home   :    index    :    picture archive   :   Iran   :    photos by Marco Prins ; text Jona Lendering ©

Šurkutir (Shushtar)
Unless 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 river crossing at Shushtar. Photo Marco Prins. The ancient Royal road between Susa, the capital of Elam, and Persepolis, the capital of Achaemenid Persia, crosses the large river Pasitigris (modern Karun) at Shushtar. From the Persepolis fortification tablets, we know that the old name of Shushtar was Šurkutir. Quintus Curtius Rufus, one of the historians of Alexander the Great, describes how the Macedonian king crossed the river on this site in the last month of 331 BCE.
Ancient-Warfare.com, the online home of Ancient Warfare magazine
Relief of the Sassanid king Sapor, receiving the submission of the Roman emperor Valerian. Naqsh-i Rustam (Iran). Photo Marco Prins. Almost six centuries later, when Persia was ruled by the Sasanians, king Shapur I defeated and captured the Roman emperor Valerian, something he celebrated on several reliefs. (This one is at Naqš-i Rustam.) 
The bridge of Valerian at Shushtar. Photo Marco Prins. Countless Roman soldiers were taken captive as well. They were ordered to build a bridge at Shushtar and the city of Bishapur. This happened in 260. The Band-e Qaisar ("emperor's bridge") today. It is almost 550 meters long and could also serve as a barrage. The design is Roman. In fact, it is the most easterly building constructed by Romans.
The bridge of Valerian at Shushtar. Photo Marco Prins. Perhaps, the bridge was built by soldiers of the Sixth legion Ferrata, because this unit disappears from our sources after Valerian's defeat.
The bridge of Valerian at Shushtar. Photo Marco Prins. The bridge made it a lot easier to travel from Persia to the west. Six years later, Shapur founded Bishapur ("beautiful city of Shapur") along the road between the Persian heartland and Mesopotamia. The bridge has been repaired several times.
 home   :    index    :    Iran