Pasargade Travel Guide | Iran Travel Guide

The reception palace of Cyrus, a palace ornamented with the sculpture of a winged man, private palace, Takht-e-Soleiman plate, fire temple and the tomb of Cyrus the Great surrounded by a number of Islamic works and monuments like worship place and mosque left from the 13th and 14th centuries A.D. The tomb of Cyrus is a tall monument built on six layers of stone plates. The building has been built of pieces of white stone and is 12 meters high. Two cavities exist inside this stone-made tomb. The bigger cavity is known to be the grave of Cyrus and the smaller cavity belongs to his wife. The reception palace of Cyrus with a large hall and a number of porches and rooms supported by stone columns and an inscription in cuneiform script is left in the northeastern section of the tomb.
The other palace is ornamented with the exhibit of a winged man. The exhibit has been carved on white stone. Next is the private palace of Cyrus. This palace used to enjoy more attractions and exclusive ornamentations, decorations and privileges.
Crossing the Murghab plain in 330 BC, an army threaded its way along the flank of a steep, wooded gorge above the stream known today as the Pulvar. The troops were under the command of the young Macedonian conqueror Alexander, who was pressing eastward, dreaming of empire. They entered a broad, grassy valley. Half hidden by a cluster of gnarled trees, they caught a glimpse of a structure that, for a solemn moment, would bring their impatient general to a halt.

Alexander had arrived at the site of the Persian capital of Pasargade and had come upon the tomb of an earlier, celebrated world conqueror, the Persian King Cyrus II, known as Cyrus the great. In his day, Cyrus had founded an empire of unprecedented size and power. Because Alexander hoped to surpass the Persian monarch's achievements, he felt compelled to pause here and pay homage to his acclaimed predecessor.

One of Alexander's comrades in arms, Aristobulus, gave an account of their visit to the tomb, which later found its way into the writings of the first-century-BC Greek geographer Strabo. It was "a tower of no great size," Aristobulus reported, "concealed beneath the thicket of trees, in its lower parts massive, but its upper parts having a roof and shrine with a very narrow entrance." The Macedonians cautiously entered the building, all of 200 years old at the time. They found themselves in the royal burial chamber, where according to Aristobulus, they beheld "a golden couch and table with drinking cups, and a golden coffin."

There was also an inscription, cited "from memory," by Aristobulus: "Oh man, I am Cyrus, who founded the empire of the Persians and was king of Asia. Grudge me not therefore this monument." The Greek historian Plutarch, writing Alexander's biography in the late first centuruy AD, reported that as a mark of respect Alexander had ordered a Greek translation of the Persian text to be carved alongside it. Plutarch also offered a somewhat more melodramatic version of Cyrus's original text, which may have been taken from a source other than Aristobulus or embellished in its passage through the intervening centuries:"Oh man, whosoever thou art and from whencesoever thou comest, for that thou wilt come I know, I am Cyrus, who founded the empire of the Persians. Grudge me not therefore, this little earth that covers my body.
Source: Time Life Books, Persians: Masters of Empire

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