Persia from the Earliest Period to the Arab

CHAPTER IV.
Tomb of Cyrus Inscriptions of Darius Behistan Ydn &c.
Inscriptions of Xerxes Artaxerxes &c. Persepolis Istakhr
Susa Tomb of Darius, son of Hystaspes.
HAVING now given a brief outline of the history of
Ancient Persia, from its earliest period to the over-
throw of the Achaemenian or native kings by the con-
quest of Alexander, I proceed to give some account
of the principal monuments of the same race and
period, attesting, as these do unmistakeably, the
grandeur of those who constructed them. With these
monuments, I shall notice the Cuneiform inscriptions
connected with them, because their interpretation has
thrown much light alike on the Bible and on profane
history, and reconciled some difficulties that could not
previously be cleared up. With this object, I take first
the curious structure commonly called the " Tomb of
Cyrus," the oldest certain relic of Ancient Persia, of
which Mr. Morier was the first to give a full description,
in which he has been followed by Sir Robert K. Porter
and by Messrs. Flandin and Coste.
This remarkable building stands in the middle of the
plain of Murghdb, on a site usually identified with that
of Pasargadae, the capital of Persia in the time of Cyrus,
and is in form unlike any of the other royal tombs,