PONTIFF KING. 
677 
in these fables; but the one throws light on the other; and 
though apparently of different hues, by a mingling of beams, a 
ray of truth is produced, which points clearly to the fact, that 
whether this august figure of the four encounters be intended 
for Darius Hystaspes or his son, the story it tells is the same; 
representing a sovereign, who united in his own person the 
regal with the sacerdotal influence, and who exerted both to 
the destruction of impiety, in the subjugation of the powers 
to which it was allied. A single horn being the emblem of 
national empire, in all these combats he clutches that symbol ; 
shewing that he holds its still existing strength, whilst his sword 
strikes at the vital principle of religious schism, whether in men 
or in empires. Throughout the legends of Persia, the countries 
north of Elborz are typified under the figures of the simurgh, 
eagle, or griffin ; and it is not improbable that the monster we 
see here with the skeleton-tail, and which is very like the 
martichorus of Ctesias, may be the ghoul, or flesh-eating daemon 
of Isfundeer. What particular nation it may represent, I do 
not pretend to guess ; though no doubt remains in my mind 
that all the four beasts in these bas-reliefs are symbols of certain 
Sabian countries subdued by Darius or Xerxes ; and that, as the 
pontiff-king, the descendant of Mithra, and the successor of his 
prophet Zoroaster, the great victor is sculptured on the stone 
in everlasting monument. The structure to which these co¬ 
lossal combats are attached, appears to have been intended for 
a place of public duties, next in rank to the more spacious 
Chehel-minar, or hall of chief ceremonies. The symbolical 
encounters just described, set forth the heroic acts of the monarch 
in quelling the corrupters and disturbers of his empire ; and the 
bas-reliefs on the high compartments of the doors, shew the 
