Susa Capital Bull Recreation. Resin cast and wood column about 9 inches tall by 7 inches wide. When Darius the Great succeeded Cyrus, he chose the city of Susa as the administrative capital of his unified empire. There he built a royal palace in the Mesopotamian tradition, onto which opened a vast audience hall, in Persian called an apadana. This was a hypostyle (columned) hall, 109 meters square. The 36 columns of the hall stood 21 metres in height. The roof beams rested in the gap between the necks of two bulls. This is where the book of Esther takes place.