ین

وقلع یهودان

process of time, the name changed to Beshávur (). Another historian here quoted, calls its original name Díndilá (Y); but all are in unison, as to the celebrity of its fire-temple. From hence, they returned to Cázerún, where they first heard the pla or the trumpet of the bath, which announced, that the baths were open for the reception of the women. Near the town, they saw "some walls and towers of the Elő, or Jews' Castle, uninhabited and decaying," which is peculiarly worthy of notice from the scriptural records, that the Jews were carried into captivity near these parts. In the progress of their journey, they found an encampment of Iliats () who remove their tents, in search of pasture, according to the change of season, and are the probable descendants of those Zems (3) of whom, in the 10th century, no fewer than five hundred thousand families existed in the province of Fars alone. They still continue unmixed with the Persians, who inhabit cities, retaining their wandering and pastoral habits, and differing in dialect from the rest of the empire. Sir W. Ouseley notices the shrill cry of the Arab women el, or lel, frequently repeated, equally indicative of a welcome, and of lamentation at a funeral, which answers to the λɛɛ of the Greeks, and the cry of Cassandra in Æschylus. Some interesting observations on their sortilege, omens, and oneiromancy, immediately follow, which we regret that our limits will not allow us to transcribe. The valley of the Angel of Death, and the votive trees called os, are also noticed. At length they pitched their tents about a mile from the walls of Shiraz, not far from the tomb of Saadi, the Mosellá and tomb of Hafiz, and the classic stream of Rúknabád

Hafiz) کنار آب رکناباد وكلكشت مصلارا

The Appendix, which concludes this volume, requires a more particular research and study than can be given in such a notice as the present: the geographical inquiries and remains of mythology, with which it abounds, render it as valuable as the text, which it purports to illustrate. We would call the reader's attention to No. 6, on the game of Chugán; to No. 9, on sacred trees, which is interspersed with curious Biblical and Classical matter, and a happy illustration of a passage in Herodotus and Ælian; to No. 11, on ancient alphabets; to No. 12, on the Sabians; to No. 13, on ancient bricks, gems, &c., and particu larly, recommend the plates to his notice.

The second volume commences with an account of the residence at Shiráz, and a description of its buildings. The monument of Hafiz is "formed of marble delicately clouded, and exhibits in admirable sculpture many of his own verses: it is about eight feet long, 3 feet broad. Near it, within the walls, are a few stately cypresses." The Hafiziah is built of brick; and in a chamber" near his grave" is preserved his Divan, as a vakf or religious endowment. Saadi's tomb stands in an emáret (s), and the spot is called Saadiah. Here they paid a visit of state to the Prince Husein Ali Mirza. In the city, as some say, are forty awe, or colleges, which are, however, but thinly attended by students: there are several fountains and reservoirs of water, and a magnificent bazar, called from its builder, J. The remains of numerous Imám Zádahs are found here, and so many takkiahs and graves of pious and learned men, that they are described in a native work, under the title of The Thousand and one Tombs. Remote tradition assigns the erection of Shiraz to Tahmuras; but the more authentic records ascribe it to Mohammed Ben Yusuf Thakifi, and impute its restoration to Mohammed Ben Cásim Ben Abi Okeil. Shiraz is said to have been the name of a son of Tahmuras. The city had in the 14th century nine gates; in the 16th, twelve; at present, it has but six: "it is chiefly supplied with water by canáts, or subterraneous conduits." The mythological legends of the place are largely cited in this volume, and its antiquities are fully discussed.

From Shiraz they directed their course to Fassa and DárábGird. On their journey they had a view of the lake Máhlúiah, lying between Shiráz and Servistán, which is strongly impregnated with salt, and receives the Seilab, which flows from Shiraz. There is a legend, like the trite tradition concerning the mare mortuum, that no fish can live in it. After passing Servistán a singular sl, or fire-temple, was discovered. At Fassa, which has been imagined by many travellers the Pasagarda of Cyrus, the author solicitously endeavored to discover the tomb of Cyrus; yet, although he found an edifice named, suspicions arose against its identity. Leaving Fassa, they arrived at Zohak's castle, and at four miles from the town, they discerned an object closely resembling Druidical Cromlechs; nor need we be surprised, as the Brahminical, Zoroastrian and Druidical systems have been proved to be closely allied to each other. When they had passed Khesuiéh, they arrived at the Mummy-mountain, or

the natural curiosities of which require distinct کو مومياي

observation. "The, or mummy, a blackish, bituminous matter oozes from the rock, and is considered by the Persians as far more precious than gold; for it heals cuts and bruises, as they affirm, almost immediately, causes fractured bones to unite in a few minutes, and taken inwardly is a sovereign remedy for many diseases." The mummy from this place is annually sent to the Sháh: Hamdallah Cazvini describes it as an earth containing "warmth, adhesion, and unctuosity:" the soil of Ayí, a village in Shebángáreh, is most remarkable for its production, and it is mentioned in the Nozhat al Colúb, as an universal remedy for "faintness, palsy, convulsions, epilepsy, and vertigo or head-aches," &c. The city of Dáráb, or Dárábgird, is by Tabri ascribed to Dáráb, or Dárá, the son of Queen Humai, concerning whom the Persians abound in fables she is said by some to have been "the daughter and wife of Bahmán Ardeshír," the Ahasuerus or Artaxerxes of the Scriptures. The wonderful excavations at,U, in the neighborhood of this place, are described in the following pages; to which, as a probable holy spot of the Mithraïc rites, the inquirer is referred. Sir W. Ouseley is of opinion, that "this may be the work of that celebrated Queen Semiramis (a personage of very uncertain date), who, according to Strabo, left numerous memorials of her dominion in various regions of the world." The frequent allusions to the s or Damsel, justify his hypothesis; nor is it improbable, that the legendary Humai of Persian writers, and the Semiramis of the Greeks, may be one and the same person.

From hence, after noticing various curiosities, they retraced their way to Shiráz. At Savonát, they saw a manufactory of―! earthen jars, cups, bowls, and other vessels: one man, whilst they looked on, turned with his wheel, in less than a quarter of an hour, seven or eight dishes, resembling our deep soup-plates, which would have been reckoned good in England: they glaze the clay with much neatness, and very expeditiously; and the principal artist had succeeded to such a degree in imitating fine porcelain, that, without minute examination, it was difficult to distinguish the ware made by him from the Chinese originals, both of the blue and white pattern, and painted in flowers and figures.

The materials were procured from stones of the neighboring mountains, reduced by a certain process to an impalpable powder, as white as snow. Leaving this place, they saw another salt lake, not communicating with the preceding, called the lake of Niríz, although it formerly took the name of the lake of Bakhtegán. The canal of water at Bandamír, constructed by the munificent Amír, was the next chief thing that attracted

their attention, until their arrival at Persepolis. This stupendous pile, known under the various titles of the Throne of Jemshíd, the Chéhl-mináreh, or Hezár Sutún; i. e. the Forty, or the Thousand Columns, was the royal residence of the ancient Persian kings; but, as Sir W. Ouseley revisited it, we shall pass by his observations, in this place, and return with him, for the second time, to Shiráz. Here he procured some Mss., and a variety of scarce coins, fac-similes of which are given at the end of the volume. Many venomous animals were found near the camp, such as the, or tarantula, and, or scorpions: the natives pretend to secure themselves against them by the breath of a celebrated saint. The bulbul, or nightingale, was heard here by day and by night in the Takht-i Cajar garden: this bird abounds in this part of Persia; and many in the Dilgushá garden have been said to expire in their contentions with musicians. Pliny has noticed this tuneful pertinacity in the nightingale. From Shiraz the embassy proceeded to Persepolis.

The wall composed of immense hewn stones admirably joined, terminating and supporting the terrace in its projection on the plain, the magnificent marble staircase ascending to the platform by a double flight of steps, the grand gateway, the stupendous hall of columns, and farther on the right, towards the southern extremity, various groups of marble pilasters, window-frames, portals, and other remains of edifices,called to mind the ancient glory of Persia, and the mad ebriety of Alexander on this venerable spot.

Behind all these objects (which constitute the Takht) we behold, in this point of view, two recesses excavated in the mountain; these, without hesitation, may be styled the sepulchral monuments of ancient kings.

Of all these a clear and accurate description is given in the work itself. Istakhr, which some have identified with Persepolis, is "a neighboring rock or mountain, with a castle and surrounding city, of which the name was extended over many territories, comprehending that which is now called the Plain of Marvdasht." The Tarikh Guzidah records the destruction of the Hezár Sutún of Istakhr by Alexander, with which Mirkhond coincides.

Sir W. Ouseley conceives "the names of Var-jem-gird, Jemgird, or Jem-kand, equally denoting a city, fortress, or mansion, constructed by Jemshid, or the place in which he dwelt," to be those applied to it in the Zend-avesta, and Pahlavi Mss. He also indulges in an interesting inquiry, whether Persepolis and the Pasargade of the Greeks be the same place; but, as we merely wish to notice the particular passages in this work, the reader must apply for further information to the volume under

examination. Indeed, these Travels are so replete with new and invaluable matter, that we confess ourselves unequal to do them justice by any synopsis of contents which we may present; and they assuredly must rank among the most important books of reference of which we are possessed. They and Burckhardt's deserve a place on the same shelf:-a place, to which no other Eastern travels have hitherto attained. Classical and Oriental studies having a common interest are identified in them: nor can the orientalist acquire from them a higher degree of information than the classical scholar; so evenly have they balanced these two important and historically connected pursuits. We abstain from the vestiges of Alexander, discovered by the writer at Istakhr and other places, reserving ourselves for the appearance of his promised work on the traces of this conqueror in the East, and the voyage of Nearchus; which, when we bear in mind the strange legends of Nizámí, and the contradictory statements of Indian and Persian writers, will be a great desideratum, as proceeding from the pen of one who has visited many of the places commemorated.

We must consider Istakhr connected with the most ancient pyréal ceremonies and traditions of the nation: its arrow-headed characters bearing the remains of inscrutable mysticism, and in a high degree analogous, notwithstanding certain specified differences, to those o. Egypt and Babylon, prove that the Magians, like all other early hierophants, enveloped their esoteric dogmata in arcana not to be penetrated by the "ignobile vulgus." Whether we shall obtain a clue to them as we have to the Sassanian character, and the expia ygάupara of the Egyptians," time alone can disclose yet, as they are read like the Sanscrit and the European languages, it is not improbable that they will ultimately be found decorations of the old Nagri alphabet. This, however, is mere hypothesis.

Jemshíd is averred to have erected three castles: one, Istaklır, which was the treasury; another, Shekesteh, which was a storehouse for carpets, cushions, beds, and various articles of furniture; the other, Ashknuwán, for armour. These are styled by Firdansi Jaw, THE THREE DOMES. Jemshid's Takht

66

palace at the foot of را در پایان كوهي is denominated

a

a mountain." Here are several dakhmahs, or vaults, mentioned under the epithet of , prisons of the wind, from the legend, that in this edifice Solomon confined the winds and although some historians aver that the stones were brought from