The Burial of Yazdigird (painting, verso; text, recto), folio from a manuscript of the Shahnama by Firdawsi

In Firdawsi’s epic, Yazdigird III (d. 651) was assassinated in a mill by order of Mahuy, the treacherous governor of Merv. Two religious ascetics discovered the king’s body, stripped and thrown in a stream. Their fellow monks retrieved it, respectfully anointed it with wine, musk, camphor, and rosewater, clothed it in linen and gold brocade, and placed it in a lofty tomb. The painting shows a priest blessing the open grave as Yazdigird’s coffin is carried into the mausoleum, followed by a crowd of mourners. The casket, with Yazdigird’s crown at the head, is wrapped in textile strips. In design and decoration, the tomb reflects sixteenth-century Central Asian and Iranian architectural interiors.