lOO Outlines of Etiropean History Spread of Persian religion commerce to pass up the Nile and through the Red Sea to India. Darius also cherished what proved to be a vain hope, that the south coast of Persia might come to share in the now growing commerce betvv^een India and the Mediterranean world. Although proud of their master)' of the world, the Persian kings felt a deep sense of obligation to rule the nations of the earth in accordance with the Good and the Right which Ahuramazda personified. Fig. 53. The Tombs of the Persian Kings The fronts of the tombs are carved in the cliffs at the left. They begin with the tomb of Darius, about 500 B.C. The tomb of Cyrus (in the vicinity) is a detached stone structure not shown here. The detached building on the right has nothing to do with the tombs Unfortunately, as time passed, the Persian kings grew more and more inefficient and unsuccessful as rulers. The Persian rulers were devoted followers of Zoroaster's teaching and felt keenly the sharp line which that faith drew between good and bad. The Persian power carried this noble faith throughout western Asia and especially into Asia Minor. It had here the form which it gradually came to take under the later Persian kings. In this form Mithras, made by Zoroaster a helper of Ahuramazda (p. 94), appears as a hero of light, and
