516 THE mountain of sepulchres. 
where I remained, fully occupied, until the heat of the day drove me 
away, by becoming insupportable amongst those unshaded rocks. 
The face of the mountain is almost a perpendicular cliff, con¬ 
tinuing to an elevation of scarcely less than three hundred yards ; 
the substance is a whitish kind of marble. In this have been cut 
the celebrated sculptures and excavations, so long the subjects of 
discussion with the traveller, the artist, and the antiquary. 
These singular relics of Persian greatness are placed very near 
each other, and are all contained within the space of not quite 
the height of the mountain. 
Those highest on the rock are four ; evidently intended for 
tombs, and as evidently of a date coeval with the splendour of 
Persepolis. The range below, vary in ability of execution ; and 
are all in a very inferior taste to those above ; their sculptures 
chiefly represent combats and groups of people. I shall speak 
of them particularly hereafter; but, at present, I press imme¬ 
diately to those above, as preceding the last in time and merit. 
These four sepulchres differ in no way exteriorly ; hence we 
may suppose they vary as little within ; and the description of one 
may, generally, describe them all. The one I examined consists 
of an excavation of about fourteen feet, cut into the solid rock, in 
a form something resembling the Greek cross. (Plate XVII.) The 
upright division of it cannot be less than a hundred feet from 
end to end. The transverse lines present the front of the tomb. 
The face of the division below them, is a smooth surface ; its 
base terminating in a deep hollow cut in the rock. The highest 
compartment is thickly sculptured with figures. The front of 
the tomb is ornamented by four round pilasters, distant from 
each other about seven feet, and as far from the caverned sides 
of the excavation. Their bases terminate by a tor on a plinth, 
