Royal Sanctuary

Veneration of ancestors and the worship of royalty, living and dead, were commonplace throughout the ancient world. The details varied, with ancestors being worshipped almost as household gods, to temple complexes and great tombs being constructed in remembrance of powerful rulers. Interment of kings and rulers was common. In Persian traditions, bodies could be placed in stone monuments, such as the tomb of Cyrus the Great at Pasargadae. Rock monuments and tombs, which housed Achaemenid rulers such as Darius the Great, dominated their landscapes. The point of these great structures, however, was always the same: a clear and simple reminder to ordinary people that their rulers were powerful and had a history of being powerful. The dead were intended to be 'awe-full'.