The Achaemenid builders’ attitude toward construction was driven by a desire for immortality, using massive stones and complex interlocking techniques to ensure the longevity and security of their structures. The site’s endurance against the elements and, more dramatically, against Alexander the Great’s conquest, speaks to the practical power of their engineering. Von Busse’s work captured the remains of this secure architecture, documenting the scale and quality of materials that allowed the site to remain largely intact enough for his lens to find its focus two millennia later.
