By Dr. Kaveh Farrokh

In a report provided by UNESCO on Jul, 2, 2018, eight Sassanian archaeological sites have been officially identified as heritage sites. These are located in three geographical regions in Iran’s Fars Province: Firuzabad, Bishapur and Sarvestan.

Aerial view of Ardashir’s Firuzabad palace. Note circular pattern for defense and town planning (Picture source: Historical Iran Blog).

These UNESCO sites are Sassanian fortified structures, palaces, as well as city plans. These are chronologically dated from the early to late Sassanian eras (224-651 CE).

These sites include the original capital of Ardashir Papakan (founder of the Sassanian dynasty), as well as the city and architectural structures of his son and successor, Shapur I.

Structures at the site of Shapur I’s palace at Bishapur (Photo: Pentocelo in situ [Bishapur, Iran] April, 2006).

As averred further by UNESCO:

The archaeologic landscape reflects the optimized utilization of natural topography and bears witness to the influence of Achaemenid and Parthian cultural traditions and of Roman art, which had a significant impact on the architecture and artistic styles of the Islamic era.

Related posts:

1. A Forgotten Gem of Sassanian Architecture: Iwan-e Karkheh
2. UNESCO celebrates 1,750th anniversary of Iran’s Gundi-Shapur University
3. Documentary Film Production: the UNESCO Sassanian Fortress in Darband
4. Archaeological Survey of the Parthian-Sassanian Oltan Fortress
5. An Overview of the Sassanian site of Nagshe Rajab
6. UNESCO: Citadel, Ancient City and Fortress Buildings of Derbent
7. The Ancient Sassanian City of Bishapur
8. Shahr-e Belqeys in the late Sassanian and Early Islamic eras
9. UNESCO: Takht-e Soleiman
10. Castle of Ardashir at Firuzabad-فيروز آباد in Fars

The world’s wild lion population is in grave danger. There are only 600 Asiatic lions remaining, all of which live in a wildlife reserve in the Gir Forest in northwest India. And just 23,000 African lions roam the land between the southern edge of the Sahara and northern South Africa. The total number of wild lions worldwide has dropped by more than 40 percent in the last half century. But in the past, lions were among the most geographically widespread animals on Earth. Each ancient culture that encountered lions had its own way of embracing their power, and the big cats became symbols of spirituality, kingship, bloodlust, divinity, and even safety and peace.

https://archaeology.org/collection/when-lions-were-king/

The Dubrovnik Times reports that an archaeological team from the Dubrovnik Museums recently uncovered 4,000 years of human occupation in the Crno Jezero (“Black Lake”) Cave. The 780-foot-long cavern snakes its way 300 feet underground near the village of Ponikve on the Pelješac peninsula. The excavations highlighted the different ways that local peoples used the cave from the Bronze Age to the Middle Ages. During the second millennium b.c., the cave was mostly used for temporary or seasonal housing, especially during periods of conflict or inclement weather. From the ninth to the sixth century b.c., the space was transformed into a burial ground. Archaeologists learned that it was most intensely used during the last few centuries b.c., when Illyrian communities established a sacred sanctuary at the site. Excavations unearthed miniature ceramic vessels of Greek or local origin that were left as votive offerings during religious ceremonies. Archaeologists also found luxury Greek wine vessels such as amphoras and cups that were not used in everyday Illyrian life but served as symbols of status associated with unknown wine-based rituals. Human skeletal fragments uncovered deep within the cave date to the thirteenth century a.d. and mark the site’s final phase of use, although researchers are not yet sure whether they were intentionally buried there or represent the remains of individuals who were accidentally trapped in the narrow hollows and died. 

WARSAW, POLAND—Science in Poland reports that a medieval document has been recovered at a large residential structure at the site of Old Dongola in Sudan by a team of researchers from the University of Warsaw. The text, written in Arabic on paper, is an order issued by King Qashqash, a ruler thought by some to be a legendary figure known only from mention in a nineteenth-century work. The building where the document was found also contained textiles made of cotton, linen, and silk; objects made of ivory and rhino horn; amulets; and more than 20 letters and administrative and legal documents. Team member Tomasz Barański said that the language and handwriting of the order indicate that Arabic was not yet fully established in medieval Dongola. “The use of non-standard grammatical forms and the rather unsophisticated hand should not be surprising, particularly in an environment where Arabic had not yet become a native language,” he said. “Moreover, the irregular shape of the sheet of paper on which the order was written suggests that this text may have been only a draft of the actual document.” Read the original scholarly article about this research in Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa.