SHAPOUR. 
377 
Cyiius and of Sassan by so many ties, and in Susiana , which was 
alike the favourite of both dynasties, we may expect to find the most 
splendid remains of their greatness. Both provinces have been ex¬ 
plored very imperfectly, as travellers have been confined to the regular 
road; and no European has enjoyed those opportunities of observa¬ 
tion and enquiry, which a residence in the country alone can give. 
Persepolis itself might probably have been unknown, if it had not been 
passed in the line from Shiraz to Ispahan ; but the ruins of Pasagardce * * * § 
of Darabgherd>-f and of J awr, j. in Pars ; as well as those of Susa , of 
Ahwaz , and of Shooster , in Khuzistan, are almost unknown. The 
whole of the plain of Merdasht , the hollow Persis of the ancients, as 
well as the part more immediately surrounding Persepolis , contained, 
as Chardin believed, a continued succession of ruins; “ Je sout- 
“ haiterois que quelque habile curieux allat passer un ete a Persepolis, 
“ a la decouverte de toutes les ruines de cette fameuse ville. Les 
“ gens clu pays assurent que ces ruines s'etendent a plus de dix lieues a 
“ la ronde.”§ 
Shapour itself is an instance of the very limited knowledge of Persia 
which we possess, beyond the immediate line of a common route. It 
is situated only a very few miles from the road, yet it has been passed 
by every traveller from Tavernier and Thevenot, down to Scott 
Waring, without a suspicion of its present existence. It certainly 
retained a share at least, of its political importance after the fall of 
the house of S ass an. It contained a mosque as well as a fire-temple, 
in the time of Eban Haukal ;|| and probably like other great cities 
* Fasa. See the text, p. 233. Pietro della Valle, tom. iii. 333. 
+ Darabglierd. See Ebn Haukal, p. 94, p. 133-4. Pietro della Valle, tom. 
iii. 336,571. Tavarnier,i. 395. 
t Jawr or Firuzabad. See the text, p.234. Ebn Haukal, p. 101. See Otter, i. 
191. Scott Waring was there, p. 106, but passed it with a very slight notice. 
§ Chardin, ii. p. 167. Le Brun was at Persepolis for three months; but he seems 
to have confined himself principally to the ruins of the palace. 
|| Ebn Haukal, p, 90, p. 95. 
S.c 
