ROYAL NECROPOLIS OF NAQSH-E ROSTAM

Do not miss one of the jewels of archaeological sites. The oldest and most beautiful achéménides tombs draw large crosses on the cliff, overlooking imposing sasanians bas-reliefs. From the reign of Darius appeared the rock tombs with their admirable sculptures. This is where the cliffs are dug, neighbours of the remains of the old élamite cult, the tombs of Darius and three of his successors: Artaxerxes I, Artaxerxes II and Darius II. The name of the site refers to Rostam, a legendary hero of ancient Persia. Naqsh-e Rostam today has four ancient vaults carved by the Achéménides shaped by cross, half-height on the cliff, and dominating five superb sasanians bas-reliefs made a millennium later. The horizontal portico is surmounted by a vertical eardrum and underlined by the. In the face of these tombs, half-burial is a temple of fire fire, a probable assumption that a number of historians have assumed. Only one of the vaults bears a trilingual inscription (by parthian, sassanide and Greek) allowing it to be assigned, without doubt, to Darius I. The other vaults are generally allocated as follows (left to right): Darius I, Xerxes I, Artaxerxes I and Darius II. On the façade of the cave of Darius I, the Royal Stage is represented above a facade of palaces in columns, worn by the embodiment of the peoples of the Empire, in weapons so free. The great King Darius, standing on a podium facing the altar of fire, lifts his right hand by invoking Ahura Mazda, featured by a winged disc from which a bearded character emerges (the faravahar), painted with the features of the king. The famous trilingual inscription says: " I am Darius I, the King King, King of Kings, King of the Land, Master of various peoples, King of this large and vast land, son of Hystaspes, Achaemenid, Persian, Persian son, Aryen, of aryan lineage. By the grace of Ahura Mazda, these are the provinces I conquered in the distance. I governed them: they paid me a price. What I ordered, they did so; the law that was mine was imposed on them: La Mediates, Susiane, Parthie, Arie, Camel, Sogdiane, Khorazmie, Drangiane, Arachosie, Sattagydie, Gandara, India, India, the country of the Scythians amirgiens, the Babylonie, Assyria, Arabia, Egypt, Armenia, Arménie, Cappadocia, L, L, Skudra, the country of Des distant from the Sea, Des distant from the Sea, Africans, Ethiopians, Maxyens and Karkiens. King Darius says: Ahura Mazda, when he saw the earth in turmoil, gave me. He made me king. I am King by the grace of Ahura Mazda. If you think that the land dominated by Darius was few, then look at the image of those who support my throne. So you will get to know them, and ye will know that the spear of the Persian man penetrated in the distance; Then ye will know that Persia fought in the distance. " Above the vaults, stand on the edge of the rock, with great bas-reliefs, whose lower registers represent equestrian fights:

The investiture of King Nestam (293-302 Apr. J.), crowned by the water goddess, Anahita.

Shahpur I (241-272 Apr. The Persian king of the Dynastie dynasty, in his famous triumph over the Romans: the king, on horseback, is distinguished by Emperor Philippe the Arabic, who folds his knee; We see behind him the emperor Valérien made prisoner (in 262 of our age).

Two superimposed reliefs: top, Shahpur II (310-379 Apr. ), at the bottom of King Ormouz II (303-309) in combat, with his lance.

Facing the tombs see the Kaaba de Zarathoustra (Kabe-ye Zardush), a square square, half-buried. Historians are reluctant to comment on the function of the building: a tour of the fire achaemenid? a place for the Avesta, the sacred book of zoroastrianism? a morgue to momifier kings? a chamber of custodian of the tombs? The most plausible hypothesis would be that of a temple hosting the sacred fire of the Achéménides. A little further, along the cliff, ancient Zoroastrians ossuaries appear, dug on the mountain side. The Zoroastrians never exposed their dead on earth, judged sacred as fire and water, but deposited them on a hard rock… This ritual, unlike the practice of incineration, current in ancient and modern India, aimed to preserve the ambient environment of any contact with the impurity of carrion. A practice that perhaps explains the construction of inaccessible tombs dug on the rock, as for the achéménides kings. See also, at the end of the cliff, a first sassanide relief retraçant the inauguration of the first king Sassanide Ardachir I (224-241 apr. ). On horseback, he receives the crown of the hand of Ahura Mazda, also represented on his mount. Under the hooves of their respective horses, their last Parthian V enemies, and Addition, the evil god, are trampled. The second bas-relief evokes a king king, Bahram II (276-293 Apr. ), surrounded by family members and dignitaries. This bas-relief, of great value, covers a much older élamite engraving, which only remains the two characters appearing at the ends. It is one of the few visible mesopotamians representations, dating from approximately th to th centuries before our era.