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Ruins of Khosrow's Palace before excavation. (Click to enlarge)

LONDON, (CAIS) -- A team of Iranian archaeologists has recently begun the sixth season of archaeological research at the palace of the Sasanian emperor Khosrow II, Parviz (r. 590–628 CE) in the Bistun region of Kermanshah Province. 

The palace is located near Farhad Tarash, also known as Faratash, a cliff at the foot of the Zagros Mountains whose vertical surface was smoothed during the Achaemenid dynastic period (550-330 BCE). 

The construction of the palace was never completed but the site was converted into a caravanserai by the Ilkhanids (1256–1353). 

Ruins dating back to the Sasanian dynasty and the Ilkhanid era have been unearthed this season, team director Mehdi Rahbar told the Persian service of CHN on Monday. Some of the stones used in constructing the palace walls still bear intact masons’ marks, he stated. 

“The Ilkhanids converted the unfinished palace into a caravanserai, which most likely was destroyed by an earthquake later on and then another caravanserai was built by the Safavid dynasty (1502–1736) at distance of 200 meters from the Ilkhanid structure,” Rahbar explained. 

People built their houses on the ruins of the palace of Khosrow Parviz during the last years of the Qajar period (1794-1925).  In 1976 during the reign of Pahlavi II, the people were relocated in order to enable archaeologists to study the palace ruins.

Extracted From/Source: Mehr News [*]