Naqsh-e Rostam or Necropolis is an area where you can see intriguing and magical lithographs that reveals mythical secrets from history that pertain to Elamite, Achaemenid and Sasanian age. Necropolis is located in Marvdasht city Near Shiraz in Fars province.
At first, I prefer to tell you about the names. Why here is called “Naqsh-e Rostam” or “Neqropolis” we will take part in that.
Why is it called Naqsh-e Rostam?
Iranian used to call there Naqsh-e Rostam because they did not know about their history before Islam several years ago. They watched the lithographs on the stones and the mountains and attribute them to Shahnameh which is written by Ferdowsi. Rostam is a mythical warrior and a hero in Shahnameh. When they saw the pictures of warriors on the stone, they imagined that they pertained to Shahnameh and its warrior Rostam. This is why they call it Naqsh-e Rostam.
Why is it called Necropolis?
Necropolis means the city of the dead because here is the tomb of four Achaemenid kings. At that time Persepolis was the city of alive people and people used to work and live there.
Now we want to talk about the tombs and other parts of this magnificent area. In this area we have four Cross-shaped lithography and almost ten other items which we want to talk about their details.
Look at four huge Cross-shaped lithography. Their shapes have nothing to do with the Cross of Christ, but research indicate that this shape have to do something with four elements that they believe they were holy. These holy elements were water, wind, soil and fire. All these tombs had been built for Achaemenid kings in their lifetime and under their own surveillance.
Tombs of Achaemenid kings
- Tomb of Darius the Great
- Tomb of Xerxes I
- Tomb of Artaxerxes I
- Tomb of Darius II
Tomb of Darius the Great
One of the clever kings in Achaemenid era who made magnificent palaces at his age and many remained monuments in Persepolis had been built at his behest. He developed trade and agriculture and international communication and governed Persian land from 550 to 486 BC. Many roads had been built at his age. Now he has buried here, if you pay attention to the middle of Cross-shaped lithography you can find a door there which is the entrance of a chamber. There are nine tombs inside the chamber, one of them belongs to Darius the Great and others belong to his family.
The entrance of tomb has been built at 60 meters and around the entrance you can watch some symbols and elements which are engraved on the mountain. Each element has its own story and represents a belief and an event at that age.
Tomb of Xerxes I
Xerxes the First also known as Xerxes the Great was son of Darius the Great. He governed Persian land from 486 to 465 BC. Like his father he was a well-known and popular king. He was interested in art and architecture. If you see his tomb, you can find that more architectural tactic is used in his tomb. As I told you, these four shrines had been built during their own life and under their own surveillance. After several wars with Greeks, he completed buildings and palaces which started at Darius I age.
During his life he had his shrine built exactly like his father’s and beside it. His tomb is 100 meters away from his father.
Tomb of Artaxerxes I
This is the tomb of son of Xerxes the First. He sat on the throne after his father in 465 to 424 BC. He completed the unfinished monuments which were started at his father’s age during his life.
He died when he was 60 years old and buried in one of these tombs. His tomb has been built next to Darius I’s tomb in almost 40 meters away. The same as other tombs this tomb had built in 60 meters altitude. Inside the chamber there are two more tombs which belong to his family. Unlike other tomb, inside this one you cannot find great art in lithography. Researchers estimated that the tomb had built between 430-450 BC.
Tomb of Darius II
According to stories and research Darius II was not deserved enough for being a king. Research estimated that his tomb belongs to 404-420 BC. This tomb kind of like Darius I’s tomb. His tomb is exactly located face to the Cube of Zoroaster. He was in charge of governing the Persian land after Artaxerxes the First.
Cube of Zoroaster
At the opposite side of Naqsh-e Rostam Mountain there is a mysterious and exciting cubic monument made with stone which its utilization has not been defined yet. After observing soot on the wall inside that, researchers guessed that it used to be a temple but after that by observing other indications they declined this assumption. The name of this monument is a new-coined word and does not have any relation with its utilization.
If you pay attention to this monument you will notice that the large and heavy stones placed on each other for many years without any adhesive like cement or something like that.
Inscriptions
In addition to four shrines of four Achaemenid kings there are some inscriptions in that stunning area which date back to Sasanian and Elamite era. They created these inscriptions on this mountain because the safety of the place. Each inscription represents an especial event at that time and there is an exciting history behind it.
- Elamite
- Bahram II
- Shapur II
Elamite Inscription
The oldest inscription in this area. This is created in Elamite era.
Bahram II inscription
This is located below the Darius the Great’s tomb and created by Sasanian which indicates Bahram II’s victory in a war. The warrior who is on the horse in the left side of the inscription is Bahram II but the defeated warrior’s identity who is hitting the ground is not defined yet.
Shapur II
He was Artaxerxes I’s son his picture has been engraved on three places: Naqsh-e Rostam as you see here, Naqsh-e Salmas and on a beautiful brooch which is keeping in national library of France.