Sasanian Stucco-Decorations at Bandian Will be Unearthed subject to Protective Measures - CAIS Archaeological & Cultural News of Iranian World©

LONDON, (CAIS) -- Bandian of Darehgaz in Khorassan Province, consists of three archaeological mounds (Tappeh = Tepe). The research begun in 1995, and no one was anticipating the sheer amount of information obtained about Sasanian from this site.

According to the Iranology section of ISNA (Iranian Student News Agency), the discovered fire-temple in this area, from a religious point of view has never been mentioned in the historical accounts alongside the three legendary fire-temples of Iran, but the archaeological evidence confirm its greatness which its' luxurious settings exceeds all three. The sumptuous stuccos of the monument have illuminated the Sasanian architectural decorations for us, particularly at the time of the king of kings Bahram V.

From the discovered Pahlavi (Middle-Persian) inscriptions obtained from the site, archaeologists have confirmed the settlement was served as a Dastgerd. During the Sasanian dynastic era (224-651 CE), Dastgerd was a settlement consist of a large village with farming lands and a farming community consisting of 500 or more farmers working for the king. As a result, archaeologists have started searching for houses occupied by the farmers in the nearby hills, in which an apādāna-like columned audience hall was the result of their search.

The audience hall belonged to a lord/management of the Dastgerd, which was partly excavated and the rest are pending further research. The future archaeological research in this section of the settlement will be focused on the discovery of the private residence or the manor house.

According to the archaeologists, this settlement was an important Dastgerd, and they are expecting to collect more information in a near future. In the past 50 years of archaeological research and discoveries in relation to Sasanian Iran, this Dastgerd, has been considered an exceptional find.

“We are pursuing our goal in Bandian, subject to the unearthed stucco-works to be protected in future, and if we leave them unprotected at the mercy of looters and harsh weather, they will be lost forever. Thus, it is logical to leave them where they are”, said Dr Mehdi Rahbar the head of archaeological Research team at Bandian historical site.

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