About 4.8 kilometers northwest of Persepolis lies the imposing site of Naqsh-i-Rustam in the mountain range of Husain Kuh, where Darius the Great and his successors had their monumental tombs carved into the cliff. Here in 1933 Herzfeld conducted a short survey and made soundings, but it was not until 1936 that Schmidt started to clear and document the royal tombs and to excavate the Ka'bah-i-Zardusht.
Although Naqsh-i-Rustam had long been a sacred area (as the remains of a Pre-Achaemenid relief show), Darius the Great was the first to choose it as a burial place. His successors not only imitated his idea of a cliff tomb but also copied the layout of the tomb itself. The dramatic facade of the tomb is constructed like a cross. An entrance leads into the tomb chamber, cut deep into the rock. In the panel above this facade is a relief depicting the king standing on a three-stepped pedestal in front of an altar. His hand is raised in a gesture of worship. Above him floats the winged disk of Ahuramazda, god of the Zoroastrian religion. This scene is supported by throne bearers representing the twenty-eight nations of the empire. On the side panels are the king's weapon bearers and the Persian guards. The trilingual cuneiform inscriptions on three panels of the rock wall either enumerate the twenty-eight nations upholding the throne or glorify the king and his rule. Some traces of pigment found on the facade of the royal tombs suggest that all or most of the stone reliefs had been painted.
Only the tomb of Darius I can be identified beyond doubt by inscriptions. The three other tombs at Naqsh-i Rustam are attributed to his immediate successors, Xerxes, Artaxerxes I, and Darius II. Other royal tombs of similar form, thought to be those of the later Achaemenids, were built at Persepolis itself, cut into the rock face of the Kuh-i Rahmat, overlooking the Terrace. The two complete tombs are assigned to Artaxerxes II and Artaxerxes III; an incomplete tomb was perhaps meant for the last Achaemenid king, Darius III. About 2 km south of Naqsh-i Rustam, on the south bank of the river Pulvar, are the remains of an unfinished freestanding structure, perhaps the base of a tomb intended for Cambyses II, modeled on the imposing tomb of his father, Cyrus the Great, at Pasargadae, up the Pulvar 43 km northeast of Persepolis.
- Persepolis - Tomb of Artaxerxes II (Tomb V), Upper Register and Entablature of Lower Register, P 57509
- Persepolis - Tomb of Artaxerxes II, Upper Register, Showing Throne Bearers, P 57510
- Persepolis - Tomb of Artaxerxes II, Upper Register, Lower Right, Showing Throne Bearers, Detail, P 57509
- Persepolis - Tomb of Artaxerxes II, Detail of Throne Bearers with Legends in the Upper Register, P 57518
- Persepolis - Tomb of Artaxerxes II, Upper Register, Macian Throne Bearer, P 57517
- Persepolis - Tomb of Artaxerxes II, Relief of Guards on the Left Side Wall of the Upper Register, P 57506
- Persepolis - Tomb of Artaxerxes II, Detail of Two Guards on the Central Panel of the Left Side Wall, P 57507
- Persepolis - Tomb of Artaxerxes II, Showing the Right Side of the Facade, P 57511
- Persepolis - Tomb of Artaxerxes II, Left Vault, P 60729
- Persepolis - Tomb of Artaxerxes III (Tomb VI), Distant View with the Treasury Excavation in the Foreground, P 58270
- Persepolis - Tomb of Artaxerxes III, General View, P 24972
- Persepolis - Tomb of Artaxerxes III, General View Looking N-NE, P 56992
- Persepolis - Tomb of Artaxerxes III, Detail of Doorway, Column, and Entablature, P 58333
- Persepolis - Tomb of Artaxerxes III, P 29199
- Persepolis - Tomb of Artaxerxes III, Left Part of Upper Facade, P 57500
- Persepolis - Tomb of Artaxerxes III, Detail of the Head of a Monster, P 29362
- Persepolis - Tomb of Artaxerxes III, Upper Register Throne Bearers, P 57504
- Persepolis - Tomb of Artaxerxes III, Upper Register, Showing Reliefs of Guards on Left Side Wall, P 57499
- Persepolis - Tomb of Artaxerxes III, C Vault, P 60727
- Persepolis - Unfinished Tomb of Darius III, General View with Persepolis Terrace in the Distance, P 59029
- Persepolis - Unfinished Tomb of Darius III, General View, P 59030
- Persepolis - Unfinished Tomb of Darius III, Showing Partly Completed Reliefs on the Facade, P 59028
- Persepolis - Unfinished Tomb of Darius III, Close-up of Incomplete Reliefs of Guards on Left Side Wall, P 59031
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - Vertical Air View of the Site and Its Environs, AE 566
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - Air View, AE 277
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - Air View, Direction Approximately NW, PS 564
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - Cliff with Royal Tombs; In Foreground, the Excavated Fortification Wall, P 29124
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - Panorama of Cliff Showing Tombs (Beginning at the Right) of Darius I, Artaxerxes I, and Darius II, with Tower at the Far Left, Direction of View, NW, P 57347, P 57348, P 57349a
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - Left Section of a Panorama of the Cliff, Showing the Tomb of Darius II, with the Tower at the Extreme Left, P 57347
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - Right Section of a Panorama of the Cliff, Showing the Tomb of Darius I, P 57349a
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - Tomb (No. IV) of Darius II (Left); Tomb (No. III) of Artaxerxes I (Right), P 57360
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - View of Work in Buildings I (Foreground) and III, Looking NW, P 60744
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - View of the Center Test with the Tomb of Darius I in the Background, P 60810
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - View of the Tomb of Darius the Great, P 58503
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - Tomb of Darius I, Top Register, P 58560
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - Tomb of Darius I, Middle Register, P 58506
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - Tomb of Darius I, Left Portion of the Top Register, P 58528
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - Tomb of Darius I, Left Portion of the Top Register, P 58529
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - Tomb of Darius I, a Workman Cleaning the Inscription on the Top Upper Left Side, P 58534
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - Tomb of Darius I, Close-up of King and God, P 58533
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - Tomb of Darius I, Part of the Left Portion of the Register of the Throne Bearers, P 58562
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - Tomb of Darius I, Detail of the Guard on the Left Frame, P 58553
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - Tomb of Darius I, Relief of Aspathines on the Left Frame, P 58551
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - Tomb of Darius I, Relief of Gobryas on the Left Frame, Top Register, P 58549
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - Tomb of Darius I, Relief of Gobryas, Close-up of Head and Inscription Above, Top Register, P 58550
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - Tomb of Darius I, Left Side Wall, General View, P 58582
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - Tomb of Darius I, Left Side Wall, Relief of a Guard on the Upper Part, P 58598
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - Tomb of Darius I, Left Side Wall, Relief of a Guard on the Upper Part, P 58599
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - Tomb of Darius I, NE Vault, Looking NW, P 58604
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - Tomb of Darius I, Center Vault, Looking NW, P 58607
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - Tomb of Darius I, Vestibule, View toward Doorway, Looking S-SE, P 58612
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - Close-up of an Islamic Inscription on the Rock Panel between the Tombs of Darius I and Xerxes, P 59022
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - Tomb of Xerxes (Tomb II), General View, P 58613
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - Tomb of Xerxes, General View, P 57359
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - Tomb of Xerxes, Upper Part, P 57358
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - Tomb of Xerxes, King, God, and Fire Altar in the Top Register, P 58726
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - Tomb of Xerxes, King, God, and Fire Altar in the Top Register, P 58722
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - Tomb of Xerxes, Middle Register, P 58618
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - Tomb of Xerxes, Top Register, Throne Bearers, P 58723
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - Tomb of Xerxes, Top Register, Relief of Guards on the Left Side Wall, P 58619
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - Tomb of Xerxes, Interior of Vault, Looking NW, P 58730
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - Tomb of Artaxerxes I, General View, P 58737
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - Tomb of Artaxerxes I, Top Register, P 58741
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - Tomb of Artaxerxes I, Top Register, Showing King, God, Fire Altar, and Throne Bearers, with Weapon Bearers and Guard on Left Frame, P 58745
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - Tomb of Artaxerxes I, the Entrance to the Tomb Chamber and the Lower Row of Throne Bearers, P 58742
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - Tomb of Artaxerxes I, Top Register with Throne Bearers, Weapon Bearers, and Guards on the Left Frame, P 58740
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - Tomb of Artaxerxes I, Reliefs of Guards on the Left Side Wall of the Top Register, P 58744
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - Tomb of Artaxerxes I, Center Vault, Looking N-NW, P 58776
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - Tomb of Artaxerxes I, Vestibule, Looking SW, P 58773
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - Tomb of Darius II (Tomb IV), General View with the Tower in the Left Foreground, P 58781
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - Tomb of Darius II, Showing King, God, and Fire Altar in the Top Register, P 58783
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - Tomb of Darius II, Middle Register with Throne Bearers from the Top Registers, P 58784
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - Tomb of Darius II, Right Side of the Top Register with Throne Bearers and Mourners on the Right Side, P 58791
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - Tomb of Darius II, Relief of Mourners on the Right Side Wall, P 58788
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - Tomb of Darius II, Center Vault, P 58795
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - Tomb of Darius II, Vestibule, Looking SW, P 58794
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - Remnants of a Pre-Achaemenid Relief East of Relief Depicting Bahram II and His Court, P 57368
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - Excavation View of the W Test, Building I, with the Tower in the Background, P 60806
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - Excavating the Interior of a Mud-Brick Building and Fortification SW of the Tower, P 60754
- Naqsh-i-Rustam. The tower at the start of excavation, P 59020
- Naqsh-i-Rustam - View of W End of the Cliff, P 57369
- Naqsh-i-Rustam Environs - a Shrine, P 59024
- Naqsh-i-Rustam Environs - Unfinished Terrace on the Top of the Cliff, View from the E, P 59025
- Naqsh-i-Rustam Environs - Circular Cutting of an Altar on Top of the Cliff, P 57370
- Naqsh-i-Rustam Environs - Vaulted Tomb Hewn into a Boulder, P 57390
- Naqsh-i-Rustam Environs - Vaulted Tomb Hewn into a Boulder, P 29109
- Naqsh-i-Rustam Environs - Achaemenian Rock Tombs at Akhur-i-Rustam, Used for the Disposal of Human Remains, P 29111
- Naqsh-i-Rustam Environs - Achaemenian Rock Tombs at Akhur-i-Rustam, P 29110
- Naqsh-i-Rustam Environs - Achaemenian Rock Tomb at Akhur-i-Rustam, P 29112
- Naqsh-i-Rustam Environs - Achaemenian Rock Tomb at Akhur-i-Rustam with an Unadorned Front, P 29113
- Naqsh-i-Rustam Environs - Achaemenian Rock Tomb at Akhur-i-Rustam with a Remnant of a Double Bull Capital on the Side, P 24769
- Naqsh-i-Rustam Environs - Unfinished Tomb of Cambyses(?) in the Plain of Marv Dasht, SW of Naqsh-i-Rajab, P 59145
- Naqsh-i-Rustam Environs - Unfinished Tomb of Cambyses(?) in the Plain of Marv Dasht, SW of Naqsh-i-Rajab, P 57389
- Naqsh-i-Rustam Environs - Unfinished Tomb of Cambyses(?) in the Plain of Marv Dasht, SW of Naqsh-i-Rajab, P 59146
- Naqsh-i-Rustam Environs - Unfinished Stone Reservoir on a Mountain Slope E of Persepolis, P 60728
- Naqsh-i-Rustam Environs - Distant View of Naqsh-i-Rustam, with the Ford of the Pulvar River in the Foreground, P 59147
- Pasargadae - View of the Tomb of Cyrus the Great, P 31666
- Pasargadae - View of the Tomb of Cyrus the Great, P 20949
- Pasargadae - Close-up View of the Tomb of Cyrus the Great, P 31667