Before them, at the distance of a few feet, stands an altar, elevated on three steps, and crowned with the sacrificial fire.
Its form is square, and its only ornaments are a sunken squared recess, and a strongly projecting cornice at top.

The height of the altar, including the steps, was apparently about four and a half feet.

[PLATE LVIII., Fig.

4.] The Persians' favorite victim was the horse; but they likewise sacrificed cattle, sheep, and goats.

Human sacrifices seem to have been almost, if not altogether, unknown to them, and were certainly alien to the entire spirit of the Zoroastrian system.