518 SPLENDID RUINS OF PERSEPOLIS. 



of whom, with a yonnq and pleasing face holds the fan, (he cus- 

 tom iry ensign of dignity : arid the other, with hard and marked 

 features, and a beard, rests on the pommel of his sword with one 

 hand, and beckons with the other. Behind the chief on the right, 

 are two figures, which from the feminine cast of their counte- 

 nances appear to be women ; one wears an extraordinary cap, and 

 the other, whose hair falls in ringlets on her shoulders, makes an 

 expressive motion with her right hand, as if she were saying, * Be 

 silent.' Betweeti the two principal figures are introduced two very 

 diminished beings, who do not reach higher than the knees of their 

 colossal companions. In dress they differ materially from each 

 other, and one holds a long staff. To the left, on a fragment of 

 the rock, is the bust of a figure, who also holds his hand in a 

 beconing and significant posture. The largest of these figures I 

 reckoned to be tea feet in height; the small ones two feet eight 

 inches. The whole of this is so much disfigured, that it is difficult 

 to ascertain its various and singular details. 



In the same recess, and to the left of this sculptured rock, 

 forming an angle with it, is another monument in a much higher 

 state of preservation ; parts of it indeed have suffered so little, 

 that they appear to be fresh at this day from the chisel. The same 

 royal personage so often represented with a globe on his head, and 

 seated on horseback, here forms the principal character of the 

 groupe. His face, indeed, has been completely destroyed by the 

 Mahometans, but the ornaments of his person and those of his 

 horse, (more profusely bestowed on both, than on any of the 

 similar figures which \ve had seen) are likewise more accurately 

 preserved. They merit a particular description ; because as the 

 composition was probably designed to represent the king in his 

 greatest state, every part of his dress is distinctly delineated. I 

 assign this subject to the sculpture, because no other personage of 

 rival dignity appears in the piece ; and because the attitude of the 

 chief announces parade and command ; for he presents a full face 

 to the spectator, and his right hand, though now much mutilated, 

 still rests on his side to indicate his ease and his independence. 

 Nine figures, of which the first is nine feet high, wait behind him; 

 and, from the marks of respect in which they stand, can be 

 attendants only on his grandeur. On each side of his head swells 

 an immense circumference of curls ; he wears an embossed neck* 

 lace, which falls low on his breast, and is therefore, perhaps, 



