'Transactions of the Bombay Geographical Society, from January 1847 to May 1849. Edited by the Secretary. Volume VIII.' [‎306] (415/496)

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but had been converted into a temple dedicated to Anaitis,*—a temple in
all respects appropriate, with the emblems of fecundity around. We
may presume, that, on the spread of the Zoroastrian doctrines, tliis
temple was either destroyed or fell into decay; but that the representa
tives of the lost member of Osiris remained entire until a much later
period, we have evidence of in a work of a comparatively late oriental
writer The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping. .f They are, indeed, at present on the spot; and on a minute
examination which we made, the pedestals, and superior parts of the
columns corresponding to them, could be distinctly traced.^ Some of
them are of considerable magnitude, and not only indisputably, I think,
identify the Bagistan of Diodorus Siculus with the modern Behistan, but
at the same time serve to verify the descriptive evidences of Isidore and
of Zakariya Kazvini. There can be but little doubt, too, of the founda
tion of the temple of Anaitis having served for the base of the contem
plated structure of Khusru Parviz; and the deeper excavation of the scarp,
for the back of the building, as described by Major Eawlinson, will suf
ficiently account for the obliteration of the sculptures and inscription of
the celebrated Semiramis.
The antiquities pertaining to the “ Storied Bock” have now been
described, but vestiges of a Sassanian age abound in the plain of Chama-
batan and its neighbourhood. Immediately opposite to the tablets of
Darius, the piers and buttresses of an ancient Bridge, termed the Puli
Khusru, occupy the present bed of the Gamasab, which, to be crossed,
has now to be forded,—a matter of no small difficulty when the river is
swollen by its periodical supplies from rain, and from the melting of the
snow on the adjacent mountains. From the bridge, an hours ride
through rich rice-plantations and melon-beds conducts to a mound of
ruin, whose surface is covered with hewn stones, and the fragments of
pillars, denoting that some building formerly occupied the site. A short
distance from the mound a large piece of white marble is shewn as the
Yakhti-Shirin. It is about eight feet square, and the natives allege that
it bears an inscription on its lower face, which is partially embedded m
* Virgins were consecrated to this Goddess, and esteemed themselves dig” 1 *^
by a public prostitution ! Cyrus is said to have instituted the ostentatious * es ^. g
observed in honor of Anaitis, in order the more effectually to destroy his enei >
the Sacae, by an over-indulgence in luxuries they were unaccustomed to.
t Zakariya Kasvini, from Notes before alluded to in B. G. J.
X On a former visit to this spot, Major Rawlinson overlooked these interesti 0
•relics. See B. G, J., Vol. IN., Part. I., page 114.