Persepolis: The Persistence of Achaemenid Memory?

Abstract

This paper discusses the importance of Persepolis/Parse as a location of memory of the past in the province of Persis/Fars. While written documentation memorializing the Achaemenids by subsequent dynasties on the Iranian Plateau is meager, there is meaning about the attachment and use of Persepolis as a place of respect, honor, and worship by the post-Achaemenid dynasts and rulers such as the Fratarakas, Sasanians, and Buyids. The proximity of the Frataraka temple and the possible location of the Anahita Sanctuary, as well as the idea of the importance of Persepolis and Istakhr by the later Sasanians, are all signs of the importance attached to the monument. Lastly the Buyids and other rulers in the region continued the attachment to Persepolis as a reservoir of history and memory, albeit in a different context.