How Tomyris Killed Cyrus

And on the other side, Cyrus, in the west, was destroyed at the hands of the Tatar people. A woman they called Tomyris, embittered to vengeance for her son, for her king had been killed on the battlefield, and so her heart was steeped in blood. When she heard the news, this noble queen chose a quiet corner in the early spring. She gathered an army and summoned her warriors, then marched her troops toward the land of Balkh. She cut off the head of that king who worshipped only himself as god, and laid all the west low as dust. She set a basin full of blood before him and plunged his bright head into the blood. The Shahnameh calls him only Damur; this king was no one but Siyavush. Surely this war was the war of Garsivaz, whom they reckoned a stubborn, daring man. Surely this was the battle of Arjasp, who came to Balkh and turned Lohrasp's days dark and bitter. Or perhaps it was the killing of the noble king, who came trembling from the seed of Akmin. Happy was the time of that chosen sovereign who rode from Athens all the way to India and China.