How They Built: The Persian Empires
A ten‑minute look at how Achaemenid, Parthian and Sasanian rulers turned stone, mud and water into monumental architecture.
Chapters
On-screen text
- 0:07 Foundations of Power
- 0:14 Foundations of Power
- 0:31 Satraps sent craftsmen to Persepolis Historical record · Persepolis Administrative Tablets, Museum of the Ancient Near East, Berlin
- 0:49 Seasonal corvée labor built monuments The Institute's interpretation · Pierre Briant, *From Cyrus to Alexander* (2002)
- 1:07 Materials and Tools
- 1:14 Materials and Tools
- 1:40 Iron tools shaped stone Historical record · Excavation of the Achaemenid quarry at Naqsh‑e Rostam (Iranian Cultural Heritage, 2015)
- 1:58 Bronze molds made tools locally Historical record · Finds of bronze molds at Pasargadae (Iranian Archaeology, 2003)
- 2:07 Moving the Monoliths
- 2:14 Oxen and sledges move stone blocks Historical record · Persepolis relief, Staircase of Darius (British Museum)
- 2:32 Parthian workers hauling columns Historical record · Parthian rock relief at Hatra (British Museum)
- 2:50 Royal Road enabled empire‑wide transport Historical record · Behistun Inscription (c. 520 BCE)
- 2:59 Engineering Legacy
- 3:14 Iron chisels shaped stone at Naqsh‑e Rostam Historical record · Excavation of the Achaemenid quarry at Naqsh‑e Rostam (Iranian Cultural Heritage, 2015)
- 3:27 Qanats supplied water to construction sites Historical record · UNESCO World Heritage nomination, Qanats of Gonabad (2016)
- 3:58 Shushtar bridge shows advanced stone arch Historical record · Shushtar Historical Bridge, UNESCO (2009)
Sources
Historical record: Persepolis Fortification Tablets (c. 500 BCE) · Persepolis Administrative Tablets, Museum of the Ancient Near East, Berlin · Excavations at Susa, Louvre Museum artifacts (1970s) · Archaeological report, Tepe Sialk (1998) · Excavation of the Achaemenid quarry at Naqsh‑e Rostam (Iranian Cultural Heritage, 2015) · Finds of bronze molds at Pasargadae (Iranian Archaeology, 2003) · UNESCO World Heritage nomination, Qanats of Gonabad (2016) · Persepolis relief, Staircase of Darius (British Museum) · Parthian rock relief at Hatra (British Museum) · Behistun Inscription (c. 520 BCE) · Shushtar Historical Bridge, UNESCO (2009)
Tradition / scripture: Herodotus, *Histories* 3.90
The Institute's interpretation: Pierre Briant, *From Cyrus to Alexander* (2002) · J. Curtis, *Engineering in the Achaemenid Empire* (2018)
Sound: synthesized ambient (wind, drone, water) (CC0 — made by SoapBox). Made in 120 s of CPU.
Scenes Hathor has no parts for yet (16) — the next things to make
- Scribes inscribing clay tablets while workers deliver barley at the Persepolis construction site.
- An envoy arriving at Persepolis with carts loaded with tools and skilled workers.
- Workers loading massive ceramic jars onto carts in a Susa depot.
- Laborers molding mud into bricks on a flat surface under the sun.
- Laborers molding mud into bricks on a flat surface under the sun.
- Workers maintaining an underground water channel while water emerges at a construction courtyard.
- Workers maintaining an underground water channel while water emerges at a construction courtyard.
- Moving the Monoliths: Explore the techniques used to transport and lift massive stone elements.
- Stone block on a wooden sledge being pulled by oxen near a building platform.
- A stone block resting on wooden rollers being pushed by laborers.
- A stone block resting on wooden rollers being pushed by laborers.
- Animated overlay showing a sled on a greased track pulled by dozens of workers.
- Animated overlay showing a sled on a greased track pulled by dozens of workers.
- Lush garden oasis fed by the qanat blooms beside a desert plain, palms and vines thriving under a bright sky.
- Massive stone blocks are hoisted by wooden cranes, ropes creak, laborers coordinate to place each piece onto the emerging wall.
- Wide aerial view of the Persian landscape, quarry cliffs, qanat‑fed gardens, and the Shushtar bridge form a network of engineered marvels.