THE INTERIOR OF THE SEPULCHRE 291 2 in. and its width 2 ft. 7 in.,1 and it is necessary to crouch in order to pass through, as Arrian affirmed. The original door to the vault was probably a heavy stone swinging on pivots, such as may be seen at the supposed tomb of Esther and Mordecai at Hamadan and also in the square monument at Naksh-i Rustam,2 but I do not recall seeing the socketholes, as in those cases. Dieulafoy's ingenious suggestion of two doors, an outer and an inner door, so arranged as to open upon each other, but not both at the same time, seems plausible; and even if the original means of closure have long since disappeared, there are actually to be seen two rickety wooden doors which guard the ingress, as the thickness of the wall allows space for two. But the second of these wretched board structures was off its hinges, when I visited the tomb, and was lying in one corner of the vault. Crawling through the low entrance, without having the slightest objection raised by the bystanders, who I thought might prevent me, I found myself within the chamber where death had held his court. The room is 10 ft. 5g in. long, and 7 ft. 7 in. wide, and 7 ft. 11 in. high. Two enormous blocks that look like marble form the floor, and the side walls and flat ceiling are composed of stones equally large. In one part of the eastern wall, facing the doorway, there is a great gaping chink, and the block of the floor at the same end shows a rough sort of depression which suggests the idea that something had been scooped out or forcibly wrenched away, perhaps by robber hands. It may have been that the sarcophagus stood here.5 I could picture its position and I lay down to measure my length 1 The dimensions in centimeters as I took them are: height, 126 cm. ; width, 80 cm. Curzon gives 4 ft. 3 in. by 2 ft. 3 in.; Ker Porter, 4 ft. by 2 ft. 10 in. 2 See p. 168, and note 2, above. 3 See Dieulafoy, L'Art Antique, 1. 48, fig. 54. 4 The measurements as I took them in meters are: length, 3.18 m.; width, 2.30 m.; height, 2.12 m. They are practically the same as Curzon's, who gives: length, 10 ft. 5 in.; width, 7 ft. 6 in.; height, 6 ft. 10 in. 5 See Arrian's description, p. 286, above. near the depression in order to determine whether the space were in proportion to a human form. I found there would indeed have been room enough, and space besides for the table or couch holding the purple vestments, the sword, and the other regal insignia which Arrian and Strabo enumerate. The condition of the royal chamber is not what it once was. The wall to the right, or on the south side, has been desecrated by a modern Persian inscription and verses from the Koran. They are handsomely carved, it is true, and are surrounded by an ornamental border shaped like a prayer-niche, but they are out of place in the tomb of Cyrus. Innumerable graffiti, scratched by Orientals with the scribbling craze, cover the walls. One of the names was in Pahlavi characters and interested me, as it was that of a Zoroastrian priest, Mobed Ormazdyar Bahram. As a lineal descendant of the race of the Magi he had more right perhaps than the others to carve his name in the tomb, for the Magi were the traditional guardians of the tomb of Cyrus. A worn copy of the Koran lay upon the floor, and the wind sweeping through the vault turned its pages. A manuscript of the Avesta would have been more appropriate in this chamber. But most inharmonious of all, for it hung over the place where the body must have lain, was a cord with an incongruous collection of worthless trash in the way of votive offerings. A piece of rag, a bit of brass, a fragment of a lamp, a bell, a copper ring, and what not, made up the motley string. They were the customary donations of pilgrims as mementos of the journey or as talismans for a safe return. Happily the note so out of tune with the historic surroundings lasted only for a moment. An instant later the setting sun streamed through the doorway and flooded one corner of the dingy vault with a gorgeous splendor. The image of the kāvaya hvarenah, the Kingly Glory,' or symbol of sovereignty in the Avesta, flashed across my mind. In ancient times a reflection of this same divine light was believed to shed a halo about the person of the King of Kings. Its sacred majesty THE OBSEQUIES OF THE KING 293 was shining this instant from heaven around the tomb of Cyrus and made it seem too hallowed to remain. As I slowly descended the deep steps and mounted my horse, the sun sank low behind the western hills. I turned for a last look at the historic shrine. A vision seemed to rise before my view, and I saw in fancy the scene of the last obsequies of the Great King. From the classical writers we know with what pomp and magnificence the processions of the Persian kings were conducted during their lifetime; the richly caparisoned horses, chariots of state, purple robes, heavy accoutrements, and barbaric splendor were always present in gorgeous profusion. With no less pomp, but with greater solemnity, must the sorrowing nation have borne their dead hero to the tomb. His body, not left in Magian fashion to be torn by dogs and birds, but covered with wax or perhaps embalmed, was laid in a gold-adorned casket and carried to the sepulchre, attended by the flower of the Persian army. I still could hear the tramplings of the horses that led the funeral train; the measured tread of the soldiers in clanking armor rang dully on my ear; the smoke of imagined incense rose heavenward to Auramazda from the huge urn holding the sacred fire; and the chanting voice of the Magian priest intoning perchance the Zoroastrian psalm Kam nemōi zam-'to what land am I going' beat rhythmically through my brain. The Great King Cyrus was no more! The shroud of darkness fell like a pall upon the plain and the moon rose slowly over the distant hills. |