Persepolis — The City They Had to Burn
The Ashes of Truth In 330 BCE, Alexander of Macedon—known to history as Alexander the Great—conquered the Persian Empire. He entered Persepolis, the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid dynasty, the most magnificent city in the ancient world. And he burned it to the ground. Libraries were destroyed. Sacred texts were lost. Zoroastrian priests were killed. The accumulated wisdom of an empire that had spanned three continents was reduced to ashes. Why? What was in Persepolis that had to be destroyed?
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The Ashes of Truth In 330 BCE, Alexander of Macedon—known to history as Alexander the Great—conquered the Persian Empire. He entered Persepolis, the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid dynasty, the most magnificent city in the ancient world. And he burned it to the ground. Libraries were destroyed. Sacred texts were lost. Zoroastrian priests were killed. The accumulated wisdom of an empire that had spanned three continents was reduced to ashes. Why? What was in Persepolis that had to be destroyed? The City of Cities Persepolis was not merely a capital. It was a statement —a physical manifestation of Zoroastrian values and Persian achievement. The Architecture of Truth Built by Darius I and expanded by his successors, Persepolis was designed to reflect the cosmic order— Asha .
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Avesta · Vendidad · Hebrew Bible