Susa - The Forgotten Capital of the Persian Empire

Susa was one of the great capitals of the Achaemenid Persian Empire and one of the oldest cities in the ancient Near East. Originally an Elamite city with deep Mesopotamian connections, it later became the administrative heart of the Persian Empire and the winter residence of the Persian kings. This video explores the royal palace complex built by Darius I, the great Apadana audience hall, the multilingual foundation inscriptions, the Royal Road, and the cosmopolitan nature of the Persian Empire. It also examines the famous glazed brick decorations from Susa, including the archers often associated with the Persian “Immortals,” and the broader artistic influences drawn from Mesopotamian traditions. The video also looks at Susa’s appearance in the Book of Esther, the Jewish communities living within the Persian Empire, and why so little of the city survives today compared to Persepolis, as mudbrick architecture gradually eroded back into the landscape over thousands of years. Sources / Bibliography: https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/... Written, Edited, and Narrated by Jordan Amit https://jordanamit.com/   / jordan.amit   Reconstructions by Balage Balogh https://archaeologyillustrated.com/ Photos by Jona Lendering https://www.livius.org/ #Susa #PersianEmpire #AchaemenidEmpire #AncientPersia #Darius #Xerxes #Persepolis #AncientHistory #Archaeology #Iran #Mesopotamia #BookOfEsther #Purim #NearEast #AncientWorld #HistoryDocumentary #StreetGems