The Coronation Ceremony at Pasargadae

The Persian coronation ceremony took place at Pasargadae. The Greek author Plutarch of Chaeronea (46-120) describes how this happened in his Life of king Artaxerxes, section 3.1. The ritual itself closely resembles a Babylonian ritual. The translation was made by Mr. Oakley and belongs to the Dryden series.

There is a temple dedicated to a warlike goddess, whom one might liken to Artemis.[1]. The royal person to be initiated must enter it, must strip himself of his own robe, and put on the one that Cyrus the First wore before he was king. Then, having devoured a frail of figs, he must eat turpentine, and drink a cup of sour milk.

Note 1:
This shrine must have stood close to the tomb of Cyrus the Great, the founder of the Achaemenid empire, because it is known from the Greek author Arrian of Nicomedia (a younger contemporary of Plutarch) that the robe was stored at this place. The goddess can not be identified.