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LONDON, (CAIS) -- The two remaining columns of Parthian manor house and temple (possibly a Mithraist temple) in Khorhé will be dismantled for restoration, and then will be erected in their original places.

“From the six columns of the Khorhé monument, only two are in existence, and the rest were destroyed. Because the columns are in a vulnerable state, we have to remove the stone-columns-bases and dismantle the columns, and after strengthening their foundations, we will return them back to their original places”, said Dr Mehdi Rahbar, the archaeologist in charge of restoration.

According to Rahbar, the restoration expected to start soon. “Although, the Arsacid dynasty (248 BCE-224 CE) reigned over 500 years, we do not have much architectural remains from that period; and therefore this structure is very important for us.”

The manor house was contracted in an area consisting of three thousand square meters with sic columns of stone to the elevation of 8 m, which only two remain from this vestige, ayvans (ayvān or iwān is a trademark of Iranian architecture, defined as a vaulted hall or space, walled on three sides, with one end entirely open). The ramparts and columns are the remnants of a large structure. The results of excavations performed in this historical vicinity reveal that this structure comprises of the following: The original southern structure consists of columns, chambers and courtyard. Whereas the northern structure, which is the main one, consists of chambers and corridors. The western structure comprises of a number of chambers and a hall. 

Khorheh is a village located 225-km southwest of Tehran, near the Qom-Esfahan expressway in the Markazi province. The archeological site, has long attracted the attention of inquisitive minds and given rise to various views and theories. An archeological excavation at Khorheh is the subject of this article; it covers the history from the Mesopotamian civilization, first documents found in 1859, followed with the secondary excavations in 1892 and complementary recent researches. Dr. Rahbar’s researches from 1996 have not yet come to an end.

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