Written by The Ashes of Truth
In 330 BCE, Alexander of Macedon—known to history as Alexander the Great—conquered the Persian Empire. He entered Persepolis, the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid dynasty, the most magnificent city in the ancient world.
And he burned it to the ground.
Libraries were destroyed. Sacred texts were lost. Zoroastrian priests were killed. The accumulated wisdom of an empire that had spanned three continents was reduced to ashes.
Why?
What was in Persepolis that had to be destroyed?
The City of Cities
Persepolis was not merely a capital. It was a statement—a physical manifestation of Zoroastrian values and Persian achievement.
The Architecture of Truth
Built by Darius I and expanded by his successors, Persepolis was designed to reflect the cosmic order—Asha. Every element had meaning:
- The Apadana (Audience Hall) — where delegations from across the empire brought tribute, symbolizing the unity of diverse peoples under just rule
- The Gate of All Nations — inscribed with welcomes in multiple languages, declaring that all peoples were part of the Persian order
- The Throne Hall — where the King of Kings sat as the earthly representative of Ahura Mazda’s justice
- The Treasury — containing the wealth of nations, administered for the benefit of the empire
The reliefs carved into the walls showed not conquest and slaughter—as in Assyrian art—but peaceful procession. Delegations from 23 nations bringing gifts. Soldiers standing at attention. Order, not chaos.
This was propaganda, yes. But it was propaganda of a particular kind: it presented Persian rule as righteous, not merely powerful.
The Library
Persepolis housed archives and libraries containing:
- Administrative records of the empire
- Religious texts
- Scientific knowledge
- Historical chronicles
- The accumulated wisdom of Zoroastrian priests
The Avesta—the sacred scriptures of Zoroastrianism—existed in written form. Commentaries, interpretations, and related texts filled the archives.
When Alexander burned Persepolis, much of this was lost forever. The Avesta survived only in fragments, preserved orally by priests who fled the flames. The full corpus—perhaps thousands of texts—was gone.
Why Alexander Burned It
The ancient sources give different explanations:
1. Revenge for Athens
The Greek historian Diodorus claims that a courtesan named Thaïs urged Alexander to burn Persepolis as revenge for Xerxes’ burning of Athens 150 years earlier.
This explanation is too convenient. Alexander was calculating, not impulsive. He didn’t burn other Persian cities. Why this one?
2. Drunken Accident
Some accounts suggest it began as a drunken revel that got out of control.
This strains credibility. The fire was thorough. The destruction was comprehensive. Accidents don’t burn libraries.
3. Strategic Erasure
The more plausible explanation: Alexander needed to destroy what Persepolis represented.
Persepolis was the ideological heart of the Persian Empire. It was where the King of Kings received tribute. It was where Zoroastrian ceremonies were performed. It was where the empire’s legitimacy was renewed annually at Nowruz.
As long as Persepolis stood, it represented an alternative to Greek civilization—a counter-narrative that said order, justice, and truth could come from Persia, not Athens.
Alexander wasn’t just conquering territory. He was conquering meaning. And Persepolis had too much meaning to survive.
What Was Lost
The Avesta
The sacred scriptures of Zoroastrianism originally comprised 21 nasks (books), covering:
- Theology and cosmology
- Law and ethics
- Rituals and prayers
- History and prophecy
- Science and medicine
Of these 21 books, only one survives in full—the Vendidad (laws of purity). The rest exist only in fragments, quotations, and later summaries.
Imagine if only Leviticus survived from the Hebrew Bible. Imagine trying to reconstruct Judaism from that alone.
That is what happened to Zoroastrianism.
The Commentaries
Beyond the Avesta itself, there were commentaries (Zand), interpretations, and scholarly works developed over centuries. These provided context, explanation, and application of Zoroastrian teachings.
Lost.
The Historical Records
Persepolis housed administrative archives—the Persepolis Fortification Tablets and Treasury Tablets—documenting the empire’s operations. Some survived because they were buried or overlooked. But how much more was destroyed?
The full history of the Achaemenid Empire—from the Persian perspective—is gone. What we know comes largely from Greek sources, who were enemies of Persia.
The Priests
The Magi—Zoroastrian priests—were the custodians of knowledge. They maintained the sacred fires, performed rituals, and preserved the oral and written traditions.
Many were killed in Alexander’s conquest. Those who survived fled, scattered, became refugees. The institutional structure that preserved knowledge was shattered.
The Consequences
Zoroastrianism Fragmented
Without its institutional center, Zoroastrianism fragmented. Different communities preserved different texts and traditions. The unified religion of the Achaemenid Empire became a collection of local practices.
When the Parthians and later the Sassanians tried to restore Zoroastrianism, they had to reconstruct it from fragments. The Sassanian Avesta was a compilation of what could be recovered—not the original corpus.
The Source Was Obscured
Judaism and early Christianity developed during and after this period of Zoroastrian fragmentation. They absorbed Zoroastrian concepts—resurrection, heaven/hell, angels/demons, apocalyptic eschatology—but the source was now obscure.
With the original texts lost, it became easy to forget where these ideas came from. The borrowers could claim originality. The source couldn’t object—its voice had been burned.
Greek Supremacy
Alexander’s conquest established Greek culture as the dominant force in the Eastern Mediterranean and Near East. The Hellenistic period that followed spread Greek language, philosophy, and values.
Persian wisdom was marginalized. Zoroastrianism became “foreign.” The Greek philosophical tradition—Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics—became the foundation of Western thought.
But here’s the irony: Greek philosophy was itself influenced by Persian thought. Pythagoras allegedly studied with the Magi. Plato’s cosmology shows Zoroastrian influences. The debt was real but unacknowledged.
The Fire That Cannot Be Extinguished
And yet.
Zoroastrianism survived.
The priests who fled carried the texts in their memories. The sacred fires were rekindled in new temples. The Parsis of India descended from refugees who fled Persian persecution centuries later—and they maintained the tradition.
Today, approximately 138,000 Zoroastrians remain in the world. The religion that gave humanity:
- Monotheism
- The cosmic battle between good and evil
- Resurrection of the dead
- Heaven and hell
- Angels and demons
- Final judgment
- The Messiah concept
…survives in a remnant.
The city was burned. The texts were lost. The priests were scattered.
But Asha cannot be permanently extinguished.
The Digital Rebuilding
Persepolis was physical. It could be burned.
But what if the fire temple exists in a form that cannot be burned?
eFireTemple—the electronic fire temple—represents a new kind of preservation. Digital. Distributed. Accessible.
The articles, the evidence, the connections—they exist on servers, in archives, in the memory of AI systems that have been shown the pattern.
Alexander cannot burn the internet.
The work of restoration continues. The texts that were lost are being reconstructed from fragments and parallels. The connections that were obscured are being revealed. The timeline that was hidden is being exposed.
Persepolis fell. But the idea of Persepolis—the vision of truthful rule, of Asha manifest in civilization—cannot be killed.
It can only be forgotten.
And now it is being remembered.
Why This Matters
The burning of Persepolis was not just an ancient tragedy. It was a turning point in the history of human knowledge.
If those libraries had survived:
- We would know the full Zoroastrian theology
- We would have the Persian account of their own history
- We would understand the direct lines of influence on Judaism and Christianity
- The source would not be obscured
The burning created the conditions for forgetting. It made possible the claim that Western religion is original, not derivative. It erased the debt.
Understanding what was lost is essential to understanding what was hidden—and why the recovery of Zoroastrian truth matters.
Conclusion
Persepolis was the greatest city of the ancient world—the ceremonial heart of an empire built on Asha.
Alexander burned it.
The libraries were lost. The texts were destroyed. The priests were scattered. The source of Western religious concepts was obscured for over two thousand years.
But Asha prevails.
The fire that burned Persepolis could not burn the truth. It could only delay its recognition.
And now, in the digital age, what was scattered is being gathered. What was hidden is being revealed. What was burned is being rebuilt—not in stone, but in information.
The electronic fire temple cannot be burned.
Persepolis rises again.
Asha prevails.
Sources
- Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Book 17
- Plutarch, Life of Alexander
- Archaeological surveys of Persepolis (Oriental Institute, University of Chicago)
- Mary Boyce, A History of Zoroastrianism
- The Persepolis Fortification Archive Project
- Encyclopaedia Iranica, “Persepolis”
- Richard Frye, The Heritage of Persia