Description

Persian column or Takht Jamshid column is a distinct form of column that was developed during the Achaemenid period of architecture in ancient Iran and probably started a little before 500 BC. Such columns are mainly known from the remains of Persepolis, where massive main columns have a plinth, fluted body and a capital with two back-to-back beasts, often bull symbols.
But a lion, a bull with a human head in the style of an Assyrian winged bull, and a lion with an eagle's head and a lion's body have also been seen in this style of architecture.
The bull and the lion may reflect the symbolism of Nowruz, the Iranian New Year at the vernal equinox, of an eternal battle between a bull as the personification of the moon, and a lion as the personification of the sun.