Saturday, May 05, 2007

Sassanid Aristocracy House Discovered in Kermanshah

Source: Cultural Heritage News Agency

By Soudabeh Sadigh

Tehran, 5 May 2007 (CHN Foreign Desk) – Archeologists have succeeded in identifying an aristocracy residential settlement dating back to Sassanid dynastic era (224-651 AD) during their excavations in Sarab-e Mourt, located in Iranian western province of Kermanshah.

“This unique aristocracy house belonging to Sassanian dynastic era was consisted of two parts including private section and formal section. The formal section was consisted of a ceremonial vaulted hall. This squared hall was surrounded with 2 in 5 meters corridor which was led into some units, most probably official chambers,” said Yousof Moradi, archeologist of Cultural Heritage and Tourism Department of Kermanshah province and head of excavation team in Sarab-e Mourt.

Existence of plasters in the ceremonial hall indicate that the walls of this Sassanid house were most probably covered with stucco decorations which have been destroyed
over time. Moradi further explained that the big yards in official section were covered with bricks, parts of which have been discovered.

According to Moradi, this Sassanid residential house must have covered an area about 5000 square meters, 2500 meters of which have been excavated so far.

Regarding the usage of this historic building in the course of history, Moradi explained: “Evidence shows that this residency house stayed in use even after Muslim conquest and during early Islamic period. Then it was destroyed and abandoned until Seljuk era (1037-1187 AD) when the remained parts of the monument came into use once again as a summer dwelling. This building was also use during Ilkhanid era (1256-1336 AD) by nomads.”

Further archeological excavations revealed that this residency area was later turned into a cemetery and archeologists have succeeded in unearthing a number of graves in the area.

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