Artaxerxes III. I climbed up to get a better look at them. They were carved directly into the cliff and must have been a good forty to fifty feet high. Not only were the tombs themselves excellent, but the panoramic view of the rest of Persepolis from their hill was breathtaking. The tombs’ frontage consisted of a palatial doorway, large stylized rock face pillars, and grandiose carvings depicting Zoroastrian symbols, all of which were hewn out of the cliff.
The Iranian religion of Zoroastrianism probably dates back as far as 1500 BC when it was founded by the prophet Zoroaster who was born in either Iran or neighboring Afghanistan. Zoroastrianism is the first religion to embrace the concept of a single supreme God. Its theology has had a huge impact on Judaism, Christianity, and other later religions, in particular its beliefs surrounding God and the devil, heaven and hell, free will, the soul, resurrection, and the final judgment.
The main thrust of Zoroaster’s teaching was his emphasis on an individualized form of religion, and his belief that everybody has a personal responsibility to choose between good and evil. It is by how we use our free will that Zoroaster believed we would be judged in the next life. If your good exceeds your bad, you will enter heaven, and if your bad exceeds your good, you will go to hell.
The natural elements are seen as holy by Zoroastrians, and fire in particular is a sacred symbol to them and used in their temples where they maintain “eternal” fires burning. Zoroaster taught that God, known as Ahura Mazda, is the creator of all that is good, which includes mankind and all of the natural and spiritual worlds. Evil, on the other hand, comes from the violent spirit Angra Mainyu—which is where the English word “anger” is derived from. Angra Mainyu is seen as the creator of all that is bad, and has been in eternal opposition to God.
Zoroaster saw the world as a battlefield between the forces of good and evil, and believed that the earth and mankind had been created in order to assist in this fight between opposing forces. He taught that although the earth is generally a good and decent place, it has been corrupted by evil. Zoroaster believed that this fight against evil would one day reach a peak, at which time good would be victorious over evil, and once again the earth could revert to its intrinsic state of perfection. It would be then that we’d be judged. The evil would be cast into hell, and the virtuous would live with God in heaven forevermore.
Zoroaster was initially attacked for his teaching but finally won the support of the king. Zoroastrianism became the official state religion of a number of Persian empires until the seventh century, when the Arab conquest brought Islam to Persia. There are thought to be about 150,000 Zoroastrians today, of which roughly 30,000 live in the city of Yazd in Iran. India also has a large Zoroastrian community, which was established by refugees who were driven into exile from Persia when Islam arrived.
Zoroastrianism is also referred to as Mazdaism, relating to the Zoroastrian name for God, Ahura Mazda. It is also known as Magism, which is derived from the name for its priests, the magi—which is where the English word “magic” comes from. The magi played a significant role in spreading the religion, and were a priestly tribe who accompanied state delegations on both diplomatic and military assignments. As a result, they traveled widely and resided in settlements spread out across many parts of the Persian Empire. They are the same magi mentioned in the Christian Gospel of Matthew, who refers to magi (wise men) journeying to visit the newborn Jesus. The subsequent assertion that they were kings is incorrect. Although generally considered to be three magi, the Gospel makes no reference to their number, mentioning instead the three different types of gifts that were presented to the infant Jesus. This led to the general presumption that there was one magus for every type of gift given, but there is no historical certainty on this, with some traditions favoring more, or even less, magi. The earliest Christian art is inconclusive also, some depicts two, some three, others four, and a vase in the Kircher Museum shows eight magi.
I left the Zoroastrian tombs and went down to the main site again. I spent a further couple of hours exploring at my leisure, then headed out, thoroughly satisfied, to the taxis. I struck an excellent deal with a driver who agreed to take me all the way back to Shiraz via two other historical sites nearby.
The two sites that were thrown into the taxi driver’s deal were Naqsh-e Rajab and Naqsh-e Rostam. The first of these was only a couple of miles away and consisted of an enclosed rocky area where yet more amazing bas- reliefs had been hewn out of the rocks. These depicted various scenes, including two coronations where the Zoroastrian God, Ahura Mazda, was shown handing over the ring of kingship to the monarch. They were all beautiful and merited a good investment of time, but my taxi driver was impatient to get moving, so it ended up being a stop of no more than five minutes. We drove onto our next site, which dominated the surroundings and came into view long before we arrived there.
Cut into a dramatic sprawling rock face high above ground level were a number of huge cross-shaped Zoroastrian tombs. They were magnificent and brought to mind the pictures I’d seen of the famous rock temple at Petra in Jordan. We pulled up and I got out to go and explore, whilst the taxi driver stayed in his car. There were lots of other tourists here, nearly all of them Iranians from a couple of coach parties. In some respects, I found these temples even more impressive than Persepolis. Their condition was so excellent, you didn’t have to picture in your mind’s eye what they would have once looked like, as you do with Persepolis.
Although no one knows for sure, the tombs are thought to be the resting place for the bones of Achaemenid kings Darius I, Xerxes I, Artaxerxes I, and Darius II. I say “bones” as opposed to remains, because the Zoroastrian tradition was to place the dead on “towers of silence” where vultures would devour the flesh. The reason behind this seemingly macabre practice is that Zoroastrians consider the earth and the elements sacred and so do not wish to pollute them. A burial is seen as polluting the earth and a cremation as polluting the sky. The tradition was for the bodies to be arranged in a seated posture on top of an open-roofed tower and to be accompanied by a magus who would sit nearby and observe which eye was plucked out first by the birds. It was said that if the right eye was the first to go then all was well for the lucky soul and no doubt a land of milk and honey awaited. However, if the left eye was gobbled first then things weren’t so rosy. The practice has now all but died out, with modern day followers of the faith preferring a burial in a concrete enclosed grave, which is seen as not polluting the earth.
I had a good look around the site, which also included more stunning bas-reliefs and a fire temple, before giving in to my taxi driver who came looking for me. We arrived back in Shiraz in the late afternoon.
Back at my hotel, I found a note on my door addressed to “The World’s Best Dad.” It was from Verity, who I’d previously shown my Iranian pocket watch to, and who, according to the note, was staying in a room down the hallway. I popped down the hall to say a quick hello. Being in her room, Verity wasn’t wearing her hijab, which shouldn’t have surprised me, but seeing any woman in Iran without one on took a bit of getting used to and just seemed a bit strange.
We both filled each other in on what we’d been doing, which in Verity’s case consisted mainly of sitting on a cramped bus all day. I was very pleased that I’d flown and saved so much time. Verity had arrived earlier in the afternoon and was staying in Shiraz for the next few days before going on to the city of Yazd, which was also my next destination. She was keen for a bite to eat, and since I could force down a bit more food, we decided to go out somewhere together and consulted her guidebook for a suitable place. We selected a restaurant called the Shiraz Eram Hotel and headed out in search of it.
It took us forever to find the place, but when we finally did, it was well worth the wait as the food was excellent—or more accurately, my food was excellent. I went for a succulent chicken schnitzel with all the trimmings. Verity opted instead for a reverse macrobiotic, unleaded, candida-free, detoxifying anti-Atkins option, or something like that, which consisted of a few limp green leaves and a dribble of salad dressing. It didn’t look up to much, but Verity seemed quite content to nibble away like a rabbit and was adamant it was “good for a detox”—it looked good for a compost heap!
Over her feast, she told me a funny story about an Iranian guy who had been talking to her in Esfahan, and to impress upon her that his intentions were honorable had said with utter sincerity, “I no want to make cock with you.”
Verity had burst out laughing at the time as I did now on hearing it. We had a great time over dinner and Verity made me laugh with her repertoire of jokes including, “What’s an Australian’s idea of foreplay?” Answer: “How about it, Sheila?” which Verity accompanied with a mimed elbow in the ribs as if to awaken a sleeping partner.
Verity and I also had a giggle at her poor mother who was so concerned about Verity’s well-being in Iran that she’d got her local prayer group working regularly on her case and had even had a mass said for her, such was her worry. Verity had sent her mother numerous e-mails to let her know how safe it was, but there was no convincing her. As far as she was concerned, Iran was full of dangerous cutthroat terrorists and that was that.
I was leaving Shiraz tomorrow night, so we both agreed to go to some of its main attractions together during
