page_title: Naqsh-e Rostam
section_title: Sassanid reliefs
hierarchical_section_title: Naqsh-e Rostam / Monuments / Sassanid reliefs
caption_attribution_description: Bas relief at Nagsh-e-rostam showing the investiture of Ardashir I, Province du Fars, Iran.
context_page_description: Naqsh-e Rostam is an ancient necropolis located about 12 km northwest of Persepolis, in Fars Province, Iran, with a group of ancient Iranian rock reliefs cut into the cliff, from both the Achaemenid and Sassanid periods. It lies a few hundred meters from Naqsh-e Rajab, with a further four Sassanid rock reliefs, three celebrating kings and one a high priest.
  Naqsh-e Rostam is the necropolis of the Achaemenid dynasty, with four large tombs cut high into the cliff face. These have mainly architectural decoration, but the facades include large panels over the doorways, each very similar in content, with figures of the king being invested by a god, above a zone with rows of smaller figures bearing tribute, with soldiers and officials. The three classes of figures are sharply differentiated in size. The entrance to each tomb is at the center of each cross, which opens onto a small chamber, where the king lay in a sarcophagus.
  Well below the Achaemenid tombs, near ground level, are rock reliefs with large figures of Sassanian kings, some meeting gods, others in combat.
context_section_description: Seven over-life sized rock reliefs at Naqsh-e Rostam depict monarchs of the Sassanid period.  Their approximate dates range from 225 to 310 AD, and they show subjects including investiture scenes and battles.
caption: The investiture of Ardashir I
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