The Secrets of Engineering and the Splendor of the Achaemenid Empire | How Persepolis Survived 2,500 Years

At the center of these stairways appear two recurring motifs: the winged disc of divine glory and the scene of the lion attacking a bull. Scholars debate their meaning—astronomical allegory, seasonal renewal, or cosmic struggle—but their placement above the tributary processions emphasizes continuity, power, and divine order. Persepolis thus became a stage where cosmology and politics merged seamlessly.