An incredible complex of tombs and artworks known as Naqsh-e Rostam (“Picture of Rostam”), or Necropolis, is located outside of the city of Shiraz and only a few kilometers northwest of Persepolis – the capital of the ancient Achaemenid Empire – in central Iran.

Naqsh-e-Rostam. Image credit: Iran Chamber Society

Naqsh-e Rostam monument is a perpendicular wall of rock with four similar tombs, cut considerably from the bottom of the valley.

The rock art below the tombs with sculptures from Elamite, Achaemenid, and Sassanid periods on mountains and rock is one of the unique and most beautiful examples of stone masonry of the historical and ancient period.

The Sasanian carvings are believed to represent the mythical hero Rostam (or Rustam), who fought legendary monsters such as the dragon and the White Demon and was described in the great Persian Epic of the Kings, ‘Shahname,’ completed in 1010 CE.

A rock relief at Naqsh-e Rostam, depicting the triumph of Shapur I over the Roman Emperor Valerian, and Philip the Arabian. Image credit: Iran Chamber Society

The four impressive rock tombs – cut at a considerable height from the bottom of the valley – are all elaborately carved into the side of a stone mountainside. The perfection of the building’s right angles testifies to the skill of the builders.

The tombs belong to Achaemenid kings and are locally known as the ‘Persian crosses, due to the shape of the facades of the graves.

Seven oversized and rich ornamented reliefs dedicated to the Achaemenid kings belong to the early first millennium BC.

Darius 2’s tomb, Naqsh-e-Rostam. Darius The Great’s Inscription at Naqshe Rostam, Iran; right: Darius, source

At the center of each cross is an entrance to each tomb, which opens into a small chamber where the king lay in a coffin. The horizontal beam of each tomb’s facades is believed to be a replica of the palace’s entrance at Persepolis.

Naqsh-e Rostam was already an important place when king Darius I the Great (522-486 BC) ordered his monumental tomb to be carved into the cliff.

Later, similar royal rock tombs were added, and they are believed to belong to Darius’ son and successor Xerxes (486-465), his son Artaxerxes I Makrocheir (465-424), and his grandson Darius II Nothus (423-404), whose original name was Ochus. He was often called Nothus (‘Bastard’) because he was the son of King Artaxerxes I and a concubine from Babylon.

There is also a fifth tomb, but it’s unfinished. Archaeologists are almost sure that the tombs were closed after the burial. After Alexander the Great had overthrown the Achaemenid Empire, the doors were smashed, and the graves were looted.

Today Naqsh-e Rostam is an abandoned ancient site, visited only by a small group of tourists.

Written by – A. Sutherland  – AncientPages.com Senior Staff Writer

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