About 12 km northwest of the Iranian city of Persepolis, lies a rocky hill. Engraved on the almost perpendicular façade of the hill, at a considerable height, are rich ornamented reliefs dedicated to the Achaemenid kings belonging to the early first millennium BCE. This area is known as Naqsh-e Rustam, and also as Necropolis.
Naqsh-i Rustam (the Throne of Rustam, in English) was considered a sacred mountain range in the Elamite periods. The façades of Naqsh-i Rustam became the burial site for four Achaemenid rulers and their families in the fifth and fourth centuries BCE, as well as a major center of sacrifice and celebration during the Sasanian period between the third and seventh century CE
The oldest relief at Naqsh-i Rustam is severely damaged and dates to c. 1000 BC. It depicts a faint image of a man with unusual head-gear and is thought to be Elamite in origin. The depiction is part of a larger mural, most of which was removed at the command of Bahram II. The man with the unusual cap gives the site its name, Naqsh-e Rostam, "Picture of Rostam", because the relief was locally believed to be a depiction of the mythical hero Rostam.
