Darius the Great (Darius I) decided to be buried in a tomb cut on a high cliff near Persepolis, the new capital of the Achaemenid Empire he had founded. Three of his successors, most likely his son Xerxes, Artaxerxes I and Darius II, decided to have similar tombs at the same site.

Xerxes I of Persia - meaning "ruling over heroes" - also known as Xerxes the Great, was the fourth of the king of the kings of the Achaemenid Empire. He ruled from 486 BC until his murder in 465 BC at the hands of Artabanus, the commander of the royal bodyguard. He is notable for his invasion of Greece in 480 BC.
He was the son of Darius I and Atossa (daughter of Cyrus the Great).

The Achaemenid tombs have the shape of a cross. The tomb itself occupies the horizontal axis. It depicts the front of a palace with a central entrance which led to a small funerary chamber.