Journal of Archaeological Studies

The Stratigraphic Sequence of the Parsa Paradise Gate at Tol-e Ajori

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Alireza Askari Chaverdi 1
Pierfrancesco Callieri 2

1 Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran (Corresponding Author).

2 Department of Cultural Heritage, Faculty of Archaeology and Art History of Central Asia and India, University of Bologna, Italy.

10.22059/jarcs.2026.416545.143422
Abstract
The discovered ancient monument at the site of Tol-e Ajori, located approximately three km northwest of Persepolis, was identified through thirteen seasons of excavation as a gate building similar to the Ishtar gate of Babylon, based on the discovered palaeographic evidence and its architectural function. The stratigraphy of the monument reveals the following phases: the pre-construction phase (Phase 0), construction of the monument (Phase 1), the abandonment of the monument (Phase 2), secondary occupation (Phase 3), human and natural-induced destruction, including an earthquake (Phase 4), the robbery of the building’s bricks during the Middle Islamic period, specifically in the Seljuk (Phase 5), and Muzaffarid periods (Phase 6). Absolute dating of five bone samples from Tol-e Ajori—yielding low-confidence radiocarbon results for the Iranian Iron Age (800–400 BCE)—suggests caution in accepting quantitative studies. The relative dating of the gate’s construction, the palaeographic characteristics of the thirteen inscribed bricks, which correspond not to the Elamite and Babylonian scripts employed in the Achaemenid royal inscriptions of Darius I and his successors, but rather to the sign forms of the Neo-Elamite and Neo-Babylonian periods, the glazed bricks from Tol-e Ajori, which are technically more archaic than those from Susa or Persepolis, and the building’s probable function as a replica of the Ishtar Gate of Babylon, all suggest that the monument should most likely be dated to the reign of Cyrus the Great and associated with the conquest of Babylon in 539 BCE. Accordingly, all the evidence strongly suggests that the Tol-e Ajori gateway was founded before the construction of Persepolis by Darius I, most likely within the period between 539 and 518 BCE.

Keywords

Tol-e Ajori
Absolute Dating
Relative Chronology
Stratigraphy
Early Achaemenid
Parsa
Subjects
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Journal of Archaeological Studies
Volume 18, Issue 2 - Serial Number 39
November 2026
Pages 137-171

  • Receive Date 14 July 2026
  • Revise Date 03 October 2026
  • Accept Date 06 November 2026

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