Persepolis, 1960-1971: Material Culture, State Ideology, and Melancholic Contemplation on National Identity

The ruins of Persepolis, the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire (559–330 BCE), are celebrated as a cultural heritage site and national monument in Iran. In 1971, these ruins became the setting for the Celebration of the 2,500th Anniversary of the Founding of the Persian Empire, orchestrated by Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The Pahlavi regime aimed to fabricate a monarchical lineage that positioned the Pahlavi dynasty as the pinnacle of an uninterrupted historical continuum beginning with the Achaemenids and Cyrus the Great. The ceremonies featured a grandiose military parade with soldiers in historical costumes symbolically reenacting theprocessions of foreign emissaries depicted on Persepolis' walls, emphasizing the glory and grandeur of Iran's imperial past and its uninterrupted history. Conversely, a decade earlier, Iranian filmmaker and poet Fereydoun Rahnema's short documentary captured Persepolis in a starkly different light, presenting it as enigmatic ruins devoid of grandeur, prompting reflections on their lost original meaning. Utilizing Walter Benjamin's concepts of natural history, melancholia, and allegory, this article explores the allegorical implications of Rahnema's film. It argues that the documentary signifies the disintegration of the sublime image of Iran’s imperial origin, marking a shift where the imperial past becomes too eclipsed a signifier to serve as a cornerstone of national identity.