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[[File:Perspolis.jpg|thumb|Top of an [[Achaemenid]] example from [[Persepolis]]]] '''Persian columns''' or '''Persepolitan columns''' are the distinctive form of column developed in the [[Achaemenid architecture]] of ancient Persia, probably beginning shortly before 500 BCE. They are mainly known from [[Persepolis]], where the massive main columns have a base, [[Fluting (architecture)|fluted]] shaft, and a double-animal [[Capital (architecture)|capital]], most with bulls.<ref>Curtis, 52–54; Boardman, 13–14</ref> Achaemenid palaces had enormous [[hypostyle]] halls called [[apadana]], which were supported inside by several rows of columns. The Throne Hall or "Hall of a Hundred Columns" at Persepolis, measuring 70 × 70 metres was built by the [[Achaemenid]] king [[Artaxerxes I]]. The apadana hall is even larger. These often included a throne for the king and were used for grand ceremonial assemblies; the largest at Persepolis and [[Susa]] could fit ten thousand people at a time.<ref>Schmitt</ref> The Achaemenids had little experience of stone architecture, but were able to import artists and craftsmen from around their empire to develop a hybrid imperial style drawing on influences from Mesopotamia, Egypt and [[Lydia]] in [[Anatolia]], as well as [[Elam]] in Persia itself. The style was probably developed in the [[Palace of Darius in Susa]], but the most numerous and complete survivals are at Persepolis, where several columns remain standing.<ref>Curtis, 52–54; Boardman, 13–14</ref> Imperial building in the style stopped abruptly with the invasion by [[Alexander the Great]] in 330 BCE, when Persepolis was burned down. ==Description== [[File:Persepolis Colonne flandin.jpg|thumb|Plan, front view and side view of a typical [[Persepolis]] column]] The forms of the [[column]]s and [[Capital (architecture)|capitals]] vary somewhat between different buildings. Generally the capitals are carved with two heavily decorated back-to-back animals projecting out from the column. These function as [[Bracket (architecture)|brackets]] to support the [[architrave]] or roof timbers, while the flat backs of the animals support timbers running at right angles (see the reconstruction in the Louvre below). As they project the animals may be called [[protome]]s. The bull is the most common animal, but there are also lions, bulls with the head of a man in the style of the Assyrian [[lamassu]],<ref>Examples are in [[:File:Man-bull uc oriental institute capital 02.JPG|Chicago]] and [[:File:National Meusem Darafsh 6 (50).JPG|Teheran]] (links to images).</ref> and [[griffin]]s with the heads of eagles and the bodies of lions.<ref name="Curtis 51">Curtis, 51</ref> The bulls and lions may reflect the symbolism around [[Nowruz]], the Persian New Year at the [[spring equinox (Northern Hemisphere)|spring equinox]], of an eternally fighting bull personifying the [[moon]], and a lion personifying the [[Sun]]. This was the day when tributary nations presented their annual tribute to the king, as depicted in the stairway reliefs at Persepolis, and it has been suggested that Persepolis was specifically built for Nowruz celebrations.<ref>Mousavi, Ali, ''Persepolis: Discovery and Afterlife of a World Wonder'', p. 53, 2012, Walter de Gruyter, {{ISBN|1614510334}}, 9781614510338, [https://books.google.com/books?id=KorZMqmTOJgC&pg=PA53 google books]; Schmitt</ref> The capital is much longer than in most other styles of columns. While some smaller columns move quickly from the animals to the plain shaft below, the largest and grandest examples have a long intervening section with double [[volute]]s at the top and, inverted, at the bottom of a long fluted square zone, although the shaft of the column is round. At the top of the round fluted shaft are two sections with a loosely plant-based design, the upper a form of "palm capital", spreading as it rises, and the lower suggesting leaves drooping downwards. Other capitals have the animals and the two lower plant-based elements, but not the section in between with the volutes; the example in Chicago is of this type. There are various small mouldings between the various elements, reflecting a Greek style. The horns and ears of the animals are often separate pieces, fitting into the head by square plugs. The columns were polished and at least the capitals were painted, in the case of wooden ones on a plaster coating. The style reflects influences from the many cultures that the Persian Empire conquered including [[Egypt]], [[Babylon]], and [[Lydia]], as well as [[Greece]], where the Persians had only temporary success; the final result is distinctively Persian.<ref>Curtis, 51; Schmitt</ref> [[File:3428793 میراث جهانی تخت جمشید.jpg|thumb|Column bases at [[Persepolis]]]] ===Shaft and base=== It is thought the stone columns that survive were preceded by wooden versions, and these continued to be used.<ref name="Curtis 51"/> The move to stone may have come when sufficiently large trees for the biggest buildings became difficult or impossible to source. The column shafts can be as tall as 20 metres. The base is in stone even for wooden columns, and sometimes carries an inscription saying which king erected the building. Most are round, but an early square type has two steps.<ref name="Curtis 51"/> In grand settings the columns are usually [[Fluting (architecture)|fluted]]. The flutes are shallow, with [[arris]]es, like the Greek [[Doric order]], but they are more numerous, and therefore narrower. The large columns at Persepolis have as many as 40 or 48 flutes, with smaller columns elsewhere 32; the width of a flute is kept fairly constant, so the number of flutes increases with the girth of the column, in contrast to the Greek practice of keeping the number of flutes on a column constant and varying the width of the flute.<ref>Semper, 810</ref> The early Doric temples seem to have had a similar principle, before 20 flutes became the convention.<ref>Semper, 814</ref> Fluting is also found in other parts of the classical Persian column. The bases are often fluted, and the "bell" part of the capital has stylized plant ornament that comes close to fluting. Above this there is usually a tall section with four flat fluted [[volute]]s. ==Use and influence== [[File:Mathura lion capital, Asia, G33 South Asia.jpg|thumb|The [[Indo-Scythian]] [[Mathura lion capital]], 0-10 CE]] The full form of Persian column seems only to have been used at a few sites outside Persia around the empire in the Achaemenid period, in [[Armenia]] and even Levantine colonies in [[Iberia]].<ref name="Boardman 15">Boardman, 15</ref> The columns influenced the [[Pillars of Ashoka]] erected in India some 80 years after [[Alexander the Great]] destroyed the [[Persian Empire]], and other imperial buildings in the architecture of the [[Maurya Empire]].<ref>Boardman, 14–20</ref> The much smaller [[Mathura lion capital]] of the 1st century CE shows clear influence. They can be seen in [[relief]] decoration around Buddhist [[stupa]]s in [[Gandhara]] in the 2nd or 3rd century CE,<ref>[https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_1899-0609-12 British Museum Stupa drum framing element containing a Persepolitan column]</ref> and Persian columns decorate the [[Karla Caves]]<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20161027120728/http://www.panoramio.com/photo/81534717 Photo of Karla Caves, Pune, Maharashtra]</ref> and [[Nasik Caves]].<ref>[https://www.flickr.com/photos/anandajoti/33156264563/ 010 Cave 3, Exterior]</ref> The style did not develop in Persia itself, but elements continued to appear under later dynasties before the arrival of Islam.<ref name="Boardman 15"/> ==Modern revival== [[File:Maneckji Seth Agiary, Mumbai.jpg|thumb|Maneckji Sett Agiary, a [[Parsi]] [[fire temple]] in [[Mumbai]], India, 1891<ref>Grigor, 63–64 (called "Sett Adrian")</ref>]] From the 19th-century the full Persepolitan form of the column was revived, initially by [[Parsee]]s in India<ref>Grigor, Tallinn, [http://krcama.org/product/identity-politics-in-irano-indian-modern-architecture-by-talinn-grigor/ ''Identity Politics in Irano – Indian Modern Architecture''], book summary, and also [https://books.google.com/books?id=stfWE8aAlz8C&pg=PA53 her article on Parsee patronage here]; see [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Modern_Achaemenid_architecture Category:Modern Achaemenid architecture] on Commons for many examples</ref> and [[Eclecticism in architecture|eclectic architects]] in Europe, and only later used in public buildings in Iran under the [[Pahlavi dynasty]] (from 1925),<ref name=Wilber>Wilber</ref> though the former royal palace in the [[Afif-Abad Garden]], of 1863, tentatively uses some elements of the capitals. [[Reza Shah]], the first Pahlavi [[Shah of Iran]], promoted interest in the Achaemenids in various ways to foster [[Iranian nationalism]] and support the legitimacy of his regime.<ref>Amanat, Abbas, ''Iran: A Modern History'', 438–439, 2017, Yale University Press, {{ISBN|0300112548}}, 9780300112542, [https://books.google.com/books?id=88Q3DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA438 google books]; Grigor, 65, 68 note 35</ref> Significant buildings in [[Tehran]] were supervised as to the authenticity of their style by European archaeologists, especially [[André Godard]], [[Maxime Siroux]] (both also architects), and [[Ernst Herzfeld]], who had been brought to Iran to dig, curate, and train students. These include the police headquarters and the [[Bank Melli Iran]] headquarters.<ref name=Wilber/> Though the [[Islamic Republic of Iran]] prefers buildings that refer to [[Islamic architecture]], miniature Persian columns support the [[Scholars Pavilion]] donated to the [[United Nations Office at Vienna]] in 2009.<ref>{{cite web|title=Monument to Be Inaugurated at the Vienna International Centre|url=http://www.unis.unvienna.org/unis/pressrels/2009/unisvic167.html |publisher=UNIS|accessdate=29 November 2016}}</ref> ==Gallery== <gallery widths="200px" heights="200px"> File:Homa Persepolis Iran.JPG|Griffin capital at Persepolis. The roof timbers presumably filled the flat side surface. File:Persépolis, Irán, 2016-09-24, DD 29.jpg|Ruins of [[Persepolis]] File:Persian column.jpg|Ruins of [[Persepolis]] File:Achaemenid capital Persepolis.jpg|Another Achaemenid capital from Persepolis File:Bull capital Apadana (6).jpg|Bull capital from the Apadana of the [[Palace of Darius in Susa]], now [[Louvre]] File:Statue1 in Persepolis.jpg|Lion capital at Persepolis File:Lion-persepolis.JPG|Lion fragment and column base at Persepolis File:Campaniforma column base Apadana Louvre.jpg|Base from Susa, with inscription File:National Meusem Darafsh 6 (50).JPG|Broken man-bull capital from Persepolis Image:Persepolis rendering old.jpg|19th century reconstruction of [[Persepolis]], by Flandin and Coste File:Statue Sq. of Mashhad (4).jpg|Statue Sq. of [[Mashhad]] File:Udwada_atash_behram.jpg|The [[Parsi]] [[Udvada Atash Behram]], a [[fire temple]] in [[Udvada]], India, 1894<ref>Grigor, 64</ref> File:Bank Melli Building - Ferdowsi Ave..jpg|[[Bank Melli Iran|Bank Melli]] Building, Ferdowsi Ave, [[Tehran]]<ref name=Wilber /> File:Iranian Foreign Affaire Ministry.jpg|Revivalism: the modern [[Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs]], 1939<ref name=Wilber /> File:Dariush Grand Hotel - 3.jpg|Columns hung with lights, [[Dariush Grand Hotel]], 1999, [[Kish Island]] File:Persian Scholar pavilion in Viena UN (Rhazes&Khayyam).jpg|[[Scholars Pavilion]] in Vienna, 2009 File:Homa Watch of Mashhad.jpg|Homa Watch, [[Mashhad]] </gallery> ==Notes== {{Reflist}} ==References== {{commonscat|Achaemenid columns}} *"Curtis": Curtis, John & Tallis, Nigel (eds), ''Forgotten Empire: The World of Ancient Persia'', 2005, University of California Press, {{ISBN|0520247310}}, 9780520247314, [https://books.google.com/books?id=kJnaKu9DdNEC&pg=PA53 Google Books]. See also pp 60–64 for catalogue entries on column parts and fragments. * [[John Boardman (art historian)|Boardman, John]] (1998), "The Origins of Indian Stone Architecture", ''Bulletin of the Asia Institute'', 1998, New Series, Vol. 12, (''Alexander's Legacy in the East: Studies in Honor of Paul Bernard''), p.13-22, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/24049089 JSTOR] *[[Gottfried Semper|Semper, Gottfried]], ''Style in the technical and tectonic arts, or, Practical aesthetics'', 2004 translation of ''Der Stil in der technischen und tektonischen Künsten'' (1860–62), Getty Research Institute, ISBN 9780892365975, [https://books.google.com/books?id=5mCcKu6HhMAC&pg=PA810 google books] *Grigor, Tallinn, [https://books.google.com/books?id=stfWE8aAlz8C&pg=PA53 "Parsee Patronage of the ''Urheimat''"], ''Getty Research Journal'', Issue 2 edited by [[Thomas W. Gaehtgens]], Katja Zelljadt, 2010, Getty Publications, {{ISBN|1606060171}}, 9781606060179 *R. Schmitt; D. Stronach (December 15, 1986). [http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/apadana "Apadana"], ''Encyclopaedia Iranica'', Retrieved 14 April, 2018 *D. N. Wilber, [http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/architecture-vii "Architecture vii. Pahlavi, before World War II"], ''Encyclopaedia Iranica'', 1986/2011 ==External links== *Grigor, Tallinn, [https://vimeo.com/66068680 Perso-Parsi Encounters and the Making of Neo-Achaemenid Architecture in Qajar Iran and the British Raj (Part 1 of 2)], video of lecture. {{DEFAULTSORT:Persian Column}} [[Category:Achaemenid architecture]] [[Category:Columns and entablature]] [[Category:Persepolis]] [[Category:Sculpture of the ancient Near East]]
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