Few people haven’t heard about the ancient city of Persepolis, which lies at the foot of the Mountain of Mercy (Kuh-I-Rahmat). In ancient times, Persepolis was the capital of the Achaemenid Empire. Regretfully, it was burned by the Greeks in 330 BC after they looted the immense treasure of this city. It is said that Greeks needed 5,000 camels and 20,000 mules to carry all the treasures from Persepolis. The only thing of Persepolis that has survived the wear of time is the ginormous stone terrace 530 by 330 meters adorned by elaborate stone sculptures. It is amazing how intricately detailed some of the sculptures are, despite the fact that they were created many centuries ago.

A fledgling solar system containing deep within it enough water vapor to fill all the oceans on Earth five times, located in our Milky Way galaxy about 1,000 light years from Earth in the constellation Perseus. (Photo by Reuters/NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Men walk towards law enforcement with their hands up on August 24, 2020 in Kenosha, Wisconsin. A second night of civil unrest occurred after the shooting of Jacob Blake, 29, on August 23. Blake was shot multiple times in the back by Wisconsin police officers after attempting to enter into the drivers side of a vehicle. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Dancer and musician Seira Soraya, plays the trumpet near Bow Bridge in Central Park on November 09, 2020 in New York City. Soraya has been out of work due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and is using this time to work on a personal project. (Photo by Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images)

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Members of kibbutz Nirim celebrate Shavuot, a Jewish holiday marking both the giving of the Torah and the wheat harvest, at the kibbutz near the border of the besieged Gaza Strip on June 1, 2025, for the first time since the October 2023 attacks by Palestinian militants. (Photo by Menahem Kahana/AFP Photo)

Indigenous people march during the annual Free Earth camp, where they discuss rights, territorial protection and their role in COP30, which will take place for the first time in the Amazon, in Brasilia, Brazil, Tuesday, April 8, 2025. (Photo by Eraldo Peres/AP Photo)