Doorway Relief of an Enthroned King

DOORWAY RELIEF OF AN ENTHRONED KING
Hall of 100 Columns
Field Negative P-321
Negative N. 37380
Schmidt Expedition 1935

This relief symbolizes the Achaemenid king’s far-reaching power. The king — resolute with staff in hand and attendant behind — is shown seated on a throne supported by a colossal platform with lion’s paws and rows of throne-bearers who represent the subject peoples of the empire. Darius explains this image in the inscription on his tomb at Naqsh-i-Rustam:
“If you think, ‘How many are the lands of which Darius the King took possession?’ consider the images that carry the throne; then you will know, then it will be known to you ‘The land of the Persian man has gone far,’ then it will be known to you ‘The Persian man beat back the enemy far from Persia.’”