Entry to the complex is via the monumental Grand Stairway at the northwest corner of the site. The stairs were carved from massive blocks of stone, but each step was shallow so that Persians in long elegant robes could walk gracefully up into the palace.
Whenever important foreign delegations arrived, their presence was heralded by trumpeters at the top of the staircase; fragments of one of these bronze trumpets are on display in the museum. Acolytes then led the dignitaries through Xerxes’ Gateway (also known as the Gate of All Nations), which is still a wonderfully impressive monument.
Built during the time of Xerxes I, the gateway is guarded by bull-like figures that have a strong Assyrian character. Above these, look for a cuneiform inscription in Old Persian, Neo-Babylonian and Elamite languages. It declares, among other things, that ‘King Xerxes says: by the favour of Ahuramazda this Gate of All Nations I built. Much else that is beautiful was built in this Parsa, which I built and my father built.’ Centuries of graffitists have also left their mark, including explorer Henry Morton Stanley.
