Page:History of Art in Persia.djvu/252

 242 History of Art in Antiquity. their litanies. In it King Darius declares: "The kingdom that had been taken from our family 1 have restored. I have set it in place. I re-established the ancient order (of things). The temples that Gaumita the Magi had destroyed I gave back to the people. I also returned the market-places, the farms, and houses of which Gaumdta had despoiled them. I re-established the people on the ancient footing — Persia, Media, and the other provinces." * In spite, then, of the too sweeping assertion of Herodotus, the historian may unhesitatingly seek the trace of those sanctuaries that Darius boastingly declares he has rebuilt, but there seems little chance of our finding here a religious architecture on a large scale. To judge from the sculptures crowning the royal tomb, the sacred fire, beside which the king stands in the attitude of deep medi- tation, was in the open air ; had the altar Ijeen roofed in would not the smoke have greatly inconvenienced the officiating folk ? Finally, fire, the most ethereal and subtle principle, attracted their strongest reorard as the condition of all life. It had been lit from heaven ; hence the necessity of removing aught that should impede its free ascent, every obstacle interposing between it and the inexhaustible source of heat and light whence it proceeded, whither it aspired to return. Edifices akin to the temples of Hgypt and Chaldaa, Phtenicia and Greece, wherein gods with human and animal features were supposed to dwell, must not be inquired for in Persia. What we may expect to recover are remains of those sanctuaries in the middle of whose sacred area the pure radiant fire, symbol of Ahurfi- Mazda, sparkled on the altars. These, by reason of the all-important part they played in the ritual, must have developed into veritable monuments, lofty enough to enable the throng to witness the ceremonies from afar. It is possible that among the oldest religious monuments of the Iranic Aryans should be classed a specimen which Gobincau has alone mentioned, but imperfectly described. It is found in Media, near the town of Demawend, situated at the foot of a conical question belongs to § 14 of the first eolumn of the inscription. Upon the word ayadaru^, trnnslatcd by " temple," sec SprEGEi., Keilirtschriften, p. 8q. It is derived from the root yaz, signifying "to adore." The proper rendering of the word should be icpoV, sacred place, place of worship, proved by the corresponding ^up of the Asqrrian text, biH sa i/ui, *'the houses of God." Digitized by Google
 * DARMBSTBTBit, £fitdes inuUomes, torn. ii. pp. 129, 13a The passage in