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CAIS
ARCHAEOLOGICAL
& CULTURAL NEWS©
24
September 2005
 The
dust and debris of the 50-year-old archaeological
excavations around Takht-e-Suleiman will be
removed, giving the monument a new appearance.
The ancient, historical fort of Takht-e- Suleiman
occupies an area of about 124,000 square meters
and is one of Iran’s most important ancient
monuments, comprising ruins dating back to the
Sassanid, Parthian, and Mongol periods.
Takht-e-Suleiman is in the district of Takab, west
of Azarbaijan, Iran, at an altitude of 2,400
meters and consists of a majestic building about
20m.high, erected on top of a hill, and a strong
stone battlement. One enters the monument through
a large gate above which traces of an inscription
in Kufic style can be seen, which belongs to the
Mongol period and is indicative of the reparation
of the place in that period.
The glorious time of Takht-e-Suleiman was in
Sassanid era during which it was a fire temple,
the fire of which was burning for hundreds of
years.
During Ilkhanid era, some settlements and new
castles were built in Takht-e-Suleiman. Abagha
Khan, the last emperor of Ilkhanid dynasty,
dislodged the region and changed it to his hunting
ground. After the collapse of Ilkhanids, its
inhabitants who were forced to live out of the
region, returned there and rebuilt their houses on
remains of Ilkhanid castles.
“The perimeters of the monument will be cleaned
by removing the 50-year-old dusts and debris
remaining from the excavations, under the
supervision of an expert,” says Ebrahim Heidari,
head of Takht-e-Suleiman project.
According to Heidari, the mass of dust and debris
which is some 5000 cubic meters will be removed.
Therefore, the removal will help save the temple
from decay because of dampness penetration into
its foundation.
The site is also to undergo new stratigraphy
studies and excavations to determine its exact
perimeters in the near future.
Yousof Moradi, archaeologist and director of the
excavation team in Takht-e-Suleiman says that
unlike the previous excavations in which just the
interior sector of the complex had been excavated,
the new round of studies will focus on excavating
historical remains between Takht-e-Suleiman prison
and Takht-e-Suleiman itself.
According to Moradi, the inner parts of
Takht-e-Suleiman which had already been excavated
by German archaeologists will be studied once
again. The German team believed that an earthen
wall 1120 meters long and 12 meters high
surrounded this complex, which was the first
structure of Takht-e-Suleiman belonging to the Sasanid
era, destroyed later and replaced by a stone wall.
The excavation team believes that the new wall was
constructed at the beginning of Islamic period.
However, to surely indicate that the wall was a
fortification needs further studies.
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