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Naqsh-e Rustam
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Naqsh-e Rustam ( Naqš-e Rostam) is an archaeological site located about 12 km northwest of Persepolis, in Fars province, Iran. Naqsh-e Rustam lies a few hundred meters from Naqsh-e Rajab.
The oldest relief at Naqsh-i Rustam is severely damaged and dates to c. 1000 BCE. It depicts a faint image of a man with unusual head-gear and is thought to be Elamite in origin. The depiction is part of a larger mural, most of which was removed at the command of Bahram II.
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Encyclopedia
Naqsh-e Rustam ( Naqš-e Rostam) is an archaeological site located about 12 km northwest of Persepolis, in Fars province, Iran. Naqsh-e Rustam lies a few hundred meters from Naqsh-e Rajab.
The oldest relief at Naqsh-i Rustam is severely damaged and dates to c. 1000 BCE. It depicts a faint image of a man with unusual head-gear and is thought to be Elamite in origin. The depiction is part of a larger mural, most of which was removed at the command of Bahram II. The man with the unusual cap gives the site its name, Naqsh-e Rostam, "Picture of Rostam", because the relief was locally believed to be a depiction of the mythical hero Rostam.
The Achaemenid tombs
Four tombs belonging to Achaemenid kings are carved out of the rock face. They are all at a considerable height above the ground.
The tombs are known locally as the 'Persian crosses', after the shape of the facades of the tombs. The site is known as salib in Arabic (صليب), perhaps a corruption of the Persian word chalipa, "cross". The entrance to each tomb is at the center of each cross, which opens onto to a small chamber, where the king lay in a sarcophagus. The horizontal beam of each of the tomb's facades is believed to be a replica of the entrance of the palace at Persepolis.
One of the tombs is explicitely identified by an accompanying inscription to be the tomb of Darius I the Great (r. 522-486 BCE). The other three tombs are believed to be those of Xerxes I the Great (r. 486-465 BCE), Artaxerxes I (r. 465-424 BCE), and Darius II (r. 423-404 BCE) respectively. A fifth unfinished one might be that of Artaxerxes III, who reigned at the longest two years, but is more likely that of Darius III (r. 336-330 BCE), last of the Achaemenid dynasts.
The tombs were looted following the conquest of the Achaemenid empire by Alexander the Macedonian.
Darius the Great's Inscription at Naqsh-e Rustam
*1. A great god is Ahura Mazda, who created this earth, who created yonder sky, who created man, who created happiness for man, who made Darius king, one king of many, one lord of many.
- 2. I am Darius the Great King, King of Kings, King of countries containing all kinds of men, King in this great Earth far and wide, son of Hystaspes, an Achaemenian, a Persian, son of a Persian, an Aryan, having Aryan lineage.
- 3. Darius the King says: By the favor of Ahura Mazda, these are the countries which I seized outside of Persia; I ruled over them; they bore tribute to me; what was said to them by me, that they did; my law - that held them firm: Media, Elam, Parthia, Aria, Bactria, Sogdiana, Chorasmia, Drangiana, Arachosia, Sattagydia, Gandhara, Sind, Amyrgian Scythians, Scythians with pointed caps, Babylonia, Assyria, Arabia, Egypt, Armenia, Cappadocia, Sardis, Ionia, Scythians who are across the sea, Skudra, petasos-wearing Ionians, Libyans, Ethiopians, men of Maka, Carians.
- 4. Darius the King says: Ahura Mazda, when he saw this Earth in commotion, thereafter bestowed it upon me, made me king; I am king. By the favor of Ahura Mazda I put it down in its place; what I said to them, that they did, as was my desire. If now you shall think that "How many are the countries which King Darius held?" look at the sculptures
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