Travel Guide Naqsh-E Rostam

6 km from Persepolis. Open from 7 am to 17 pm, extension until 19 pm in summer. Entry: 3 000 RI. 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, appear the rock tombs with their admirable sculptures. This is where the cliffs are dug, surrounded by 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 buried, a temple of fire fire, the probable assumption chosen by a number of historians.Only one of the vaults bears a trilingual inscription (parthian pahlavi, pahlavi sassanide and Greek) allowing it to be attributed, 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 Darius I's cellar, the royal stage is represented above a façade of palaces in columns, worn by the embodiment of the peoples of the Empire, weapons because free. King Darius, standing on a podium facing the altar of fire, raised his right hand by invoking Ahura Mazda, featured by a winged disc from where a bearded character emerges, similar to 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 Pointu amirgiens, the Pointu, Assyria, Arabia, Egypt, Egypt, Armenia, Cappadocia, Sparda, 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. '»»»» Overlooking the vaults, on the edge of the rock, large bas-reliefs, whose lower registers represent equestrian fights, are détachent: The investiture of King Nestam (293-302 Apr. (C), crowned by the water goddess, Anahita; Shahpur I (241-272 Apr. The Persian king of the Dynastie Dynasty, in the famous Triumph of Shahpur on the Romans: the king, on horseback, is distinguished by Emperor Philippe the Arabic, who folds his knee, and, behind him, Emperor Valérien is a 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; Also arranged on two registers separated by a horizontal line, King Bahram II (276-293 Apr. I.C.) in equestrian combat.