growth that left an extraordinary architectural legacy ranging from Cyrus the Great's solemn tomb in Pasargadae to the splendid structures of the opulent city of Persepolis. With the advent of the Second Persian Empire, the Sasanian dynasty (224–624) revived Achaemenid tradition by constructing temples dedicated to fire, and monumental palaces.

Thaïs (/ˈθaɪs/; Greek: Θαΐς; fl. 4th century BCE) was a Greek hetaira who accompanied Alexander the Great on his military campaigns. Likely from Athens, she is most famous for having instigated the burning of Persepolis, the capital city of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, after it was conquered by Alexander's army in 330 BCE. At the time, Thaïs was the lover of Ptolemy I Soter, who was one of Alexander's close companions and generals. It has been suggested that she may also have been Alexander's lover on the basis of a statement by the Greek rhetorician Athenaeus, who writes that Alexander liked to "keep Thaïs about him" without directly classifying the nature of their relationship as intimate; this may simply have meant that he enjoyed her company, as she is said to have been very witty and entertaining. Athenaeus also states that after Alexander's death in 323 BCE, Thaïs married Ptolemy and bore three of his children.

Ernst Emil Herzfeld (23 July 1879 – 20 January 1948) was a German archaeologist and Iranologist.

The decipherment of cuneiform began with the decipherment of Old Persian cuneiform between 1802 and 1836.

The first cuneiform inscriptions published in modern times were copied from the Achaemenid royal inscriptions in the ruins of Persepolis, with the first complete and accurate copy being published in 1778 by Carsten Niebuhr. Niebuhr's publication was used by Grotefend in 1802 to make the first breakthrough – the realization that Niebuhr had published three different languages side by side and the recognition of the word "king".