The terrace
and portals of
Persepolis.
Double flight
of steps.
Two-winged
animals at the
entrance.
Various remains
on the
terrace walls,
&c.
tains two sarcophagi cut out of the rock. The second tomb is
a little way eastward of the first, and the niche at the
entrance contains figures in relief: it is nearly of the same
design as the first, but is more ruinous, and probably more
ancient.
The other objects of antiquity are in front of the tombs; and
a general idea of these remains may be conveyed to the reader
by observing, that they occupy different parts of a grand terrace,
which forms a very irregular parallelogram at the foot of a
stupendous range of rocks. On the eastern side, the terrace is
nearly 1,600 feet long, and three of the sides are surrounded
by massive walls, having in each a number of breaks or indentures
forming right angles ; but the direct distances from side
to side are respectively 1,540 feet for the western face, 893 feet
for the northern ; and for the southern face, 703 feet.1
This terrace is approached near the northern extremity of
its western side, by means of two double flights of steps, which
are separated by a landing-place 37 feet long by 24 feet wide;
and so gradual is the ascent, that it is suited for horsemen. It
is constructed with such ponderous blocks of marble, that each
piece contains several steps, 17 feet long by 18 inches broad,
and 3 inches deep; and the pieces are so neatly joined, that
the whole has the appearance of having been cut out of the
solid rock. A little way from the top of this grand approach,
the road leads through two gigantic portals; and there are yet
standing two of the four great columns, which once occupied
the space between the two entrances; their heights are 39 feet
and 28 feet respectively. The front and interior sides of the
first portal are supported by two huge unicorns, 1 4 | feet high;
and those of the second, by two winged animals, each having
the head of a man, which is covered with a kind of cap: the
unicorns are in front of the grand staircase, and the other
animals are towards the mountains.
The ruins occupy different parts of the terrace southward of
the grand ascent, and form separate inclosures, each with three
or four apartments on different levels. Four of these portions
1 See Pla te X L V I I I , These dimensions were taken by the late Colonel
P ’Arcy, R.A., K.L.S.