New Perspectives on Persepolis

Persepolis in the Ancient Near East
Professor David Stronach
At one level Persepolis is quite simply Darius the Great's 'Palace without Rival.' At another level it is a complex reflection of the diverse strands of Achaemenid Persian identity that were given enduring expression at one memorable moment close to 500 BC. In the context of both recent archaeological discoveries and recent debate dealing with issues of dynastic continuity and legitimation, the lecture will also examine, not least, the prospect that hitherto undetected historical messages are still to be found in the spectacular remains at Persepolis.

David Stronach is Emeritus Professor of Near Eastern Archaeology at the University of California, Berkeley, where he was Chair of the Department of Near Eastern Studies from 1981 to 2004. He has published extensively on ancient Near Eastern topics including his ground breaking book Pasargadae. He was made an OBE in 1975 and, among other honours, received the Gold Medal of the Archaeological Institute of America in 2004.

Persepolis a Reconstruction
A documentary that attempts to rebuild Persepolis at the time of the Achaemenid Empire, with the methods of digitalization. The film is about Persepolis and its reconstruction since the 1930's, when the first reconstruction of the 'Harem' (the Persepolis Museum of today) was completed by Friedrich Krefter and Ernst Herzfeld based on archaeological findings, until now, when architects Kourosh Afhami and Wolfgang Gambke used computer technology for its virtual reconstruction. The film will cover the methodology of this digital reconstruction and its sources using novel pictures and HDTV technology to rebuild a possible version of the original Persepolis. The screening is accompanied preceded by a brief talk by Kourosh Afhami on the Persepolis reconstruction work and its history.

Click on 'Film Clip' in the left column to see a brief section of this documentary. This is 9.1Mb and could take approximately 3 minutes to download with a broadband connection (depending on connection speed).

Full rate 5 GBP
Concessions 3 GBP

Book tickets through the British Museum box office 44 20 73238181 (tel), 44 20 73238616 (fax), 44 20 73238920 (Minicom), boxoffice@thebritishmuseum.ac.uk.