Kupan / Dav-Dokhtar (Brthatka?)

Artaxerxes III Ochus at Persepolis); at Kupan, near modern Bahreh-ye `Ana, we can see a narrow band decorated with merlons that resemble those along the eastern stairs of the Apadana in Persepolis.

The person who was buried here, along the Royal Road from Susa to Persepolis, must have been very important, and may have been a member of the Achaemenid royal family. The site itself, which may or may not be identical to the Brthatka mentioned in the Persepolis fortification tablets, offers no clues. The idea that it was built by Parysatis, wife of king Darius II Nothus and mother of Artaxerxes II Mnemon, for her son Cyrus the Younger, is attractive, but essentially just a hypothesis. Some scholars regard the tomb as belonging to pre-Achaemenid times, and believe it was the final resting place of a local prince, perhaps Cyrus of Anšan. However, again, there is no evidence.

The two photos were kindly given to me by professor Abuzar Hemati of the University of Yasuj.