CHAPTER III. PERSIA-MEDIA. SHUSAN THE PALACE.-Two cities named Susa, of which the most ancient is probably the Shushan of Scripture-Interesting Remains at SusanSusa on the Choaspes, now called Sus. PERSEPOLIS. ACHMETHA.-Hamadan-Takhti-Soleiman-Inscriptions at HamadanInteresting Description of Takhti-Soleimán, 113 SHUSHAN THE PALACE. SCRIPTURE NOTICE. "I was at Shushan in the palace, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in a vision, and I was by the river of Ulai . . . And I heard a man's voice between the banks of Ulai, which called and said, 'Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.""-Dan. viii. 2, 16. (See whole book of Esther, for repeated men→ tion of Shushan the Palace ;" also Neh. i. 1.) There is reason to believe that in ancient times there were four cities successively the capitals of the province of Susiana, viz. Súsan, or Susa, the Shustan or Shusan of Scripture, near the river Kurán, or Eulous; Sús, or Susa of the Greeks, at Sus, near the river Kerkhah, or Choaspes, and Shapúr, and Shuster on the Kuran.1 Major Rawlinson writes : "The most interesting spot perhaps even in all Persia, is the town of Súsan, upon the banks of the Kuran; here, also, are the ruins of a great city. . . a sister capital of Ecbatana and Persepolis. The city of Súsan was principally built upon the right bank of the Kuran. Forming a semicircle from the river, and thus enclosing the city, is a range of steep and abrupt hills, through which there is no passage, either along the banks of the river or at other points. A once noble bridge, now almost destroyed, connects this impregnable position with a large mass of ruins on the left bank of the river, which are again bounded to the south by another range of hills, extending at both points to the precipitous 1 Shápúr is now to be found at the village of Sháh-ábád. It was once a great city, and the see of a bishop. It was watered by magnificent aqueducts, now employed in irrigating rice-fields. It sunk before the rising greatness of Shuster, which was built on the left bank of the Kuran, and was famous for stupendous water-works. There are many excavated chambers in the rocks at Shuster, which was nearly depopulated by the plague in 1832, and has never since recovered its importance. The banks of the Kuran, and traversed by two solitary passes. On the right bank of the river, near the bridge, are said to be the remains of a magnificent palace; the ground all around is now planted with orchards, but the general design of the building is to be traced, and many pillars still remain entire. At a short distance from hence, to the north-east, and at the foot of the hills, is the tomb of Daniel, called the Greater Daniel, in contradistinction to the other tomb at Sús, or the Lesser Daniel. building is said to be composed of massive blocks of white marble; and a large reservoir, formed of the same materials, is in front of the tomb. This is fed by a small stream, which here descends from the hills, and it contains a vast quantity of sacred fish, that are regarded with the most superstitious attachment. On the left bank of the river, the principal ruin is a large fort, which probably was in ancient times the famous state-prison, in which the Sasánian monarchs confined their prisoners of distinction. "The very expression of Scripture, Shushan the palace, would appear indicative of a distinction from some other city of the same name. Daniel was in the palace, yet he saw the vision on the borders of the Ulai, and heard the voice between the banks of the river. From the mound of Sús, the Kerkah is one mile and a half distant, but at Susán the river does actually lave the base of the great ruin. The ancient tomb of the Greater Daniel may be also taken into account. . . . The city of Susa, on the Choaspes, (was for long) a great and flourishing capital, and it naturally therefore attracted to itself the traditions which really applied to the more ancient city on the Eulous. . . . Thus, in the third century, the traditions regarding the prophet Daniel became naturalized in a foreign soil; there is abundant evidence that the Syrian Church believed this city of Susa, where they instituted a bishopric, to have been the scene of the Divine revelations ... (while upon the banks of the Eulous, the ancient tomb has existed for so many cen turies, unnoticed, and perhaps unknown.) The city of Elymais, mentioned in the apocryphal book of Maccabees, which was attacked by Antiochus Epiphanes, Major Rawlinson believes to have been Súsan; and the wealthy fire-temple which he sought to pillage, may probably be found in the ruins of a great building, upon the banks of the Kuran, a short distance below Súsan." -See MAJOR RAWLINSON'S Notes in the Journal of the Geographical Society. Of Susa, or Sus, Major Rawlinson gives the following account: "The great mound of Sús is of extraordinary height: it is strewed with broken pottery, glazed tiles, and kilndried bricks. Sepulchral urns, and a flooring of brickwork, have also been discovered in it. The ruins of the city are probably six or seven miles in circumference, and present the appearance of irregular mounds. The modern building, called the tomb of Daniel, is immediately below the great mound; several bricks, brought from the ruins, are built into it; in the court is preserved a capital of white marble, brought from the great mound; and outside, on the banks of the Shápúr river, are found two blocks, one of which is sculptured with the figure of a man and two lions. This river rises about ten miles north of Sús; it flows in a deep, narrow bed, by the tomb of Daniel, and laves the western face of the great mound. The ruins of Sús and the surrounding country, are celebrated for their beautiful herbage; it was difficult to ride along the Shápúr, for the luxuriant grass that clothed its banks; and all around, the plain was covered with a carpet of the richest verdure. The climate, too, at this season, (March,) was singularly cool and pleasant, and I never remember to have passed a more delightful evening than in my little tent upon the summit of the great mound of Sús, alone, contemplating the wrecks of time that were strewed around me, and indulging in the dreams of by-gone ages. Through a large telescope I obtained a view of some very extensive ruins, known by the name of the Palace, situated about two miles from the right bank of the river Kerkhah, or Choaspes, and north-west of Sús. The great ruin appears to have been a palace; there are also said to be a few mounds, and a canal cut in the rock, which conducted water from the Kerkhah to the city, is spoken of as a very extraordinary work. The ruins of a bridge, which crossed the river, are to be seen opposite to 'the Palace-the broken buttresses now alone remaining above the water." The ancient high road from Susa led along the right bank of the Kerkhah. The "Bridge of the Chasm " is a most remarkable spot: the broad stream here forces its way through a narrow chasm, which a bold cragsman may spring across with ease; the cleft is now about 150 feet deep; the sides are honeycombed in the most fantastic manner, as though the chasm had been gradually worn down in the rock by the action of the water; and the river boils and foams below in its narrow bed. A little arch has been thrown across the cleft, and forms a great thoroughfare for shepherds and their flocks. PERSEPOLIS. "THE only name by which Persepolis is at present known by the Persians is the Forty Pillars, so called because of the pillars being very numerous, and resembling the minarets of mosques. It is very difficult, without being tedious, to give any detailed account of the ruins of this celebrated place. There is no great temple, as at Thebes, at Palmyra, or at Baalbeck, sufficiently predominant over all surrounding objects to attract the chief attention, and furnish of itself sufficient matter for description and admiration. Here, all is in broken and detached fragments, extremely numerous, and each worthy attention, but so scattered and |