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 2o6 History of Art in Antiquitv. know to the contrary, it may have figured on a stela set up before the xdiculum.^ Finally, some have affirmed that the Gabre could be nothing but the tomb of a woman, probably that of Mandane* the mother of Cyrus.* The reason adduced is that in Mohammedan countries the tombstones set up over men's graves are invariably round- headed ; whilst those of the women are triangular, and recall the contour of the pedimented roof of the Gabre. That such a usage exists at the present day in Turkey and Persia may be readily conceded, and we may add that it is of no very recent date ; but, we ask, is there any ground for carrying it back to antiquity ? Is there aught in literary or stone documents to justify the conjecture ? * From the comparison we have instituted between the monu- ment seen by Aristobulus and the Gabre, it does not follow that the latter is the tomb of Cyrus, although the presumption in favour of the hypothesis which identifies the two monuments is very great indeed. The negative evidence derived from its* style, magnitude, and careful execution point it out as an edifice of exceptional character, and the probability of its being the memo- rial of Cyrus is thereby increased. The double wall, the colonnade along three sides of the court, the precautions taken not only to keep out intruders, but a too inquisitive eye as well, would be meaningless, unless we admit that the founder of the Persian empire was enthroned here after death, surrounded by a devoted and respectful watdi, whose figure, speedily magnified and trans- formed by popular fancy, was already looked upon in the day of Herodotus as that of a hero or semi-god, dimly perceived in a remote past through the golden haze of fable. Some notion of the aspect the monument offered when Alexander ' The photogravure published by Dieulafoy (L Art antique, torn. i. p. 19) does certainly show, in ihc siiuatiun indicated by the Germaa explorer, something that resembles a regular cutting. ' M. Oppert was the first to put forth the above notion (" Pasargades et Mourghali," in Journal Asiatique, 1872, torn. xix. pp. $48-555). I am at aloss to kaow upoa wiuit data he bases his statement to the etfect that a difference existed between men's and women's graves, a diSeience observed by the Permana themselves — " shown^** he says, '*by the plans and sections of the tombs of Persepolis and Naksh-i-Rustem, engr.ued by Flandin and Coste. The vats found in the vaults are all exjcily alike, and the lids are missing."