NAKSHI-ROUSTAM, THE MOUNTAIN OF SEPULCHRES. 515 
grey marble, fluted with masterly execution ; and possess a beauty 
and sharpness, as fresh as if the work of only yesterday. I care¬ 
fully made a drawing of one of them, in all its parts, to a scale 
by which its proportions and singular architecture may be seen. 
(Plate XLV. fig. a.) A few yards to the north-east from this fallen 
group of columns, we found remains of thick walls, and the yet 
unmutilated marble-work of several large door-frames. Indeed, 
the surface of the whole stretch of this immense hilly terrace is 
covered with mounds of ruins, noble fragments of the finest 
architectural parts of a building, and several pieces of pillars 
and capitals of still greater dimensions than the one described. 
By examination, it appears evident that two distinct large 
edifices have stood here; apparently a palace and a temple; 
and, independent of their appropriate remains, we perceive it 
has been a fortified place. Its local situation admirably adapts 
it for that post, entirely commanding the entrance into the 
great valley; and the foundations of the embattled walls and 
towers which surrounded it, are yet standing. From this posi¬ 
tion, and these remains, it seems likely to have been one of the 
superb citadels to which Persian writers have given the name of 
Sheekwan. Its northern bank is washed by the Kur-aub ; and at 
the foot of its southern slope, between it and the mountain, 
passes the road, which was formerly closed in upon the present 
fortress of the valley, by an enormous gate j the architecture 
and solidity of the walls, of which shew the antiquity of the 
structure, and the importance of its situation. 
Nakshi-Roustam, or the Mountain of Sepulchres, (Plate XVI.) 
was the next object of my investigation. The village in which 
I had taken up my quarters, is distant from the mountain nearly 
three miles; and my daily visits were performed at sun-rise, 
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