Tomb of Darius I

Tomb of Darius I

ca. 490 BCE

5331

Single Built Works

Iran (nation)

Fārs (province)

Achaemenid

royal tombs

Darius I--King of Persia--548 B.C.-485 B.C.

View of the tomb of Darius I at Naqsh-i-Rustam in Iran. "Darius the Great was the first to choose it as a burial place. His successors not only imitated his idea of a cliff tomb but also copied the layout of the tomb itself. The dramatic facade of the tomb is constructed like a cross. An entrance leads into the tomb chamber, cut deep into the rock. In the panel above this facade is a relief depicting the king standing on a three-stepped pedestal in front of an altar. His hand is raised in a gesture of worship. Above him floats the winged disk of Ahuramazda, god of the Zoroastrian religion. This scene is supported by throne bearers representing the twenty-eight nations of the empire. On the side panels are the king's weapon bearers and the Persian guards. The trilingual cuneiform inscriptions on three panels of the rock wall either enumerate the twenty-eight nations upholding the throne or glorify the king and his rule. Some traces of pigment found on the facade of the royal tombs suggest that all or most of the stone reliefs had been painted,"--The Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago website. Gordon Bugbee Collection

22.93 height

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GPB-ANC2-1079