Persepolis, with pics and maps! (now D+Dized!)
- Thread starter alsih2o
- Start date
green slime
First Post
alsih2o said:
Yes, I'm the tall, handsome fellow in the light trousers...
I spent 6 months in the country while working on contract in Teheran for an international Telecommunication company.
It is a strange, wonderful country, steeped in history. National flights are very cheap; about $20-$30 US. So, I managed on occassion to convince my fellow nerds and geeks that we should try and get away on the weekends to visit some of the amazing sites the country offers. As opposed to sitting in the apartment and playing games on the PC...
As a little side note, First time we tried to get to Persepolis (Shiraz), we were running late booking the tickets: it was a major holiday coming up. After failing to get flights for Shiraz, Esfahan, or anywhere else anyone had heard about, really, they told us there were flights available to Kerman. Checking the LP guidebook, I convinced the others we should visit Bam instead (a long taxi drive away from Kerman, but taxis are dirt cheap). Four weeks later, sitting at home with the family, while I was celebrating Xmas, Bam was flattened by a tragic earthquake.
We did manage to find the time to get to Persepolis, I was determined to do so, but the pressures of work kept us from seeing as much of the country as we would have liked.
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green slime
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The picture above depicts the Citadel of Bam, once the world's largest mud structure, and it was like walking around a Hollywood set out of 1001 arabian nights. Truly a remarkable experience. Anywhere in the western world and it would have been jam-packed with tourists. We spent the entire day there and saw maybe 40 people on the site, tops. Including locals and local tourists.
The same with Persepolis, but to a smaller degree: slightly less off the beaten path, maybe 70-80 people there. On a weekend! We crawled all over it. Marvelled at the names carved into the Gate of All Nations (amongst others a certain reporter Stanely from the Chicago Tribune who later went on to become famous as the man who found Livingstone in Africa), hired a guide (well worthwhile), examined the tombs overlooking the site, read every scrap of detail we could, wandered through the onsite museum, and bought the books, postcards and posters.
Most of the foreign tourists were from Asia. I'm at work, so no pictures till later.
The same with Persepolis, but to a smaller degree: slightly less off the beaten path, maybe 70-80 people there. On a weekend! We crawled all over it. Marvelled at the names carved into the Gate of All Nations (amongst others a certain reporter Stanely from the Chicago Tribune who later went on to become famous as the man who found Livingstone in Africa), hired a guide (well worthwhile), examined the tombs overlooking the site, read every scrap of detail we could, wandered through the onsite museum, and bought the books, postcards and posters.
Most of the foreign tourists were from Asia. I'm at work, so no pictures till later.
green slime
First Post
Actually Persepolis was the reason I took the contract in the first place!!
I was sitting at home one evening, watching the Discovery channel, like one does, and they had a special about Darius, Ataxerxes, Persia, and Persepolis. I thought, this place, I have to go there one day!
The next day at work, they were looking for people willing to go to Iran for a contract. Guess how much persuasion I needed?
I was sitting at home one evening, watching the Discovery channel, like one does, and they had a special about Darius, Ataxerxes, Persia, and Persepolis. I thought, this place, I have to go there one day!
The next day at work, they were looking for people willing to go to Iran for a contract. Guess how much persuasion I needed?
Inconsequenti-AL
Breaks Games
What a great resource! And the maps even laid out 'sensibly'.
Thanks!
Thanks!
green slime
First Post
green slime
First Post
green slime
First Post
Another thing, that I suspect is missing from the maps posted above: the water supply.
They actually had tunnels underneath the Palace with water in them. These were connected to baths and washing areas. You reached them by climbing down stairs dotted around the area. Most of these were well sealed off, by I did manage to get down one flight of stairs by climbing over/through the barrier. Now, I'm an adventurous type, but without a dry suit I wasn't going to leap in the water and see exactly were the tunnels went (I'd left my DnD grid paper at home anyway). By standing on the very edge of one bath, I could see the light from the stairs of another down the tunnel. Someone took a picture of me hanging onto the lip like the idiot I am, but I haven't seen the pic, and it was probably too dark anyway.
I do remember reading somewhere that they had quite an advanced sewage system going, but I can't remember where. I suppose the water was run-off from the hills behind the Palace, and it flowed down through the tunnel, in some fashion.
They actually had tunnels underneath the Palace with water in them. These were connected to baths and washing areas. You reached them by climbing down stairs dotted around the area. Most of these were well sealed off, by I did manage to get down one flight of stairs by climbing over/through the barrier. Now, I'm an adventurous type, but without a dry suit I wasn't going to leap in the water and see exactly were the tunnels went (I'd left my DnD grid paper at home anyway). By standing on the very edge of one bath, I could see the light from the stairs of another down the tunnel. Someone took a picture of me hanging onto the lip like the idiot I am, but I haven't seen the pic, and it was probably too dark anyway.
I do remember reading somewhere that they had quite an advanced sewage system going, but I can't remember where. I suppose the water was run-off from the hills behind the Palace, and it flowed down through the tunnel, in some fashion.
Stormrunner
Explorer
You're thinking too small...alsih2o said:Here it is all D+Dized. i figure-
5ft. squares to make it a small humanoid temple. Watch the party try to fight through those tiny doors!
10 ft. squares to make a human (medium) sized temple or ruin or some such.
15-20 ft. squares gives you a wicked giants hall.
I left in all the columns lighter, in case you decide not to use them.
According to the photos found in the links, 30' per square looks about right - judging by the people standing next to them, the columns in area 1 are 5' thick and about 25-30' apart, 80' tall.
At 10' per square, areas 2,3,6, & 7 would have a column about every 2 feet or less, and hallways narrower than that, which doesn't seem very workable. At 30'/square, the hallways in these areas are 4-6' wide.
