Tomb of Cyrus

Tomb of Cyrus

ca. 530 BCE

5326

Single Built Works

Iran (nation)

Pasargadae (deserted settlement)

Achaemenid

royal tombs

Cyrus the Great, King of Persia--530 B.C. or 529 B.C.

View of the tomb of Cyrus the Great at Pasargadae in Iran. "The Tomb of Cyrus the Great is the only relatively intact building in the old Achaemenid capital of Pasargadae. Rising from the Morgab plain in six tiers of white limestone, the plinth of the tomb pays clear homage to the mighty ziggurat forms prevalent in mesopotamia. Surmounting the base is a gable roofed cella which once held Cyrus' gilded sarcophagus, though it is now an empty room. The tomb is a fairly modest structure, measuring just 13.35 x 12.30 meters at its base. Originally the top of the plinth stood 4.86 meters above the ground, but it is somewhat higher now since the foundation stones have been exposed. The cella itself measures 6.40 x 5.35 meters, with a doorway 1.39 meters high and 78 centimeters wide. Strabo, writing in the 1st century BCE, commented on the tomb having an 'extremely narrow entrance'. Inside, the chamber measures just 3.17 x 2.11 meters, barely large enough to have held Cyrus' sarcophagus,"--Asian Historical Architecture website. Gordon Bugbee Collection

limestone

Base: 13.35 x 12.30 meters

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GPB-ANC2-1074