Legend Heading Legend HeadingCharting Forgotten Places
← All case files
Archaeological Site · Unsolved

The Treasury of Persepolis

Burned 330 BC, Persepolis, Iran
COLD TRAIL
Evidence status: Historical tradition. no documented source (historical tradition); legal status unknown (manual verification recommended). This account is presented as historical tradition, not verified fact. Manual verification recommended. Repository evidence: 0 sources · 0 timeline events · 0 media items · legal unknown · view on the Map Evidence on file: historical tradition

The Treasury of Persepolis: still unexplained.

The plundered heart of an empire

The subject
developing the photograph…
Of note
The plundered heart of an empire
The account

Alexander burned Persepolis and hauled away the Persian treasury on thousands of mules and camels, but what was hidden in the ruins of the ceremonial capital is still argued.

Leads, where the trail points now
  • The Persian ceremonial capital, burned by Alexander in 330 BC, who hauled the imperial treasury away on thousands of mules and camels.
  • It is a protected UNESCO site, so little gold remains after Alexander's looting; the real treasure now is the Persepolis Fortification Archive of clay tablets.
  • The lead is what was hidden or dropped in the ruins, and the still-debated full extent of the buried complex.
What the record holds

What remains open

  • No period map of the site has surfaced.
  • No contemporary press coverage has been found.
What we know, and what we don't
Established

No documentary claim is yet established. The account rests on tradition.

Still open
  • No period map of the site has surfaced.
  • No contemporary press coverage has been found.
The evidence room

No documentary or visual exhibits have been located yet. The trail below and the open leads are where this dossier grows next — every exhibit that enters here carries a source.

Where the trail points now
  • The Persian ceremonial capital, burned by Alexander in 330 BC, who hauled the imperial treasury away on thousands of mules and camels.
  • It is a protected UNESCO site, so little gold remains after Alexander's looting; the real treasure now is the Persepolis Fortification Archive of clay tablets.
  • The lead is what was hidden or dropped in the ruins, and the still-debated full extent of the buried complex.
  • Search Library of Congress + DPLA (IIIF) for period cartography of the site.
  • Run Chronicling America for dated newspaper mentions.
  • Query NARA for archival records tied to the site.

Have a source, a map, or a clipping? Add a lead and it enters the record with its citation.

Start the hunt here
The first leads, so no one walks in cold.
Sources and the record
Related case files

The full hunt kit

Starting brief, what's known and disputed, evidence timeline, source list, map card, coordinate-confidence and legal-access summaries, and a field checklist, free with a Fellowship account.

Latest Word From the Newswire

Context, not proof. The dossier's own sources remain the evidence record.

Checking the wire…

Chart position 29.930°, 52.890° View on the Map