Behind the Symbol of Ahura Mazda

While the winged sun-disk appears above the door of the median tomb of Sakhna, it is employed at Persepolis only when the available space allows it to. otherwise, the symbol of Ahura Mazda, which is ditinguished from the sun-disk by the half figure of the God rising out of the disk, takes its place. The Symbol of Ahura Mazda, the God of the Aryans, regularly hovers over the figures of the kings, symbolizing the divine protection upon which they insist so much in their inscription. They do what they do in the shadow of Ahura Mazda. 

 

 

 

 

 

On the Hadish Palace Eastern Stairway one can see a relief of a lion fighting a bull.

At Persepolis, the lion and bull stand always at the side of the tribute processions, the picture of an annual festivial, the NoRooz (New Year) i.e. in Iranian calendar the spring equinox. Such an association suggests an astronomical meaning; Lion and Bull are figures of the Zodiac symbolizing the Sun and the Moon, in this case: representing the overcoming of the Sun(Brightness) against the Moon(Darkness).

 

 

 

 

Persepolis was the ceremonical capital of the greatest Empire of the ancient world - the Achaememenians. Bulls, lions and the human-headed winged bulls are some of the motifs representing the Achaemenian Might and Power.