Persepolis
2 of the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Persepolis. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
per-sep'o-lis, an ancient capital of Persia. It was the royal residence of Darius and Xerxes. The city was captured and partly destroyed by Alexander the Great. The vast remains may still be seen far to the southeast of the Euphrates Valley in a vale about 200 miles from the Persian Gulf. The number of palaces and treasure houses must have been very great. So many pillars are still standing that the Arabs have given the locality the name of the "Thousand Pillars." The more notable edifices appear to have been constructed of huge blocks of stone, fitted closely together without mortar, but fastened in many instances, at least, with clamps of iron. These the Arabs long since pried away for spearheads. The principal buildings were placed on artificial, terraced mounds. One of these is ascended by 106 steps wide enough for ten men to walk abreast, and of so easy a grade that it is quite possible for horsemen to ride up. The entrance to one of these terraces, attributed to Xerxes, is approached through a huge gate guarded by four winged bulls resembling similar sculptures found at Nineveh. A room known to explorers as Xerxes' throne room contains thirteen columns, each sixty-four feet in height. Other remains, scarcely inferior, have been surveyed in the most cursory manner. The entire region awaits the antiquarian. No doubt inscriptions to be one day unearthed may add much to our knowledge of Persian history and civilization.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
the Greek translation of the lost name of the capital of ancient Persia, was situated on the Araxes river, A BAS-RELIEF AT PERSEPOLIS to the E. of the Medus river, in the plain of Merdusht, about 35 miles to the N. E. of Shiraz, on the road to Ispahan. A number of most remarkable ruins is all that now remains of Persepolis. Darius Hystaspes, Xerxes, Artaxerxes, and other Archæmenides, each in his turn contributed toward its aggrandizement.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Aiton's 1910 entry ended with a prediction: "The entire region awaits the antiquarian. No doubt inscriptions to be one day unearthed may add much to our knowledge of Persian history." That came true between 1931 and 1939, when the Oriental Institute of Chicago, under Ernst Herzfeld and then Erich Schmidt, systematically excavated the terrace and recovered tens of thousands of inscribed clay tablets — the Persepolis Fortification Archive, mostly Elamite administrative records of rations and wages, which document the working life of the empire rather than its kings. Collier's called Persepolis "the Greek translation of the lost name" of the city; the Old Persian name is now securely read as Parsa, while Iranians have long known the ruins as Takht-e Jamshid. The site was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979, eight years after the Shah staged his lavish 2,500-year celebration of the Persian monarchy in tents pitched beside the ruins.
Written for this edition, 2026.