358 
RUINS OF RHEY. 
the Persian (or rather, at that time, of the Babylonian) empire, 
fully proves that Rhey was a very considerable city, at least two 
hundred years before their deliverance, by that greatest of all the 
m on arch s of the East. Therefore, in calculating the antiquity 
of its foundation, even the exaggerating traditions of the Persian 
poets may not have far exceeded the truth. Rhey has, at 
different times, been the residence of the sovereigns of the 
empire; or, as the capital of a province, of its own Prince- 
governors. It has been distinguished with palaces; it has been 
sanctified by fire-temples, or mosques ; it lias been elevated by 
one conqueror, to the honours of a capital; it has been sacked by 
the next, as only worthy of his vengeance. Hence, the city 
which an angel and a prophet blessed with their presence, is 
now become a scene of such desolation, that the footsteps of 
man are hardly discernible, except where they have left traces 
of war, and mark his grave. 
However, as I am not aware of even the few noble relics 
which yet remain, having been particularly described by any 
European traveller, I shall attempt a sketch of what I saw. 
The mins lie about five miles south-east of Teheran, extending 
from the foot of the curving mountains, and running in that 
direction across the plain in an oblique line south-west. The 
surface of the ground, all over this tract, is marked by hollows, 
mounds, mouldering towers, tombs, and wells. The fabric of 
all, being chiefly of that burnt, and sun-dried material, which 
seems to bid defiance to the last oblivious touch of time. A 
very strong citadel, appears to have occupied a high and rocky 
promontory that juts out considerably beyond the other huge 
buttresses of nature, which here start from the different clefts in 
the mountains. Along the perpendicular sides of this height, 
