184 Jennifer Gates-Foster
Figure 12.2 Tomb of Darius I at Naqshi-I Rustam. © The Oriental Institute Museum.
multiplicity and variety of the subject peoples are emphasized as a way of stressing the
achievement of a king who could bring them together and to underscore the scope of
the king’s cosmic achievement (Root 1979).
These lists have a visual parallel in the tribute friezes that were a prominent feature of
the north and east staircases of the Apadana, or audience hall, at Persepolis, which dates
to the reigns of Darius and Xerxes (Schmidt 1953; Allen 2005). On each staircase, 23
separate delegations are represented, shown as groups, each led by a Persian escort who
holds the hand of the leader and leads him toward the great king, who was enthroned at
the center of the composition (Figure 12.3). Identifying the exact origin of each group
is often difficult, but distinctions can be made on the basis of dress, the gifts carried by
the delegation, and the animals accompanying them (Root 1979, 1990, 2007; Calmeyer
1982, 1983, 1987; Briant 2002). Persian courtiers are distinguished from these con-
quered groups by their role. Their garments are often described as Median or Persian, but
there seems to be no overt attempt to distinguish ethnicity through these characteristics
(Calmeyer 1987).
The delegations are likewise not individual portraits, but the repetition and massing of
figures create a visually overwhelming and monumental enactment of actual processions