home   :    index    :    picture archive
:   Iran   :    photos Persepolis    :    text Persepolis    :    photos by Marco Prins; text Jona Lendering ©

Persepolis - Tomb of Artaxerxes II
Unless otherwise indicated, pictures on this page © Marco Prins and Jona Lendering. Photos can be downloaded and used for non-commercial purposes, but you have to acknowledge Livius.
The Tomb of Artaxerxes II at Persepolis. Photo Marco Prins. There are several Achaemenid royal tombs. Four of them have been discovered at Naqš-i Rustam, two at Persepolis. The four tombs at Naqš-i Rustam belong to Darius the Great, Xerxes, Artaxerxes I Makrocheir, and Darius II Nothus. 
The Tomb of Artaxerxes II at Persepolis. Photo Marco Prins. The two Persepolis tombs, which are younger, must therefore belong to the next two kings, Artaxerxes II Mnemon (404-358) and Artaxerxes III Ochus (358-338). However, we can not be completely certain about the identification. The fact that all tombs look the same (they are all copies of the tomb of Darius the Great) is not a great help either. The two tombs at Persepolis were probably indeed the resting places of the second and third Artaxerxes, but which one is Mnemon's and which one belongs to Ochus, is unclear. The tomb on this picture, usually attributed to Artaxerxes II, may in fact be that of his successor.
A water bassin near the Tomb of Artaxerxes II. Photo Marco Prins. A water basin near the tomb. The Greek historian Alexander the Great, the author of a book on Arrian of Nicomedia, and the Persepolis fortification tablets mention that Magians sacrificed for the spirit of the deceased king, and water may have been useful.
The Tomb of Artaxerxes II at Persepolis. Photo Marco Prins. The upper part of the tomb, showing the king sacrificing to the eternal, sacred fire and the supreme god Ahuramazda. He stands on a platform that is carried by people that represent the subject nations. It is an exact copy of the upper tier of the tomb of Darius the Great at Naqš-i Rustam. It even contains the inscriptions (A2Pa), which had been left out by the designers of the other tombs.
A drawing of this tomb by the Dutch artist Cornelis de Bruijn. He visited Persepolis in the winter of 1704/1705 and returned to Europe with the first reliable scholarly drawings of the capital of the ancient city.
The interior of the tomb. And here you can see a satellite photo.
Photo Ab Langereis (©!)
 home   :    index    :    Iran   :    Persepolis