BĀZA-ḴŪR (Baz-e Hur), a village and site of some important Sasanian structures on the road from Mašhad to Torbat-e Ḥaydarīya,…

ARCHAEOLOGY iv. Sasanian Archeological field work has played a comparatively smaller part in forming the image of Sasanian history and…

ARCHITECTURE iii. Sasanian Periods 1. Building materials. Sasanian architecture is characterized by the widespread use of mortar masonry and the…

ii. HISTORY AND ARCHAEOLOGY The modern town of Dārāb, the center of the Ḵamsa tribe of Fārs (Oberling, pp. 123-70),…

FĀRS v. Monuments Prehistoric period. Only a few of the countless prehistoric mounds in the mountain valleys of Fārs have…

FĪRŪZĀBĀD, town and district (šahrestān) in Fārs, about 110 km south of Shiraz (lat 28° 50´ N, long 52° E,…

ČAHĀRṬĀQ i. In pre-Islamic Iran. ii. In the Islamic period.   i. In Pre-Islamic Iran Čahārṭāq, literally “four arches,” is…

BRIDGES (Pers. pol, Mid. Pers. pohl, Av. pərətu-) i. Pre-Islamic bridges. ii. Bridges in the Islamic period.   i. Pre-Islamic…

GYPSUM (Pers. Gač; CaSo4.1/2H2O), produced from natural gypsum rock (pure CaSO4.2H2O) by firing in kilns or piles and subsequent pulverization…

GERMANY ii. ARCHEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS AND EXCAVATIONS The first Germans who reported on the historical and archeological monuments of the ancient…

PALACE ARCHITECTURE. The abundant variety of styles in Iranian domestic architecture conceals a basic functional system that has remained unchanged…

QALʿA-YE DOḴTAR, a vast barrier fortress with a lofty palace of royal dimensions, built by the founder of the Sasanian…

MASJED-E SANGI, a rock-cut mosque near the ancient site of Dārābgerd. The site, also known as the Qaṣr-e Doḵtar or…

TAḴT-e SOLAYMĀN, outstanding archeological site with substantial Sasanian and Il-khanid ruins in Azarbaijan, between Bijār and Šāhin-dež, about 30 km…