194 
VALLEY OF KERMANSHAH. 
That the bas-reliefs at Tackt-i-Bostan are of Sassanian origin, 
no person who has taken the pains to compare the works of one 
age with another, can have any doubt; or, that the last described, 
though relating to an event that took place in the beginning of 
the third century, was executed towards the end of the fourth, 
by order of Baharam Kerman shah; who, when adorning the en¬ 
virons of his new city with sculptures to the memory of his 
father, might deem it wise to add this memorial of his descent 
from the great restorer, if not founder, of his race. The bas- 
reliefs of Khosroo Purviz could not be executed till upwards 
of two centuries afterwards ; though the tales of the natives 
would attribute all on the range of Tackt-i-Bostan and Be-Sitoon, 
to the gigantic powers of the unhappy Ferhaud; but taste as 
well as truth would compel him to give up all claim to any in 
the Throne of the Garden , excepting those of the great arch ; and 
with regard to Be-Sitoon, (if that were Bagistan, the Place of the 
Garden ,) he must, probably, resign the colossal remains over 
the fountain, to the age of Semiramis ; and the captive pro¬ 
cession, to some admirable artist of the earliest times of the 
empire of the Medes. 
The fertility of this extensive valley is truly beautiful in its 
whole stretch from the city of Kermanshah, to the town of 
Senna, the capital of Ardelan, the most southern district of 
Courdistan; and on the opposite direction, to the junction of 
the rivers Mori and Kara-sou, whose ample streams, with the 
addition of many others of less note, water this delicious garden. 
Such natural luxuriance could not fail from the earliest 
ages, attracting the sovereigns of the country to fix a palace of 
temporary rest at least, in so charming a spot ; and hence no 
doubt need subsist of its real claim to the reputation of having 
been the occasional abode of all the princes to which tradition 
