Naghsh-e Rostam,
Persepolis
Personal travel impressions in stories and pictures from Naghsh-e Rostam, Persepolis, Iran. Click on the pictures to enlarge, send as a free e-card, or download for personal use. You can locate Naghsh-e Rostam and navigate the world using Google Earth
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N 30° 2.159
E 52° 51.558
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Other stories:
Not far from the famed city of Persepolis, are the four tombs of ancient Persian kings. Although this is still open to debate and speculation, the tombs seem to be those of Darius I and II, Xerxes I and Artaxerxes. From a distance they look like four huge crosses in the cliff in which they are carved out, but closer by you see that the tombs have actually been created in the "wall" of the crosses.
Under the tombs, at eye level, many more recent reliefs are to be found. Several scenes, mostly from wars fought many centuries ago, these depict men, horses, other animals and also ancient scripts like Elamite. The tombs themselves are, unfortunately, not accessible to the public anymore. While walking at the feet of these enormous carvings, I felt truly dwarfed by their size. 
Then there is a tower-like construction which was used either as a fire-temple or a house of prayers in ancient times. Walking further to the edge of the cliffs, there are more reliefs in the rocks, depicting amongst others the Roman emperor Valeriano and a Persian king. On top of the hill, there is a column where fires were lit to communicate with Persepolis. If anything, walking around this area gave me an overwhelming sensation of history.
