brocade. The head was uncovered. Abou Mousa and his attendants were astonished; for having measured the nose, they found that proportionally he must have exceeded the common size of men. The people now informed Abou Mousa that this was the body of an ancient sage who formerly lived in Irak, and that whenever the want of rain occasioned a famine or scarcity, the inhabitants applied to this holy man, and through the efficacy of his prayers, obtained copious showers of rain from heaven. It happened afterwards that Sus also suffered from excessive drought, and the people in distress requested that their neighbours would allow this venerable personage to reside a few days among them, expecting to derive the blessing of rain from his intercession with the Almighty; but the Irakians would not grant this request. Fifty men then went, deputed by the people of Sus, who again petitioned the ruler of Irak, saying, 'Let this holy person visit our country, and detain the fifty men until his return.' These terms were accepted, and the holy person came to Sus, where, through the influence of his prayers, rain fell in great abundance, and saved the land from famine; but the people would not permit him to return, and the fifty men were detained as hostages in Irak. Such, said those who accompanied Abou Mousa, is the history of the dead man. The Arabian general then asked them by what name this extraordinary_personage had been known among them? They replied, "The people of Irak called him Daniel Hakim, or Daniel the Sage.' After this, Abou Mousa remained some time in Sus, and despatched a messenger to Omar the Commander of the Faithful, with an account of all his conquests in Khuzistan, and of the various treasures that had fallen into his possession. He related also the discovery of Daniel's body. When Omar had received this account, he demanded from his chief officers some information concerning Daniel; but all were silent, except Ali, on whom be the blessing of God. He declared that Daniel had been a prophet, though not of the highest order; that in ages long since he had dwelt with Bakht al Nassar (Nebuchadnezzar) and the kings who had succeeded him; and Ali related the whole of Daniel's history from the beginning to the end. Omar then, by the advice of his counsellor Ali, caused letters to be directed to Abou Mousa to remove, with due respect and veneration, the body of Daniel to some place where the people of Sus could no longer enjoy the possession of it. Abou Mousa, immediately on the receipt of this order, obliged the people of Sus to turn the stream which supplied them with water from its natural course. Then he brought forth the body of Daniel, and having wrapped it in another shroud of gold brocade, he commanded a grave to be made in the dry channel of the river, and therein deposited the venerable remains of the prophet. The grave was then firmly secured and covered with stones of considerable size; the river was restored to its wonted channel, and the waters of Sus now flow over the body of Daniel." Sir John Kinneir, writing on this subject, says, "The city of Shus is now a gloomy wilderness, infested by lions, hyenas, and other beasts of 66 prey. The dread of these furious animals compelled Mr. Monteith and myself to take shelter for the night within the walls that encompass Daniel's tomb." To the same effect, Sir John Malcolm, in his History of Persia, writes: Every species of wild beast roams at large over that spot on which some of the proudest palaces ever raised by human art once stood." Yes, reader, they rove over the ruins of Susa, without one human being to dispute their reign, save the poor dervise who holds watch over the tomb of the prophet. The chambers of royalty where Ahasuerus exhibited the riches of his kingdom, "and the honour of his excellent majesty," for "an hundred and fourscore days," unto his princes and servants, the power of Media and Persia, with the nobles and princes of one hundred and twenty-seven provinces, stretching from India even to Ethiopia, are now the abodes of the beasts of the desert. The voice of festive mirth, once heard in the gorgeous halls of Susa, is exchanged for the howlings of the lion, the wolf, and the hyena, as they roam abroad in quest of prey; while birds of evil note, as they fly over the ruins, give additional solemnity to the desolation. Alas! alas! for human grandeur ! When Major Monteith visited Sus, the dervise who watches the tomb of Daniel showed him several blocks of stone, curiously sculptured, and of great antiquity. The sides of one of these stones, which was a green granite, was covered with hieroglyphical figures, occupying five rows. The first row contained forms supposed to represent the sun, the moon, and one of the stars; the second, animals resembling a horse, a bird, and a dog; the third, a figure with the head and lower extremities of a tiger, the arms of a man, and the tail of a goat; the fourth, an animal resembling an antelope, a serpent, a scorpion, and the ornamented top of a staff or sceptre; and the fifth depicts a trident, two spears, a hawk, and some other bird, with a Greek cross. Two sides of the stone are occupied by inscriptions in the cuneiform character, which is scarcely legible. This is one of the principal remains of Susa. ARIA. This city, which is called by some ancient writers, Aritoana, Artacanda, Artacoana, and Bitaxa, and by Ptolemy, Aria, answers to the modern Heraut, which is situated in an ample plain of great fertility, and surrounded by lofty mountains. The situation of Heraut is placed differently on different maps, and by different writers: in Kinneir's Memoir, in 34° 12' N. latitude; by Captain Grant, 63° 14'; in Kinneir's map, 60° 55′ E. longitude; in Elphinstone's map of Caubul, in 34° 47′ N. latitude, and 61° 55′ E. longitude; in Rennell's map of the twenty satrapies of Darius Hystaspes, 61° 5' E. longitude; and in D'Anville's map, 59° 34' of the same. Concerning the ancient town, nothing is known; but Captain Grant says of Heraut, that the plain on which it stands is watered by an ample stream, crowded with villages teeming with population, and covered with fields of corn. landscape receives additional beauty and variety from the numerous mosques, tombs, and other edifices, intermingled with trees and gardens, The Heraut is with which it is embellished, and the mountain ZARANG. Zarang, or Seistan, is identified by some geographers of high note, with the modern Dooshauk, or Jellallabad, which is about 260 miles due south from Heraut. This city is situated on the banks of the Ilmend, near its outlet into the lake of Durrah, and it is encompassed by ruins, testifying its ancient grandeur. Captain Christie saw those of a great bund, or dyke, called the “Bund of Rustum," the Persian Her cules. Zarang was chiefly desolated by Timur Bek, who obtained for himself a Goth-like celebrity for the destruction of cities, and the extermination of his fellow-men. He razed this city to its foundations, destroyed the edifice called the "Mound of Rustum," and left no traces of that ancient monument. Sheriffedin, in his Life of this destroyer, in the spirit of oriental romance, says, that a voice was heard, which invoked the soul of Rustum to arise from his resting place, and behold the calamities which had overtaken his country, in these words: "Lift up thy head; behold the condition of thy country, which is at length reduced by the power of the Tartars." MARACANDA. ZADRACARTA. of Hyrcania. The term signifies, "the yellow According to Arrian, this was the largest city city;" and it was given to it from the great number of orange, lemon, and other fruit trees which grew in the environs of that city. Hence it is by D'Anville, Rochette, and other geographers, identified with Saru, which Pietro Della Valle says, in his Travels, signifies yellow. It is probable that Zadracarta and Saru are the same with the Syringis of Polybius, taken from Arsaces II. by Antiochus the Great, in his fruitless cania and Parthia to the Syrian crown. Hanway, attempt to reunite the revolted provinces of Hyrwho visited Saru A.D. 1734, mentions four ancient Magian temples as still standing, built in the form of rotundas, each thirty feet in diameter, and near 120 in height. But Sir W. Ouseley, who was there in 1811, has pronounced these to be masses of brick masonry of the Mohammedan age. One of them only is now standing, the others having been overturned by an earthquake. This and other remains of similar buildings, other mystic personages, whose celebrity had bear the names of Firedoon, Salm, Toor, and been established about 2000 years anterior to their erection. One of them was called the tomb of Kaus, and was supposed to contain the ashes of Cyrus. Sir William Ouseley thinks it was that of Kabus, or Kaus, the son of Washmakin, who governed Mazanderan in the fourth century of the Hejira. It was at Saru that the ashes of the youthful hero, Sohraub, were deposited by This city is supposed, with great probability, his father, Roostum, after he had unwittingly to be the modern "Samarcand, by Oxus, Temar's throne," (MILTON,) which in Elphinstone's map is placed 230 British miles N.N.w. of Bactria, in 39° 37' N. latitude, and nearly 65° E. longitude. It is situated on the southern side of the Sogd, which has its source in the ridge of Pamer, and which running south-west from the Beloot-Taugh, divides the waters south to the Oxus from those that run north to the Jaxartes. According to Curtius, when the city was besieged by Alexander, it was three leagues (or nine miles) in circumference. Afterwards it was much enlarged, and surrounded by a wall. It was taken by Jenghis Khan, A. D. 1220, after an obstinate resistance. Samarcand was the favourite residence of Timur Bek, and it is still the seat of an Usbeck-Khan, but its glory is departed. NISEA. Strabo mentions this city among those of Hyrcania, and Ptolemy places it in Margiana. Rennell identifies it with the modern Naisabour, but it is more probably the modern Nesa. This has always been a city of note. It is situated between the mountains that bound the district of Toos, or Mesched, and the desert of Khowarasm; and fifty geographical miles south-east of Bawerd and twenty east of Kelat. It was taken by the Tartars under Jenghis Khan, A.D. 1220, | when 70,000 of its inhabitants perished. It is supposed that the famed Nisæan horses and Nisæan plains derived their name from this city. slain him in single combat. Saru is celebrated for its abundance of gardens, which emit a pleasing fragrance in the vernal and summer months. Oriental hyperbole declares, that the gates of paradise derive sweetness from the air of Saru, and the flowers of Eden their fragrance from its soil. HECATOMPYLOS. Hecatompylos, which was so called because of its hundred gates, or because all the roads in the Parthian dominions entered here, is the modern Damgan. Its distance from the Caspian Straits, in Kinneir's map, is 125 miles north-east; Rennell, however, makes it only seventy-eight geographical miles. This city was visited by Alexander in his pursuit of Darius. By some writers, Hecatompylos is identified with Ispahan, now one of the most populous towns of Persia; but it does not appear to be authenticated. The above are all the towns of ancient Persia, concerning which any descriptive account can be offered to the reader. The names of many others will occur in the pages of this history, but little beyond the fact of their having once existed, is known. There are, it is true, the mouldering remnants of many cities scattered about the vast tracts of Persia; but they are not identified with any city whose names are in the pages of ancient historians, or if they be, little is known of their histories. Thus, at Mourghab, forty-nine miles N.N.E. of Istakher, are extensive ruins, resembling those of Persepolis, and in the neighbourhood of Firoze-abad, there are others seventeen miles in length, and half that distance in width, which have never been examined by European travellers. Ruins of considerable extent occur, also, in the neighbourhood of Darabgerd, and various other places. All these, and more, occur in the single province of Farsistan, or the ancient Persis. Reader, what shall we say to these things? Knowing all this, shall we look upon earth as our place of abode, and on the mighty cities that now teem with human kind as enduring in their natures? Rather let us point to Thebes, Babylon, Nineveh, Persepolis, and the many mighty cities of old that now embrace the earth, and say, "They shall one day be as these are." Nay, let us look upon our fair earth, and the sun which shines upon us by day, and the moon and the stars that give us light by night, and exclaim with holy awe, These, also, mighty and beautiful as they are, and stable as they appear, are doomed to perish!" One great question arises out of this, which the poet has well supplied : 66 "That day of wrath, that dreadful day, "When, shivering like a parched scroll, "Oh! on that day, that wrathful day, When man to judgment wakes from clay, CHAPTER III. HISTORY OF THE POLITY OF PERSIA. : THE government of the ancient Persians was monarchical, or regal, and the crown hereditary. At what date this form was adopted is unknown. Certain it is, however, that this form of government is the most ancient and prevalent, and, could the origin of that of Persia be traced, it would, doubtless, reach a remote period of time. But a veil is thrown over it by the romantic account of Persia given by the early Persian writers, Mirkhond and Ferdusi, a veil which modern historians would in vain attempt to throw aside. That which is known, is handed down to our age by the Greek historians, who knew little of Persia before the era of Cyrus. From these writers, therefore, is chiefly derived the following information concerning the polity of Persia, which, for the sake of distinctness, is classed under several heads. THE KINGLY POWER. Eastern monarchs have ever been despots, regarding their subjects generally as slaves. Such were the kings of Persia. They lorded it over their subjects with so high a hand, that they were looked upon as more than mortal : they were regarded, in fact, as the image and vicegerents of the Deity on earth. Hence it was that their subjects paid them such extraordinary and culpable honours. "The great king," and "the king of kings," were the common titles given to the Persian monarchs, and divine honours were paid to them by all ranks of Persia. None dared approach them without that humble prostration due to the Majesty of heaven alone. Who bows the knee to man As a divinity, deprives the God Who made him and preserves him, of his rights: Reverence to majesty should proceed from civil obligations alone, not from adoration of their persons. Beyond this, it savours of idolatry. It was not only of their own subjects that the kings of Persia exacted this homage, but of strangers likewise. Herodotus, relating the circumstance of two Spartans being sent to Xerxes, as an atonement for the destruction of his am bassadors, who had been sent to demand of them "earth and water," as a token of their submission to this haughty monarch, says: "When introduced, on their arrival at Susa, to the royal presence, they were first ordered by the guards to fall prostrate, and adore the king, and some force was used to compel them. But this they refused to do, even if they should dash their heads against the ground. They were not, they said, accustomed to adore a man, nor was it for this purpose that they came. After persevering in such conduct, they addressed Xerxes himself in these words: 'King of the Medes, (or Persians,*) we are sent by our countrymen to make atonement for those ambassadors who perished at Sparta."" And the haughty monarch was obliged to yield to their inflexibility. This conduct was uniformly the disposition of the Greeks, with the exception of Themistocles, and one or two others. Valerius Maximus says, that one Timagoras, an Athenian, having complied with the demands of the Persian court, was by his countrymen condemned to die, thinking the dignity of their city injured and degraded by this act of meanness. And Ælian reports, that Ismenias, the Theban, declined it, by letting his ring drop from his finger, and then throwing himself on the ground to recover it. Prideaux remarks, that this compliment of prostration before him, must have been paid the king of Persia by the prophets Ezra and Nehemiah, or they could not have had access to him. From a comparison with the above remarks, this will appear to be erroneous; for if the Greeks could gain access without, why should not Ezra and Nehemiah? It is probable, that the kings of Persia, with whom these holy men had to do, knowing the peculiarity of their manners and their religion, would have ceded much to them which the haughty Xerxes would have denied to the Greeks. At all events, if they did act thus, it was from civil obligations alone, not from a feeling of idolatry; for we know that Mordecai was sufficiently inflexible, as not to pay undue honours to Haman. It is certainly right for subjects to pay due respect to majesty. Respect, nay, reverence is due to the supreme power, because it cometh from God, and is ordained for the welfare of the The Persians were usually comprehended by ancient writers, under the name of Medes. community. "Render therefore," says the great apostle of the Gentiles, "to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour," Rom. xiii. 7. Where no respect is paid to the "higher powers," there anarchy prevails, with all its concomitant evils. In the time of paganism, however, this homage and honour were carried beyond due bounds. It is the Christian religion alone that has taught mankind how to act worthily before God and man on this point. It is true, not all that are Christians in name, act towards their rulers as the doctrines of Christianity inculcate. Far, very far from this is the actual fact. And whence does this arise? Is it not from a laxity of moral training? "The discipline of slavery is unknown That the whole people should be taught and trained: So shall licentiousness and black resolve WORDSWORTH. The crown of Persia was hereditary, descending from father to son, and generally to the eldest. When an heir to the crown was born, the whole empire testified their joy by sacrifices, feasts, etc.; and his birthday was thenceforward an annual festival and day of solemnity throughout the whole empire. 66 When the reigning monarch undertook long or dangerous expeditions, in order to avoid all disputes, it was customary for him to name the heir apparent before he commenced his march. The new king was crowned by the priests at Pasagardæ. The ceremony was performed in the temple of the goddess of war, where the king used first of all to clothe himself with the garment which Cyrus had worn before he was exalted to the throne. Xenophon thus describes this garment: Cyrus himself then appeared, wearing a turban, which was raised high above his head, with a vest of purple colour, half mixed with white, and this mixture of white none else is allowed to wear. On his legs he had yellow buskins, his outer robe was wholly of purple, and about his turban was a diadem or wreath." Being thus attired, he ate some figs, with a small quantity of turpentine, and drank a full cup of sour milk. The crown was then placed upon his head by one of the grandees, in whose family that right was hereditary. Round the crown the king wore a purple and white band or diadem, which crown and diadem were the only signs of royalty used by the earlier Persian monarchs. The manner of educating the heir apparent of the empire of Persia is extolled by Plato, who proposed it to the Greeks as a perfect model for the education of a prince. Their routine of education was as follows:-Shortly after his birth, he was committed to the care of eunuchs, chief officers of the household, who were charged with the care of his health and person, and with. the duty of forming his manners and behaviour. When seven years of age, he was taken from these officers, and put into the hands of other masters, who were to continue the care of his education, to teach him horsemanship, and to exercise him in hunting. At fourteen years of age, when the mind approaches maturity, four of the wisest and most virtuous men of the state were appointed to be his preceptors. The first taught him magic, that is, the worship of their gods, according to their ancient maxims, and the laws of Zoroaster, the son of Oromasdes; he also instructed him in the principles of government. The second taught him to speak truth, and the principles of justice. The duty of the third was to teach him not to suffer himself to be overcome by pleasures, that he might be a king in truth, always free, and master of himself and his desires. The fourth was to fortify the courage of the young prince against fear, which would have made him a slave, and to inspire him with a noble and prudent assurance, so necessary for those born to command. Each of these governors excelled in his particular department, adding their own examples to their precepts, thereby acting upon that self-evident truth, that, "words instruct, but examples persuade effectually." ners. But "evil communications corrupt good manPlato remarks, that all this care was frustrated by the luxury, pomp, and magnificence with which the young prince was surrounded; by the numerous train of officers that waited upon him with servile submission; by all the appurtenances, and equipage of a voluptuous and effeminate life, in which pleasure and the invention of new diversions engrossed all attention. These are dangers which the most excellent disposition, at least under the pagan system of moral training, could never surmount. The corrupt manners, therefore, of the nation, quickly depraved the mind of the prince, and drew him into a vortex of pleasures, against which no education can form an effectual barrier. "Religion! the sole voucher man is man; Even in this night of frailty, change, and death, But the religion that performs so stupendous a work as this, is the religion of the Bible, which teaches us the gospel of Christ. That of Zoroaster, with all its rites, ceremonies, and fancied perfections, lifted not one of its myriads of devotees above the things of time and sense, the low and grovelling pleasures in which human nature is prone to indulge. It found man debased, it drew him far lower down into the depths of human degradation. The palace of the kings of Persia had many gates, and each gate a body of guards, whose duty it was to defend the person of the king, and to inform him of whatever they saw or heard done in any part of the kingdom; whence they were expressively termed "the king's ears," and "the king's eyes." To these messengers, all intelligence worthy of note was sent from the remotest provinces of the empire, and they also received immediate intelligence of sudden commotions, by means of beacon-fires, which were always ready at certain distances, and lighted as occasion required. The guards which attended the king's person consisted of 15,000 men. These were called the king's relations. There was, also, a body of 10,000 chosen horsemen, who accompanied him in his expeditions, and were called "immortal," that number being constantly kept up. These guards received no pay, but were amply provided with the necessaries of life. The Persian monarchs drank no other water but that of the river Choaspes, which was carried about with them in silver vessels. According to Xenophon, the Persians were, in the early period of their history, a temperate and sober people. In the time of Herodotus, however, they drank profusely; and it is certain, that in later ages, the wines of Shiraz have triumphed over the law of Mohammed. Anciently, their kings drank only a peculiar wine made at Damascus. The magnificence of the public feasts of the kings of Persia exceeded, as may be seen from Esther i., any thing that we read of in the histories of other nations. Their table was daily served with something from each nation subject to them. During their repast, they were entertained with the harmony of both vocal and in strumental music. The king of Persia seldom admitted to his table any one besides his wife and mother. When he did, the guests were so placed, as not to see, but only to be seen by the king; for they imagined it was a degradation of majesty to let their people see that they were subject to the common appetites of nature. This desire of appearing superior to mankind, was the ruling motive of their non-appearance in public. It was rarely that they left the precincts of the palace. Their manner of living may be seen in the interesting book of Esther. Tully says, that the revenues of whole provinces were employed on the attire of their favourite concubines; and Socrates relates, that one country was called "the queen's girdle," and another, queen's head-dress." "the In the three books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther, there are many passages which intimate the care taken by the Persian government to register every occurrence. All that the king said, indeed, was deemed worthy of registration. He was usually surrounded by scribes, who took note of his words and actions. They were rarely absent from him, and always attended him when he appeared in public. They were present at his festivals, his reviews of the army, and in the tumult of battle, at which times they registered whatever words fell from him on those occasions. They were charged, also, with the registrations of edicts and ordinances, which were written in the king's presence, sealed with his signet ring, and then despatched by couriers. These royal journals or chronicles of Persia were deposited at Babylon, Susa, and Ecbatana, and they formed the archives of this people. They have all perished except the few extracts preserved in the books of Scripture pointed out, and in the older Greek historians. From a transaction recorded Esther vi. 1, it would appear that these journals were sometimes read to the Persian monarchs. There are many allusions to the above custom in the works of ancient writers. Herodotus, in describing the review made by Xerxes of his army, states that he was attended by secretaries, who wrote down the various answers he received to the questions which he put as he rode along the ranks in his chariot. He further states that this monarch, when seated on Mount Egaleos to view the battle of Salamis, caused his secretaries to note down the names of such as distinguished themselves in the strife, with the city wherein they lived. A similar custom prevails in oriental countries to this day. Travellers of the middle ages, in their descriptions of the Mougol emperors, tell us that when they dined, four secretaries were seated under their table to write down their words, which they never might revoke. Another officer of importance in the king's household was his cup-bearer. This is shown by several passages in the book of Nehemiah, and in the works both of Herodotus and Xenophon. The prophet Nehemiah was, indeed, cupbearer to Artaxerxes, and the allusions he makes to his office is well illustrated by profane authors. Xenophon, in particular, affords some interesting explanations concerning this office, and the manner in which its functions were discharged. Speaking of the cup-bearer of Astyages, the grandfather of Cyrus, he describes him as the most favoured of the king's household officers; and he adds that he was a very handsome man, and that it was part of his duty to introduce to the king those who came upon business, and to send away those who applied for an interview whom he, the cup-bearer, did not deem it seasonable to introduce. This alone must have made the cupbearer a person of high consideration at the court of Persia. The emoluments of the office appear to have been very great; for they enabled Nehemiah to sustain for many years the state and hospitality of the government of the Jews from his own private purse. Xenophon admires the manner in which these cup-bearers discharged their office. From his description, it seems that the cup was held in the presence of the monarch, and, being filled, was presented to him on three fingers. This account is explained by the existing customs in the east, and by the sculptures of Persepolis. These sculptures comprehend a great number of figures, bearing cups and vases of different forms and uses, none of which are grasped, as in European countries. If the bearer has but one article, he carries it between both hands, (resting it upon his left hand, and placing his right hand lightly upon it, to prevent it from falling,) with a peculiar grace of action; if he has two, he bears one upon the palm of each hand. It was the duty of the cup-bearer to take some of the wine from the cup presented to the king into his left hand, and drink it, to assure the monarchs against poison. It appears from the book of Esther that the Persian kings had but one queen, properly so called. From the same book, however, and from common history, it may be gathered that there were a considerable number of secondary wives and other females, who had not attained to this |