GUIDING QUESTIONS: Audience Hall (apdana) of Darius and Xerxes 

• What is another name for the Persian Empire? 

• The Achaemenid Empire is known for its strong, centralized what?

• What are regional satraps? 

• What is (was) the name of the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire? 

• In what modern day nation can you find this site? 

• What Persian emperor began the construction of this site? 

• What two Persian emperors did the construction continue under?

• What happened to this important site in 330 B.C.E.?

• What is the apadana, according to the article? 

• What does it mean for a building to have a HYPOSTYLE? 

• How many columns did the apadana have originally?

• How many remain standing today? 

• How tall were each of these columns? 

• The capital of a column is the top, usually decorative element of a column. What types of animals were featured on the capitals of the columns in the apadana at Persepolis? 

• Why is it suspected that these animal types were chosen? 

• What was the king of the Persians presumed to have used this APADANA space for?

• How many SUBJECT NATIONS did the Persian king have?

• Generally, what type of scenes are depicted in relief on the monumental stairways that approach the APADANA

• Some scholars speculate that that the sculptures form a processional scene of what? 

• How do each of the representatives of the 23 subject nations dress on the relief? 

• Some scholars believe that the processional scenes sculpted in relief on the stairways leading to the apadana MAY have influenced the sculptors who worked on WHAT later building? Where was this later building?