Notes from the Necropolis, Persepolis, Estakhr, and Cypress Tree
Today was a fascinatingly rich day spent in the company of the spirits and remains of the greatest rulers of the Achaemenid Dynasty. We started with the Necropolis arriving soon after it opened, when no one was there. It was perfect; the weather was still mild and there was a breeze flowing between the tombs of Darius I, Xerxes I, Ardeshir I and Darius II and the “Zoroastrian Kaab’a”, which may be a tomb of one of Cyrus the Great’s sons. The cliff face, with the tombs about 2/3 of the way up, rises dramatically from the flat valley floor. There are three tombs on the front face, with Xerxes I’s on the one at a right angle on the right side from the entrance. Below the tombs and scattered across the bottom of the cliff are Sassanian reliefs and one Elamite off to the far left of where the tombs are located. The cliff faces east to Persepolis across the valley to the next set of mountians; Pasargadae is in the valley about 80 miles away off to the north.
The tombs all have the same frontal reliefs, some like Darius I’s, in better condition than the others. On the lower section the rectangular tomb entrance is framed by four symmetrically placed pillars with double bull capitals, exactly like those found on the real pillars at Persepolis. The door frame and ceiling facia above the pillars have three receding rungs like rows of feathers. As the Achaemenids were strongly Zoroastrian it is likely that the four natural elements, earth, fire, water, air, are represented in the four pillars and the three principles, good thoughts, good words, good deeds, in the architectural framing elements. Above the actual tomb’s ceiling is a relief that has two layers of variously dressed people holding up the reliefs of the Emperor. This probably represents the united peoples of the Persian Empire who support the King’s divinely appointed rule. The Emperor stands on a three tiered pedestal in a pose similar to the man in the Faravahar pointing upwards towards the winged figure representing Ahura Mazda, which in turn faces the Emperor. Below the right wing of the Divine Spirit opposite the Emperor is a Fire Altar and on the far upper right a circle that could be both the sun and the moon.
The tombs are not in order of the Emperor’s rule, but rather Darius I is to the far right of the cliff, with his grandson and great grandson off to his left. His son, Xerxes I is next to him off to a right angle. Xerxes looks out south at his father and descedents. The tombs range in age from Darius I in 500 BCE to Darius II in 410 BCE, with the Ka, ba-ye Zartusht around 150 BCE.
Across the path from Darius II and Ardeshir I is a large cube shaped structure, the Ka, ba-ye Zartusht, that is dug into the ground so that about half is above ground and have under. There are inscriptions written by Kartir, Shipur’s chief priest testifying to the glory of the Sassanid rule, which followed the Achaemenid. No one is sure what the building was used for, some say a cremation house, others a treasury – and a large number of artifacts were uncovered there- and others that it is the tomb of Cyrus II’s son Simurdis. There is one remaining wall that is a replica of this structure in Pasargadae, and that is said to be Cyrus the Great’s other son, Cambyses II, the one who conquered Egypt. As Cyrus II only had two sons, this theory has some credence.
Closer to ground level are a series of reliefs testifying to the glory of Sassanian conquests, including one that is similar to those found at Bishapur, with Valerian enchained to Shapur, while Phillip the Arab is on his knees begging for protection.
The last of these reliefs is one near Darius’ tomb that has Nercy receiving a ring of power from a female figure. Some scholars have said that this is Anahita, while others believe it is his wife as there is a child between them and he is raising his left hand to the figure, when it should be the right if it is to a divine being. One of the first as far as physical spacing is concerned is distinctly Elamite. It supposedly shows a female deity with the King, but even with enhancing and zooming in on the photos, I fail to recognize such a figure amidst the bearded warriors. The Elamite relief is dated to 750 BCE, but the others are all Sassanid dating from about 235 AD with the one where Ahura Mazda appoints Ardeshir as King to an unfinished relief of Azar Nerseh in 309 AD. (Just a note on some of the names, the Sassanids often took Achaemenid names but started the numbering over, so there can be an Ardeshir I for both the Achaemenids and Sassanids, which can become somewhat confusing.)
The Necropolis is an amazing site. To imagine the power the men in the tombs had, the hubris of the Sassanians who usurped this power, and then realize what is now left is a stark reminder of the fickleness of time.
From the Necropolis we went to the city the entombed built, Persepolis. It is truly as incredible as the photos and the books portray. The site is huge and even if it is almost completely destroyed, is still awe-inspiring. As with the tombs, the city was built on Zoroastrian calendar and geometrical principles. The various staircases highlight the merging of the various peoples into one military and economic force. Primarily the Medes and the Parses are displayed as brothers with easy chatting between them, while the other nations bring their tributary offerings. The very tall columns had capitals that were framed with the double bull/calf with the central flat space the place where the roof pillars would have been situated. Of the remaining structures, there were three that really stood out for me, Xerxes’ Gate of All Nations, the large winged bull in the Hall of 100 Columns and the Tachara, the palace that was started by Darius but completed by Xerxes. It lies directly southwest of the Apadana, which must have been magnificent, but is now not nearly as impressive – to me at least – as these other three structures. The Tachara’s door frames and the staircases to the palace have been reconstructed, which allows the visitor to get a better idea of the layout of the royal residence. All of the door jams had reliefs and many are still visible. There seem to be reoccurring images of the king fighting with and overcoming a mythical beast, part lion, part griffin, or of soldiers protecting the site. There are only a couple of Faravahar images left and they are near the worker’s quarters. The large bull overlooked the area that was associated with the soldiers and is a beautifully carved and almost overwhelmingly powerful sculpture. It seems fitting that it should inspire power into the troops. The Gate of All Nations is both the entrance and exit to the site. The Assyrian like winged bull figures on the entrance and exit pillars have been reconstructed amidst graffiti from various ages. Amir informed me that the one entirely reconstructed capital took an Italian couple 18 months to complete. Excavations are ongoing, primarily with Italian and Iranian archeologists.
There is a fabulous view of the entire site from the tomb of Artaxerxes II and III above the site on Mercy Mountain that frames the background of the site. From there one can also see where the gardens would have been surrounding the site, which now the desert has reclaimed. The frame for the Shah’s tent party to celebrate 2,500 years of the Persian Empire in 1971, which led to his downfall is also visible from the tomb. It is another telling statement.
From Persepolis we briefly stopped at Estakhr, that had a famous Anahita fire temple, which is a bit unusual as she is normally associated with water. There is, unfortunately, nothing left of this site, though, and I couldn’t figure out which knoll or which fallen column might have been associated with her sacred space. This was a fairly large city in its day, as it took over from Persepolis after that city had been destroyed, but time and the Arabs who massacred 40,000 people at the site, have almost entirely eradicated it. Time has also taken its toll in Pasargadae, although that site is in much better condition than Estakhr. Cyrus’ tomb was definitely the highlight of what remains of the first capital of the Achaemenid Empire. It is the most complete structure and by far the most impressive. The striking aspect of Pasargadae is its physical location, the plain where the battle between the Fars and Medians took place, which ended up uniting the forces to become the Persian Empire. There are mountains all around off in the far distance, but the plain is extensive. There used to be a river running through the site, but it – as so many others in this country – is now non-existent. Many of the ancient rivers were diverted for agriculture and have since dried up. The one in Pasargardae didn’t just dry up, one has to use a fair amount of imagination to see where an ancient bridge was as it is almost impossible to recognize a former river bed.
On the road to a caravanserai, we stopped in Abarkuh, which is home to perhaps the oldest living tree; it is very probably the oldest living cypress tree. It is said to be 4,500 years old, (some Japanese and Russian scholars have supposedly dated it to even older) and is in remarkably healthy condition. As I was walking to see the tree, I saw a young woman in a black chador who was with her young son and another woman, also in a black chador, and her baby sitting on the ground with school books all around them. The young woman stood up, motioned for her son to come over to me and told him to speak English. He was 10 and was attending a private school after regular classes to learn English. We had a delightful exchange and it was, once again, a testament to the friendliness of the Iranian people to welcome a stranger into their midst. The father arrived and they invited us to dinner, but we had to get back on the road to get to the caravanserai.
Staying at a traditional, yet renovated caravanserai, is often the highlight of many tourists’ visit to Iran. For me it was sort of a nightmare. There are no real rooms, as there are no walls between people’s sleeping areas only cloth. The fellow in the next compartment snored and it was as if he was doing so in my ear. The “bed” is a mattress on the floor and not a thick one. A kid’s inflatable pool air mattress would have been a blessing, and to top it off the toilet was across the courtyard with guards sleeping in the center space, so there was no way to take a shower (but there was only cold water anyway) and even getting up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, which stank as all public facilities here do, was a problem. I can do without the uniqueness of yurts, traditional houses, or caravanserais if I can’t have a clean and accessible bathroom. I guess I am getting old!
From the caravanserai the next morning we headed to Yazd. The main attractions for me were the Towers of Silence, which are Zoroastrian cremation sites on the north side of town, and the Fire Temple with a flame that is said to be continuous through various wars, disasters and good times since the 5th C. The Towers are on top of twin peaks that jut out from the desert floor. They have a flat circular area on the top that was used for placing the recently deceased bodies so that the birds could eat them. After the avian feast, the bones would be buried. The Fire Temple is relatively new, built in the 1920s through financial assistance of Indian Zoroastrians. While we were there the priest came out to stoke the flames that keeps the fire continuously burning. The flame for this temple, is said to have come from the one near Shiraz that was lit in ca. 480AD. The temple has a room they call a museum that has a series of large posters both in Farsi and English explaining the basic tenets of Zoroastrianism, some of the rituals, the calendar and a brief biography of Zarathustra. The information is clearly laid out and very helpful.
Yazd is a desert city and has a famous old center of mud brick houses, which form a kind of labyrinth. We walked through during the heat of the afternoon and the shops in the old town as well as in the bazaar were closed. Yazd is a fairly conservative city; they don’t even have a cinema, but they do have good mint tea at the Silk Road Restaurant.
