Cyrus Dies and Is Buried at Pasargadae
The founder of the empire is laid to rest in a stone tomb his successors would come to revere for centuries
Quick facts
- Death
- Summer 530 BCE
- Burial site
- Pasargadae, Fars province
- Tomb dimensions
- About 13.75 x 12.25 m, 11 m tall
- Later status
- UNESCO World Heritage Site
What happened
Cyrus the Great died in the summer of 530 BCE, reportedly during a campaign against nomadic peoples on the empire's northeastern frontier, and was buried at Pasargadae, the residence he had founded in Fars as one of the oldest Achaemenid royal sites. His tomb, a gabled stone chamber roughly 13.75 by 12.25 meters set on a stepped platform about five meters high, originally held a gold sarcophagus along with his weapons, jewelry, and a ceremonial cloak used in Persian royal inauguration rites. More than two centuries later, Alexander the Great is said to have found the tomb robbed and ordered it restored, though archaeologists have found no physical evidence that repairs were actually carried out. The structure survives today, later converted into a mosque known locally as the tomb of the mother of Solomon.
Why it matters
Pasargadae remained a site of dynastic legitimacy for the rest of the Achaemenid period; later kings were formally invested there. The tomb's survival, respected even by a conquering Alexander, shows how thoroughly Cyrus's reputation outlasted his own dynasty.
How we know
The tomb itself is a surviving physical structure at the UNESCO World Heritage site of Pasargadae. Ancient testimony about Alexander's visit comes from Arrian's later Greek account of Alexander's campaigns, drawing on eyewitness sources.
Sources
- Livius.org (Jona Lendering). Pasargadae, Tomb of Cyrus · Reputable sourcelivius.org · The domain "livius.org" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- World History Encyclopedia. Pasargadae · Reputable sourceworldhistory.org · The domain "worldhistory.org" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
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Part of a timelineAncient Persia27 events · Three empires in a row, Achaemenid, Parthian, and Sassanid, ran the largest state the ancient world had seen and left cuneiform, coinage, and a fire religion behindView all →