ASSYRIAN - FRIEZE OF ARCHERS STONEWALL 2 ARCHERS 3D model

Height : 387cm, Width : 201cm, Depth : 14cm How did simple bricks, transfigured by colourful decoration, become the expression of the imperial pomp of Darius I? Founded in the 4th millennium BC on a water-rich plain, Susa is one of the oldest cities in the world. From the 2nd millennium BC, it was the capital of a powerful kingdom called Elam, located in present-day southwestern Iran. Elam was annexed by the Persian Empire, an immense territory stretching from the Danube to the Indus, and from present-day Uzbekistan to Egypt.

At the beginning of the 5th century BC, Darius I (522-486) was at the head of this Empire. In the city of Susa, he had a vast palace built. The palace, built on a hill, opened with a monumental gate decorated with a large statue of the sovereign. It is mainly composed of royal flats, distributed around three courtyards, and a vast audience hall (apadana).

This monumental panel of coloured bricks is one of the most remarkable remains of this palace, which has almost entirely disappeared. It could represent some of the 'Immortals', the soldiers who formed the elite guard of the ruler.

MEN IN ARMS The coloured bricks of the palace decoration were gradually discovered by French archaeologists in various parts of the building. They were then reassembled to reconstitute the characters or animals (lions, winged bulls, sphinxes, griffins) represented on different panels. As the bricks were found scattered, the exact location and appearance of these decorations remain hypothetical.

More than twenty soldiers have been reconstructed. On this frieze, archers of the same size follow one another, calmly, evoking a parade of individuals in arms. All are depicted in left profile, except for their eyes, which are in front - perhaps an influence from Egyptian art.

They each carry a bow with duck-head ends and a quiver. In their hands they hold a spear, which rests on the foot of the leg stretched out in front, pointing upwards.

Each soldier wears rings on his ears and a bracelet on both wrists. These jewels are reminiscent of those found in a tomb in Susa, decorated with animal heads.

The archers are dressed in the long Persian ceremonial dress that appeared during the reign of Darius I. In times of peace, it is worn by the soldiers of the army. In times of peace, it was worn by the king himself and his dignitaries. This garment, gallooned, pleated on the legs and with wide sloping sleeves, is decorated from one soldier to another either with rosettes on a yellow background or with crenellated towers on a cream background. The shoes are soft and closed with thin laces. The exact identification of these figures has given rise to different interpretations.

The braided headband and the spear on the foot lead some historians to see in this frieze the representation of a troop originating from Elam.

Others identify these figures with the Ten Thousand, also known as the Immortals, the Persian elite corps. Herodotus spoke of them in these terms: If one of the men was missing, struck down by death or illness, a replacement was immediately chosen, and there were never more, and never less than ten thousand.This famous guard of the sovereign could wear gold necklaces and sumptuous yellow and red garments decorated with gems. Their lances were finished with a metal ball, gold for a thousand of them, silver for the other nine thousand. In the Susa panels, the white at the base of the spears could represent silver.

These soldiers, sculpted in relief, can be found on some of the walls of another palace built in Persepolis for Darius I: lined up in a hieratic attitude, they suggest, as here, the power and stability of the Empire.

As Susiana, the region of Susa, is poor in stone, moulded brick was used for wall decorations as early as the 12th century BC, the time of the kings of Elam.

For the construction of his Persian palace, Darius I called upon the best craftsmen of the Empire. The foundation charter of the palace (an inscribed tablet found buried in the base) indicates that Babylonians were among them.

Unlike the Mesopotamian technique, Susa's bricks are not made of clay, but of a very siliceous paste. The relief decoration of the brick is moulded and then fired. The colours are then applied in two stages to prevent them from mixing: to delimit each coloured area, thin strips of glass paste are applied to the support to create small partitions, and then the different colours are applied. These are obtained from metallic oxides: copper oxides for the green and pale blue, cobalt oxides for the dark blue, lead antimonate for the yellow. Finally, the brick is fired at high temperature.