BAS-RELIEFS. 
659 
“ was called by name the Shepherd of the Lord, to do all his 
pleasure,” would himself be enjoying the eternity of heaven. It 
does not, however, appear from any thing we read, (whatever 
might be the belief from the earliest ages in Persia, of guardian 
angels,) that the idea of a Ferwer or presiding second-self, was 
ever thought of there before the time of Zoroaster; and that 
was some years after the death of Cyrus. And if this aerial 
figure is meant to represent that extraordinary being, it at once 
decides that the bas-reliefs where it forms a part, must have 
been the work of a subsequent reign ; and none so likely as that 
of Darius Hystaspes, who was the patron of Zoroaster, and the 
zealous assertor of his doctrines and religious rites. Indeed, 
according to the hyperbolical calculations of the East, we are 
told that the regulations of the prophet were so numerous, and 
the reverence in which they were held by the monarch so de¬ 
voted, that they filled “ twelve thousand skins of parchment, of 
a cow-hide each,” and were deposited, by the royal order, in 
spacious vaults dug in the bosom of the rock at Persepolis. 
“ Holy men were appointed to guard them ; and it was com¬ 
manded that the profane should never approach the sacred 
records.” (Zeenut-ul-Tuarkh.) But it appears that the sword of 
the caliphs, like that of Alexander, cut the cord of mystery : the 
sanctuary of the sacred archives was violated by the followers of 
Mahomed; and the originals of the Zendavesta were heard of 
no more. 
We now return to the bas-reliefs of the structure (O). On 
the portals (b b) are duplicates of the same royal personage I 
have just described as walking forth under his umbrella; but 
here he is represented seated on a chair of state, holding a staff 
in one hand and a lotos in the other. An attendant stands 
4 p 2 
