Tomb of Cyrus

The tomb of Cyrus is a building of a small stone monument approximately 1 km southwest of the palaces of Pasargadae, According to Greek sources, the tomb of Cyrus the Great dates to 559-29 B.C. was located in the royal park at Pasargadae. The most extensive description* based on a lost account by Aristobulus. who had accompanied Alexander the Great (q.v,) on his eastern campaign in the late 4th century B.C., is to be found in the Anabasis of Arrian (6.29). written in the 2nd century A.D.

History

When Alexander looted and destroyed Persepolis, he paid a visit to the tomb of Cyrus. Arrian, writing in the second century of the common era, recorded that Alexander commanded Aristobulus, one of his warriors, to enter the monument. Inside he found a golden bed, a table set with drinking vessels, a gold coffin, some ornaments studded with precious stones and an inscription on the tomb. No trace of any such inscription survives, and there is considerable disagreement to the exact wording of the text. Strabo reports that it read: