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Show 150 TilE NATIONS OF TilE tionn.l types of the inhabitants of the Persian empire; as we see pbinly on the reliefs of the tomb of king Darius llystaspes, which he had xcavatcd in the mountain Rachmend, ncar Perscpolis. The king is re1 resented here in royal attire before the fire-altar, over which hovers his gum·dian angel, in the form of a human half-figure rising from a winged disc. This group, grand in its simplicity, is placed on a bcauLifully decorated platform, supported by two rows of Caryatides, sixteen in each row, representing the four di:fJ:'ercnt nationalities subject to this king,-besidos the ruling Persians, who occupy a more distinguished position, flanking the composition on both sides, n,nd typified by three spearsmen of the royal guard, and by three courtiers who raise their hands in adoration. This relief of the sepulchre of Darius in I ersia, is one of the most valuable documents of ethnology, second in importance only to king MENEPHTllAn's (SET! I.) celebrated tomb at Thebes recording four types of man. 140 W c see hero first the sculpture of a Chaldoan, stand- D 0 D A Fig. 85.117 LYDIAN. SOYTUIAN. Nxano. CnALDEl!l. ing for Assyria and Babylonia; it is so striking that it cannot be mista~~ e~. . Next t? the Chaldoan stands the negro for the Egypto. LEthwplan cmpn·e added by Cambysos to the Persian. It was on the Nile that-Persia became first acquainted with negroes, and therefore chose them fm: the rcpl:esen.tatives of Africa; though the empire of the Achromcmdre, ceasmg m Nubia and the western Oases never extended over N cgro-land, or the Soodan proper. Tho thi~·d supporter of _the plat~orm can be none else than the representative of tJ~o ScytbJan ~mpu·e of Astyages. llis peculiarly-round skull, which S~lll charactonzes the pure Turkish and Magyar blood designates b1m as belonging .to a Turanian race. The last figure i~ the group wears tho Phryg1an cap, and personifies the Lydian empire of Croosus, ~f which Phrygia, on account of its rich gold-mines, was the most Important province. Thus, in the rock-hewn tomb of Darius, (about 490 n. c.) at a time ::: ~Jpe8 of !J:anki11d,. p. 85, fig. 1; and pp. 247-9. 1:Exuut, L Armbm et la Pcr8e, II., pl. 126, "Pora6polis-1.'ombcau dans le roo." CUNEIFORM WRITING. 151 when Greek art was still archaic, Persian sculpture prcscrvc<l five characteristic types of mankind in an admirable work of art as evidences of tho constancy of the peculiar cast of features of human races. The monumental negro resembles the negro of to-day; the Arian features of king Darius and his guards arc identical with those we meet still in Persia and all over Europe; the Turanian (or Scythian) bears a iamily resemblance to many 'l'urks and Ilungarians; the identity of the Assyrian and modern Chaldcan physiognomy has been mentioned and proved above; and the l)hrygiau represents the mixed population of Asia Minor, a modification of the Arian type by the infusion of foreign blood-Iranian, Scythic, and Shomitish intcrminglings. Persian art, as a branch and daughter of the Assyrian, never rose to a higher development than under Darius and Xerxes. The dissensions and tho profligacy of the royal house chocked the progress of art, which remained stationary until Alexander the Macoclonian destroyed the independence of the empire, and tried to hellenize the subdued Persians. His endeavors, continued by the first Scleucidre of Syria, were not devoid of results; because, oven when Persia recovered its independence and re-appeared in history as tho Parthian empire, all its coins bear Greek inscriptions and imitations of Grecian types. We ought not to forget, notwithstanding, that the Parthians were probably not Persians proper, but an unartistical Turanian tribe, held in subjection by the earlier Pcrr;ians under their Achromcnian kings, which, in its turn, revolting from the yoke, ruled the Persians for above four centuries. Some specimens of a peculiar style of art have been lately discovered within the boundaries of the old Persian empire, viz: at Pterium and Nymphre. They wore published by Tcxier; 148 and it has been suggested that they might be Median. The bas-reliefs certainly present nothing to suggest any relation to the art of that race which originated the cuneiform writing; nor is a perceptible affinity conspicuous between them and the Egyptian style. N cverthclcss, the artists who chiselled them knew of the productions of Greek genius. Tho breath of Hellenism bas passed over them, as we pcrcoi vc from tho following male [36] and female [37] heads. They are, therefore, by many centuries posterior to the great Median empire. Still, it would be presumptuous to attribute them to any determinate nationality, since none of tho highlands flanking Asia Minor, inhabited then by aboriginal tribes, were ever completely hellenized; although they were powerfully affected by the genius of llellas, whose progress us Aaic !Jfineure, Pl. 61, 78,-" Bas-relief taill6 dans le roc. L'Olfrando"-ot soq. |