I am Kuruš, who founded the Empire of the Persians.
Grudge me not therefore, this little earth that rests under my body…
“… You who bless me, may a Great King bless you,” Rošanak whispers quietly under her breath, hushed as if she were uttering sacred words of prayer.
All the Persians knew by heart the words on the golden table upon which the golden casket of Kuruš the Elder rested…
… in his Royal Tomb in Pârsâkata, the Land of the First Tribe of the Persians…
… the most royal of all noble Persian tribes… the First of the Persians…
...
With these words, Rošanak remembers the Great Kuruš on her visit to the Tomb of Kuruš in Pârsâkata.
The literary account that follows was written based on the visit of Alexander to the Tomb of Kuruš (Cyrus) in Pasargadae that was recorded by the ancient historians of Alexander. There is no reason to doubt the historicity of the visit, although it is best to keep in mind that ancient Hellene and Roman historians of Alexander were always “eager to identify the footprints of Cyrus beneath the steps of the Macedonian”, as pointed out by Professor Pierre Briant, in From Cyrus to Alexander.
Both Kuruš and Alexander were considered victorious world conquerors but the similarities end there.
While Kuruš unified Asia and the imperial Persian Achaemenids created the first world empire that prospered for 200+ years, Alexander’s conquests did not survive him and the bloody wars that broke between his Macedonian successors after his death shattered the territorial integrity of the Persian Empire and literally broke Asia into hostile pieces.
Regional hostilities that were successfully suppressed by Kuruš and the imperial Achaemenids, resurfaced during the period of incessant wars between Alexander’s successors, known as Diadochi.
Thousands of years later, Asia still bleeds from the disastrous aftermath of Alexander’s quest for personal fame and glory.
