The ancient city of Persepolis, the ceremonial heart of the Achaemenid Empire, stands as a powerful symbol of Persian grandeur and imperial order. Yet beyond the grand stairways and stone reliefs lies a quieter, often overlooked narrative — the lives of rural women who lived in and around this region. While Persepolis was a political and ceremonial center rather than a residential city, records such as the Persepolis Fortification Tablets (written in Elamite cuneiform) provide rare insight into the daily workings of the empire, including the role of women. These tablets document rations, labor, and the movement of people across the empire.
