FRIEZE OF STRIDING LIONS

An Achaemenid artisan carved this piece of stone to represent part of a cloth canopy that was decorated with woven or appliquÃ©d figures of rosettes and striding lions. Remnants of crenellations on the top of the block indicate that it belonged to the uppermost row of stones. The fringe along the lower edge, representing knotted cords ending in tassels, was partly chipped away in ancient times, perhaps before the stone was reused in the balustrade of a small stairway east of Darius' residential palace.