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Bishapur - The city |
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otherwise indicated, pictures on this page © Marco Prins and Jona
Lendering. Photos can be downloaded and used for non-commercial purposes,
but you have to acknowledge Livius.
The first page of Bishapur pictures can be found here. |
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The city of Bishapur, seen from the air. It was built by Roman soldiers who had been captured after the defeat of the Roman emperor Valerian in 260. Perhaps, they belonged to the Sixth legion Ferrata, because this unit disappears from our sources after Valerian's defeat. Many aspects of Bishapur's architecture look Roman and do not belong to Iranian building traditions. An example is what specialists call the "Hippodamian street plan", which means that the city looks like a gridiron. |
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The walls of the aquare city. The royal rock reliefs on the preceding pages are behind the big rock (again an interesting geological feature). The Sasanian fort is on the left side of this rock. The walls are well-preserved. The foundations of towers can be discerned; they are round, which made easier the use of catapults. Once, the walls were 10 meters high and protected 50,000-80,000 people. | |
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The palace with its cruciform throne hall. |
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According to French archaeologists, there was a large dome (Ø20 meters) covering the entire area, but the walls appear to be not strong enough to support a heavy superstructure. Perhaps, the building consisted of four half vaults (iwans) and an open square. If so, it belongs to the same building type as the (medieval) "four walled mosque". |
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The interior of the palace, at sunset. Once, the sixty-four niches were decorated with statues. | |
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The remains of stucco in one of the niches. They are decorated with patterns from Greek art, like leaf scrolls. Traces of yellow, black, and red paint can still be seen. | |
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Mosaics were found in several rooms. This face (or is it a mask in Dionysiac style?) has a laurel wreath, a Roman symbol not known in Sasanian Persia. Probably, the makers of the mosaic were from Antioch, which was well-known for its mosaic makers and was captured by Shapur in 253 and 260. | |
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This scene is more adapted to oriental tastes. The lady wears a transparent veil. Like the mosaic of the face, this lovely picture of a musician is not in Bishapur itself: both pieces of art are now in France, in the Louvre in Paris. | |
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Another mosaic from Bishapur, showing a lady with flowers. She can be seen in the National Archaeological Museum in Tehran. | |
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One of the corridors of the palace. On the aerial photos, this is the room to the left of the throne hall. | |
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Beyond this corridor is another square room, that was decorated with reliefs and mosaics: the eastern Mosaic Hall. This relief of a charging horseman was found in this room, and is now in the little museum near the excavation. You can still see traces of paint. | |
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The western Mosaic Hall. On the aerial photos, this is the room to the right of the throne hall. | |
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The temple of the water goddess Anahita. It was deeper than the other rooms of the palace. You can reach the interior passing a long stairs, left on this picture. |
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The exterior of the shrine. This looks like the triangle-shaped wall that supports a roof, but the sanctuary was open. | |
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The inside of this temple. In front of this door, you can see the opening of a small channel. This square was actually a pool. The triangle-shaped top once carried two bull imposts. | |
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The water conduit in the shrine of Anahita. Here, the water could also be blocked. | |
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Another relief from Bishapur, also at the museum. This man wears a
diadem
and may be a prince, or even king Ardašir I (224-241), who had a similar
crown.
Most of the city is still buried, and it is to be expected that in the future, archaeologists will start digging again. As the main monuments have already been excavated, it is likely that they will focus on the living quarters of the ordinary people of Bishapur. |
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