Women’s Palace

Parsa was not only comprised of representational buildings and monumental plazas . Small scale structures such as dwellings were also present as they were in all cities of Antiquity. This area, which unfolded south of the terrace in a west-east direction toward the terrace wall to the Treasury and further northward to the Throne Hall, was the residence of the Queen, the King’s sister, his mother and their ladies -in-waiting. Friedrich Krefter described this building as the „Women’s Palace“ as most all of its inhabitants were women of the Court – the main exception, of course, being the King himself. He more than likely resided in the main wing which was oriented in a south-north direction – from the Treasure to the Throne Hall. This wing was , from the beginning of excavation of Persepolis in 1931, rebuilt by Krefter and Herzfeld and utilized as both a „Persepolis Museum“ and expedition headquarters .

We shall go into greater detail about the „Women’s Palace“ and the meanings and importance of it’s rebuild for the overall reconstruction of Persepolis by Friedrich Krefter when our next 3D reconstruction of the main wing is introduced to our website. What you see today is the southern section of the dwelling which consists of three apartments . Note that only the westernmost of the three opens onto its own garden – a hint as to who the royal occupant was ...