he Persian
sovereigns there seems to have been a few who had sufficient energy and
self-denial to devote themselves habitually to the serious duties of
their office. Generally, however, the cares of government were devolved
upon some favorite adviser, a relative, or a eunuch, who was entrusted
by the monarch with the entire conduct of affairs, in order that he
might give himself up to sensual pleasures, to the sports of the field,
or to light and frivolous amusements.

The passion for building, which we have found so strong in Assyria and
Babylonia, possessed, but in a minor degree, a certain number of the
Persian monarchs. The simplicity of their worship giving little scope
for architectural grandeur in the buildings devoted to religion, they
concentrated their main efforts upon the construction of palaces and
tombs. The architectural character of these works will be considered in
a later chapter. It is sufficient to note here that a good deal of the
time and attention of many monarchs were directed to these objects; and
particularly it is interesting to remark, that, notwithstanding their
worldly greatness, and the flattering voices of their subjects, which
were continually bidding them "live for ever," the Persian kings were
quite aware of the frail tenure by which man holds his life, and, while
they were still in vigorous health, constructed their own tombs.

It was an important principle of the Magian religion that the body
should not after death be allowed to mingle with, and so pollute, any
one of the four elements. Either from a regard for this superstition, or
from the mere instinctive desire to preserve the lifeless clay as long
as possible, the Persians entombed their kings in the following way.
The body was placed in a golden coffin, which was covered with a
close-fitting lid, and deposited either in a massive building erected to
serve at once as a tomb and a monument, or in a chamber cut out of some
great mass of solid rock, at a considerable elevation above its base. In
either case, the entrance into the tomb was carefully closed, after the
body had been deposited in it, by a block or blocks of stone. [PLATE
XXXVII., Fig. 1.] Inside the tomb were placed, together with the coffin,
a number of objects, designed apparently for the king's use in the other
world, as rich cloaks and tunics, trousers, purple robes, collars of
gold, earrings of gold, set with gems, daggers, carpets, goblets,
and hangings. General