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

Modern archaeology, beginning in the early 20th century and culminating in UNESCO recognition in 1979, has revealed the technical brilliance hidden in Persepolis. Excavations uncovered workshops where masons left their marks, tablets recording the wages of foreign and local workers, and evidence of administrative systems that supported construction on an imperial scale. These findings underscore that Persepolis was not built by slaves, but by skilled artisans fairly compensated for their labor.