Topographical Studies of Sasanid City to Commence Next Week

23 January 2005

Topographical studies of the city of Estakhr, where Sasanid kings held their coronation ceremonies, are to commence next week.

The director of the Center for Studies of Ancient Estakhr, Ali Asadi, said on Saturday that the process would help document the 130-hectare site more precisely.

“The topographical study will give us more information about the exact measurements of the site and its architectural plan,” he noted.

The latest maps of the city were prepared by French archaeologists between the years 1934 and 1937, but they are not very accurate, so new topographical studies will be carried out next week, he added.

Researchers and archaeologists are convinced that the city was inhabited during the Sasanid and early Islamic eras, but they are not sure if it was originally founded during the Achaemenid era or at a later date.

Artifacts from the Achaemenid era to the early Islamic era have been found in Estakhr, which is located near Naqsh-e Rostam in Fars Province. The ancient site was one of the main ceremonial cities of the Sassanid monarchs.

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