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The following text is adapted from Adib Khorram's 2018 novel Darius the Great Is Not Okay. ©2018 by Adib Khorram. The narrator, Darius, is a teenager visiting family in Iran. He and his friend Sohrab are at the entrance of the ruins of the ancient city of Persepolis.
"The Gate of All Nations," Sohrab said. He gestured to the lamassus [sculptures] and pillars surrounding us. "That's the name in English." It wasn't much of a gate anymore, since anyone of any nation could have easily stepped around it instead of walking through. But it was still amazing. Behind the lamassu, more columns sprouted from the ground like ancient trees in a petrified forest, forty feet tall, spindly but still miraculously upright. Giant stone slabs formed the remains of what must once have been a breathtaking structure.
"The Gate of All Nations," Sohrab said. He gestured to the lamassus [sculptures] and pillars surrounding us. "That's the name in English." It wasn't much of a gate anymore, since anyone of any nation could have easily stepped around it instead of walking through. But it was still amazing. Behind the lamassu, more columns sprouted from the ground like ancient trees in a petrified forest, forty feet tall, spindly but still miraculously upright. Giant stone slabs formed the remains of what must once have been a breathtaking structure.