Persia from the Earliest Period to the Arab

104 HISTORY OF PERSIA.
we know that "Darius the Mede" signs with his
own hand a document brought to him by his
nobles, while, at the Persian Court, as probably else-
where, a volume was preserved called " The book of
the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia 1 "
There must also have been for common and private
use, some form of cursive writing (perhaps in Phoeni-
cian characters), easy to write and easy to read,
as, on some of the Assyrian monuments, officers
may be noticed writing down lists of spoil, captives,
&c., on a material evidently papyrus, parchment, or
leather.
Having now said something of the personal history
of early kings of Persia, and of the inscriptions enshrining
the truest details about them, I shall give some
account of the most important antiquities, whether
buildings or tombs, belonging to the same race.
Now, of buildings, with the exception of the Tomb
of Cyrus, .already described, it is a remarkable fact, that
scarcely a fragment is now certainly recognisable, with
the exception of the great groups on the platform at
Persepolis; but these are so famous, that, although
they have been given fully in many modern works, not
difficult of access, it is necessary for me to offer a short
account. The usual modern name of these ruins is
Takht-i-Jamshid, (the structure of Jamshid)
or Chehl
Miiiar (the -Forty Pillars) : they are situated a little
off the . main road between Ispahan and Shiniz, on a
platform chiefly artificial, overlooking a rich and well
watered plain. These ruins certainly represent the
remains of one or more of the chief structures of the'
1 Esth. x. a.