Tehran – A new phase of archaeological excavation began at the ruins of Valerian Palace, the ancient city of Bishapur in Kazerun district, Fars province. The palace is believed to have served as a residence for the Roman Emperor Valerian, who was once captured during the Sassanid period.
Afsin Ebrahimi, deputy director of the Department of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts in Fars State, announced the launch of the excavation project on Monday. He said with approval from the Institute of Cultural Heritage and Tourism, Bishapur’s latest excavation season began through efforts by the foundations of the state and Sassanid Landscape World Heritage Sites.
Ebrahimi noted that the excavation project will focus on the palace’s structural layout and discovery of key features. The last excavation recorded on the site dates back to the 1990s, when archaeologist Ali Akbar Sulfaraz carried out a partially excavated excavation phase of the palace.
He further explained that the façade of the palace is characterized by precisely cutting stones, and various modifications have been made to the original structure over the centuries. In the later period, stones from the palace were reused and additional architectural spaces were created within the site.
Ebrahimi emphasized that long-term research and restoration plans have been developed in collaboration with experts in related fields due to the wide range of debris covering the complexity of the ruins and excavations. The purpose of this project is to preserve, better understand this important historical site and shed new light on its architectural and historical importance.
Located about 150 meters east of Shapur Palace, Valerian Palace is now nothing more than a clump of abandoned ins. Originally, after being captured by Shapur I, the structures built to house the Roman Emperor Valerians played an important role in the history of the Sassanid Empire. Following the decisive Persian victory over the Roman legions, Valerians and 70,000 soldiers became prisoners, and the palace was built to place the emperor under surveillance.
Captives with knowledge of architecture and construction were brought to the western part of Iran to participate in Persian architectural projects, and many palaces, dams and bridges were constructed using the experience of Roman soldiers.
Valerian himself is said to be well versed in construction techniques and may have contributed to the design of his palace in Bishapur. The palace is known to occupy more than 3,000 square meters of area. It was the only structure of pre-Islamic Iran, made entirely of stone. All stones were of equal size and shape, of the same quality as the stones used in the temples of Anahita, many of which were combined together with clamps. The shallow depression, which can be seen in the stone bonds and gives the palace an interesting look, was originally filled with molten lead, and the structure has increased its solidity.
Vishapur (literally, the “city of Shapur”) was the magnificent capital of King Sassanid of Shapur I, whose army defeated the Romans three times. Like the arch bridge in Shushtar, many of the Vishapurs are said to have been built by Roman soldiers who were taken prisoner after the Emperor Valerian was defeated in C. 260 CE.
Bishapur is located south of modern Faryan, just off the ancient road between Persis and Elam, connecting Sasania’s capital Istkar (close to Persepolis) and Firzabad to Susa and Ktesiphon. The city was built near a river crossing.
Many architectural aspects of Bishapur appear Roman and do not belong to the Iranian building tradition. An example is what experts call the “Hippodamien Project.” This means that cities look like grid irons, but Iranian cities usually have cyclical designs. A website on ancient history written and maintained by Dutch historian Jonah Rendering since 1996.
Bishapur remained a key city until the Arab invasion of Persia and the rise of Islam in the second quarter of the 7th century. It became the center of Islamic learning (the madrassa was unearthed), and although there were people still living in the 10th century, decline began in the 7th century.
In 2018, UNESCO was entitled “Sassanid Archaeological Landscape of the Fars Region” (titles the Ensemble of the Historic City of Sassanid in southern Iran (“Sassanid Archaeological Landscape of the Fars Region”) and added to the World Heritage List. The ensemble consists of eight archaeological sites located in three geographical parts of Firuzabad, Bishapur and Sarvestan. It reflects the natural topography and optimized use of witnessing the influence of Achemenid and Parthian cultural traditions and Roman art, which later had a major impact on architecture and artistic style in the Islamic era.
The archaeological landscape of Sassanid represents a highly efficient system of land use and strategic use of natural terrain in the creation of the earliest cultural centres of the Sassanid civilization.
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