'Persia and the Persian Question by the Hon. George Nathaniel Curzon, M.P.' [‎350] (401/714)

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plain. This was, no doubt, the arx, or acropolis, and its outline can
still be satisfactorily determined. Below this was a lower fortified
enceinte, or citadel; and encircling this, upon the plain, was a vast
space surrounded by fortified walls, with its entrances masked by
three great square towers, the whole forming a triangle with the
arx as its apex. Such, briefly stated, appears to have been the
form of the fortified part of ancient Rhey. At present the line of
walls has resolved itself into prodigious mounds of broken brick
and clay, from which coins have constantly been recovered, and to
which visitors to Teheran are in the habit of going out with a
spade or shovel for an afternoon's private excavation. They seldom
return without some fragment of exquisite tile-work, still gleam
ing with that flame-like iridescence which is a perished secret of
the past, but which is indescribably beautiful even upon the minute
chips and splinters that are, as a rule, the sole reward of the spade.
I am not aware that any scientific or systematic excavation has ever
taken place in the mounds of Rhey, and it is one of the tasks which
I should consequently recommend to the labours of archasologists.
There are, however, other and more substantial relics of the
ancient city. The most conspicuous of these is a great circular
Tower of tower, locally known as the Nakkara-Khaneh (or Drum-
^ ezid tower) of Yezid, which too ardent writers, with no ap
parent justification, have identified with the sepulchre of Togrul
Beg, and with the mausoleum of the lovers Khalil Sultan and
Shad-el-Mulk. It is a great fabric, built of brick, entirely hollow
inside, and roofless, from sixty to seventy feet in height and one
hundred and twenty feet in exterior circumference, the outer surface
being broken into a series of projecting angles, similar to the towers
which I have previously noticed at Jorjan and Bostam. Around
the summit is, or, rather, was, a cornice decorated with a Kufic in
scription. This structure has unfortunately been subjected in the
last few years to a restoration so complete that it now presents the
appearance of a brand-new fabric. The surrounding ground has
been converted into a garden, with tanks and trees, and a stairway,
constructed in the wall, leads to the summit. From this point some
idea may be gained of the outline of the ancient city. At a little
distance to the east, and at the foot of the mountain, stands a
second ruined tower with Kufic cincture, of which, as it has not
been restored, I present a photograph. Above this are the
remains of a stone citadel, on the rock.
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