Me standing alongside the 3-Meter statue of Darius the Great, one of the most significant works of the Achaemenid Empire (550–330 BC). Made in Egypt by the order of Darius and brought to Iran by his son Xerxes, it is a major relic from the ancient world kept at National Museum of Iran. [3681×2296]

I went to the museum early in the morning, at a time which is less crowded, just to take this photo for you all, one to show the statue’s size as best as possible. (On my height, I’m 1.85 cm)

Here’s some more info about the statue:

In December of 1972, The Iranian-French archaeological team found this amazing ancient statue in Susa on the west side of the entrance to Darius’s palace. They found a larger-than-life size statue of Darius the Great, which had no head. Experts believe that when Alexander the Great invaded ancient Iran, his soldiers intended to break this statue, but due to its heavy weight, they were unable to do it, so they broke its head and hit it with their swords, as sword marks can still be seen on the statue. Darius himself order the statue to be built in Wadi Hammamat of eastern Egypt, and then it was transported so Susa of southwest Iran by his son and successor, Xerxes I.

Darius is depicted wearing a Persian dress and armed with a Acinaces at his belt. The statue was originally colored, as the remains of red paint is still on its shoes. It is made from gray granite. The base of the statue is in Egyptian style with a depiction of Hapi. The sides of the base represent numerous countries under Darius’ rule, with a total of twenty-four. It is suggested that during its time in Egypt, the statue was put in front of the Atum Temple in Heliopolis. There are also four inscriptions on the statue in old Persian, Elamite and Babylonian:

1- “This is the statue, made of stone, which Darius ordered to be made in Egypt. This is how everyone who will see this in the future, will know that Iranians own Egypt.”

2- “A great god is Ahuramazda, who created this earth, who created yonder sky, who created man, who created happiness for man, and who made Darius king.”

3- “I am Darius, the great king, king of kings, king of all peoples, king in this great earth far and wide, the son of Hystaspes, an Achaemenid. May Ahuramazda protect me and what I did”

4- “Atum, the god of Heliopolis, has chosen him [Darius] to be the lord of all those who are surrounded by the sun’s rays, because he knows that he [Darius] is his [Atum] son. Neith, the goddess of Sais, also chose Darius to become the Lord of the world.”

More images:

[https://vici.org/vici/55310/](https://vici.org/vici/55310/)

[https://www.livius.org/articles/place/susa/susa-photos/susa-statue-of-darius/](https://www.livius.org/articles/place/susa/susa-photos/susa-statue-of-darius/)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_statue_of_Darius_the_Great](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_statue_of_Darius_the_Great)