EVERLASTING BLUES: Colour and Epigraphic Habit in Achaemenid Persia, c.

520-330 BCE

Alexander NAGEL PhD Candidate, Interdepartmental Program in Classical Art and Archaeology University of Michigan, Kelsey Museum of Archaeology aleos@umich.edu

Persepolis in southwestern Iran was the spectacular heartland capital of the Achaemenid Persian Empire between c. 520 and 330 BCE. Centuries ago, travelers reported seeing traces of what appeared to them as red and blue paint in the cuneiform inscriptions of royal monuments at the site and noted that the inscriptions preserved on the window frames of the Palace of Darius were inlaid with gold. During the first systematic excavations at Persepolis conducted by an American-German team under the auspices of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, archaeologists were able to identify further traces of paint. As ongoing research has shown, important and substantial observation on the original polychromy of the inscriptions did, however, not enter the final publication volumes of the excavations conducted. Though there have been some sporadic studies, there has been no comprehensive, theoretically informed and technically advanced investigation of the original polychromy on the monumental inscriptions and epigraphic habit of Achaemenid Persia to date. The goal of an ongoing interdisciplinary project, initiated in 2006, is to document remnants of polychromy and gildings on the monuments in Persepolis as now preserved. After two field seasons of surveying the remains on the monuments in situ, in the excavation storerooms, and in the excavations archives in Chicago, and in the National Archaeological Museum in Tehran with advanced technological methods it has been possible to systematically record and document new evidence of traces of remaining colourants in the preserved inscriptions, too. This paper will focus on the historiography of the discovery of the epigraphic habits of Achaemenid Persia, will introduce our recent discoveries, and discuss the historical dimensions of the characteristics of the epigraphic habits of the Achaemenid ruling elite and their successors. The new evidence from Persepolis in combination with recent research suggests that the choice of colour schemes applied in inscriptions was an important mediator to emphasize certain specific messages. Besides briefly introducing the techniques employed, the available evidence will be used to argue that the commissioned colourants in the inscriptions are critical to a deeper understanding of the iconography of this built landscape. After all, we may ask how far the new evidence challenges us to re-think our approaches to the so far uninvestigated topic of polychromy and sacred colours of inscriptions in the ancient Near East. Also, how do certain colour schemes in the Persepolis epigraphic corpus compare to those used in other ancient Near Eastern capitals, in Egypt and in Classical Greece? As I will argue, documenting and studying the colours of inscriptions at Persepolis building by building as a case study is of relevance not only for our understanding of the original meaning of paint and gildings on monuments in the wider ancient Near East and Mediterranean world, but challenges us to rethink our own social habits with colours in the written media. At the same time, my paper will address aspects of material values at Persepolis, performance and sensory experience, and the future of the conservation of the polychrome heritage of the inscriptions.