Ramparts of ancient fort unearthed in northeast Iran

TEHRAN – Ramparts and towers of an ancient fortress, believed to date from the times of Parthians (247 BC – 224 CE), have partly been unearthed in northeast Iran.

The discovery has been made during an archaeological survey in Viran-Shahr, which is situated near the city of Faruj in North Khorasan province.

Experts from the Louvre and the University of Tehran are involved in the project, ILNA reported on Friday.

“The right-angled towers with bricks measuring 42 by 42 cm with a thickness of 10 to 12 cm along with a characteristic pottery, depicting Parthian-period arts, are among the findings of this season of excavation that are comparable to the architecture and pottery found in the Parthian capital,” senior Iranian archaeologist Meysam Labbaf-Khaniki said.

Recent findings suggest that this historical area was inhabited as a residential area during the Parthian period and its structures were used until the early Sassanid period (224–651), he explained.

In the current excavation season, which marks the second, field investigation is being done by Iranian archaeologists and research studies are conducted by French specialists, according to Labbaf-Khaniki.

The first archaeological season on the ruined Faruj came to an end last year.

Parthian Empire (247 BC – 224 CE), also known as the Arsacid Empire, largely adopted the art, architecture, religious beliefs, and royal insignia of their culturally heterogeneous empire, which encompassed Persian, Hellenistic, and regional cultures. At its height, the Parthian Empire stretched from the northern reaches of the Euphrates, in what is now central-eastern Turkey, to eastern Iran.

The Sassanid era (224 CE–651) is of very high importance in the history of Iran. Under Sassanids, Persian art and architecture experienced a general renaissance. Architecture often took grandiose proportions such as palaces at Ctesiphon, Firuzabad, and Sarvestan that are amongst highlights of the ensemble.

AFM/MG