556 
FIFTH BAS-RELIEF. 
at this juncture Xenophon describes the dress, observing, “ he 
was so habited, to make his first procession from the capital of 
Persia, to those portions of ground that had been chosen and set 
apart for the gods ; taking with him victims, he sacrificed on the 
summit of a mountain , as is the custom in Persia, with prayer.” 
This sacrifice, made in a particular place, at some distance from 
the capital, is mentioned several times in the Cyropedia, and 
seems to point, without any force, to the mountain-altar, or 
Tackt-i-Sulieman at Pasargadae, in the plain of Mourg-aub. 
But to return to the bas-relief of his great descendant 
Ardashir. The figure in the sculpture that personates that 
prince, stretches forth its hand to receive the wreathed symbol 
of empire. His garments are all perfectly unadorned, without 
any peculiarity to denote royal rank, excepting the balloon- 
shape on the head, (or, shall we suppose it a globular represen¬ 
tation of the sun, from whom the Persian kings derive their 
origin ?) and the flowing scarf from behind his neck, and the 
ribbands at his heels. The attendant that holds the fan over his 
head, is a luxury allowed in the present times, to nobles as well 
as royalty. Neither of the figures possess the majesty they 
ought to designate; and, least of either, the one that would 
represent the god Ormuzd. Did not the inscriptions put a bar 
to conjecture, I should make a different explanation of the whole. 
I should have concluded the murally-crowned personage to be 
Ardashir; who, after gloriously re-establishing the Persian 
empire, and restoring its religion, “ sated with success, and 
wearied with power, (as Sir John Malcolm elegantly expresses 
it,) resigned the government into the hands of his son Shapoor, 
after having reigned fourteen years an absolute sovereign in 
Persia.” The staff in his left hand, might very well be con- 
