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Palace Precinct: New Design
One of Herzfeld's critical discoveries was that Pasargadae was the first ancient Near Eastern capital to abandon the standard architectural plan of strictly linear royal hallways. Instead, the Achaemenids adopted an ingenious open design defined by extensive, lush garden spaces surrounded by palaces and audience halls. In essence, Pasargadae was an opulent foursquare garden complex lined by halls rather than a series of symmetrical, contiguous roofed enclosures. This particular layout continued well into the Islamic period, and designers used it for palace compounds in Iran, Central Asia, and Islamic India for centuries. |