page_title: Ka'ba-ye Zartosht
section_title: Inscriptions by Shapur I and Kartir
hierarchical_section_title: Ka'ba-ye Zartosht / Inscriptions by Shapur I and Kartir
caption_attribution_description: فارسی: بنای کعبه‌ی زرتشت و کتیبه‌ی شاپور بر دیوار آن
context_page_description: Ka'ba-ye Zartosht is the name of a stone quadrangular and stepped structure in the Naqsh-e Rustam compound beside Zangiabad village in Marvdasht county in Fars, Iran. The Naqsh-e Rustam compound incorporates memorials of the Elamites, the Achaemenids and the Sassanians in itself in addition to the mentioned structure.
  The Ka'ba-ye Zartosht is 46 metres from the mountain, situated exactly opposite Darius II's mausoleum. It is rectangular and has only one entrance door. The material of the structure is white limestone. It is about 12 metres high, or 14.12 metres if including the triple stairs, and each side of its base is about 7.30 metres long. Its entrance door leads to the chamber inside via a thirty-stair stone stairway. The stone pieces are rectangular and are simply placed on top of each other, without the use of mortar; the sizes of the stones varies from 0.48 by 2.10 by 2.90 metres to 0.56 by 1.08 by 1.10 metres, and they are connected to each other by dovetail joints. The structure was built in the Achaemenid era and there is no information of the name of the structure in that era.
context_section_description: On June 1, 1936, following the probations by the digging department of The University of Chicago Oriental Institute, some inscriptions were found on the Ka'ba-ye Zartosht structure that belonged to Shapur I and the priest Kartir; Shapur's Inscription is written in the three languages Greek (70 lines), Arsacid Middle Persian (30 lines) and Sassanian Middle Persian (35 lines) on three sides of the structure; and Kartir's Inscription, which is in 19 lines in Sassanian Middle Persian language, is below Shapur's.
  In Shapur's Inscription, which should be considered the "Revolution Resolution" of the Sassanian dynasty, he first introduces himself and mentions the regions he ruled and then describes the Persian-Roman Wars and indicates the defeat and death of Marcus Antonius Gordianus, after whom the Roman forces proclaimed Marcus Julius Philippus the emperor; and the latter paid Shapur a compensation equal to half a million gold dinars for reprieve and returned to his homeland. Following that, Shapur has described his battle with the Romans along with an elaborate list of the Roman states from which he had gathered the forces. The battle, which was for Armenia, was the largest defeat that the Sassanians inflicted upon the Romans. Shapur then adds that "I apprehended Caesar Valerian myself, by my own hands." and mentions the names of the lands that he conquered in that battle. He then appreciates the power of God for giving him the power for victory and launches a lot of fire temples for his satisfaction in order to remark the names of the people who were involved in establishing the Sassanian government in front of the fire and finally advises the successors to strive for divine work and charity affairs. The inscription is historically considered very interesting and one of first class proofs of the Sassanian era; and one of the most important documents of the period for the limits and spans of the Sassanian Persian borders. In addition, the inscription is the last time that the Greek alphabet and language is used in Persian inscriptions.
  Kartir's Inscription, which is situated below the Sassanian Middle Persian inscription of Shapur's, is written during Bahram II's reign and around 280 A.D. He first introduces himself and then mentions his ranks and titles during the periods of the previous kings and says that he had the Herbad title during Shapur I's period and was appointed as "the grand master of all priests by Shahanshah Shapur I" and had the honor of receiving a hat and a belt by the shahanshah in Hormizd I's period and has achieved an increasing power and acquired the nickname "The Priest of Ahura Mazda, the god of gods". Then, Kartir mentions his religious activities like fighting other religions like Christianity, Manichaeism, Judaism, Buddhism and Zoroastrian heresy and remarks founding fire temples and allocation of donations for them. He also talks about correcting the priests that were, in his opinion, perverted and mentions the list of the states that were conquered by Persia during Shapur I's period and eventually the inscription ends with a prayer.
caption: The place of the inscriptions of Kartir and Shapur I (the Sassanian Middle Persian version) on the walls of Ka'ba-ye Zartosht
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