نسخة مذيلة من "بلاد فارس والشأن الفارسي" بقلم جورج كرزون، مع أوراق مدرجة [ظ‎‎٥‎٥‎٥] (١٨١٤/١١٢٣)

126 PERSIA
the right side and streamers behind, and being commonly supposed to
represent Artabanus, the last Parthian king. On the other hand, the
figure whom the god tramples underfoot appears to have snakes
wreathed round his head, a symbolism which has been variously
explained. Ker Porter identifies him, somewhat vaguely, with the
< o'oro-on-headed demon of the Arsacidian idolatry.’ Thomas talks, not
less obscurely, about the ‘ snake-crested helmet of the Mecle/ Rawlin-
son decides for Ahriman, the embodiment of evil ; Perrot, for Zohak
or Azi-Dahaka, another incarnation of the evil principle. 1 Inscriptions,
bilingual, but triliteral— i.e. in two forms of the Pehlevi character, and
in Greek—are cut upon the shoulders of both horses. That upon the
charger of the king, which was first deciphered by De Sacy, 2 runs as
follows :—
This is the image of the Ormuzd- worshipper, the god Artakshatr (Ardeshir),
King of kings Arian, of the race of the Gods, son of the God, Papak, the King.
The Greek inscription on the horse of Ormuzd says
This is the image of the god Zens.
This is the sum-total of the Sassanian sculptures of Naksh-i-Rustam.
We will now cross the valley again to its southern side, where, soon
after turning the angle of the mountains that face the plain
mreiTof 3 " of Mervdasht, and setting our faces towards Persepolis,
Naksh-i- at a 6 0 ut two miles distance from the palace-platform we
come across a small natural recess 3 in the base of the cliff,
the sides and back wall of which have been artificially smoothed in
•order to receive the work of the chisel. So snugly hidden is this rock-
nook, and so littered are its approaches with loosely-piled boulders, that
four travellers out of five would probably pass it unobserved. Its
sides converge towards the back wall of the natural rock ; and all
three surfaces are adorned with bas-reliefs of the earliest Sassanian
period, representing incidents similar to those which have already been
described. They have suffered, however, from more deliberate and
savage mutilation than their fellows on the other side of the valley,
this being due, perhaps, to their greater proximity to Persepolis, whither,
we are told by Chardin that the Prime Minister of Shah Sefi I. sent
sixty men with orders to deface the sculptures, so as to discourage the
1 Vide Professor J. Darmesteter, Introduction au Vendidad, p. Ixv.
2 stolze, vol. ii. pi. 116 ; E. Thomas, Early Sassanian Inscriptions, p. 29.
3 Ouseley says it was artificially hewn, but I do not agree with him. For a
plan, vide Flandin and Coste, vol. iv. pi. 189: and for authorities, vide J. P. Morier
(1809), First Journey, pp. 137-9; Sir W. Ouseley (1811), Travels, vol.ii. pp. 291-3;
Sir r/k. Porter, Travels, vol. i. pp. 571-5 ; J. Ussher (1861), Journey, p. 546, et
seq. : K. D. Kiach (1878), Ancient Persian Sculptures ; as well as the works con
taining engravings or photographs which will be referred to.
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