نوع مقاله : مقاله پژوهشی
نویسندگان
1 استادیار پژوهشکدۀ باستانشناسی، پژوهشگاه میراثفرهنگی و گردشگری، تهران، ایران (نویسندۀ مسئول).
2 دانشجوی دکتری، گروه باستانشناسی، دانشکدۀ ادبیات و علوم انسانی، دانشگاه تهران، تهران، ایران.
کلیدواژهها
عنوان مقاله English
نویسندگان English
Abstract
Despite considerable archaeological evidence and written sources concerning the Sasanian city of Weh-Andiōk-Shābuhr, modern scholarship has yet to fully explore its layout, spatial organization, and internal structures, as well as its roles in the scientific, administrative, political, religious, and economic spheres during the Sasanian period. Archaeological excavations and soundings led by Yousef Moradi in 2017, along with data from historical aerial photographs and satellite imagery, have offered fresh insights into the urban design and architectural characteristics of Weh-Andiōk-Shābuhr during the Sasanian era. These findings challenge previous interpretations regarding the city’s design, function, and the dating of its various features. The excavations revealed that Weh-Andiōk-Shābuhr was a rectangular city, enclosed by walls constructed with consolidated pisé (rammed earth) and reinforced with semi-circular buttresses. A moat surrounded the city on all sides. Contrary to earlier interpretations, recent excavations, surveys, historical aerial photographs, and satellite imagery showed that the intersecting lines visible in aerial photographs and the dirt roads within the city were not remnants of Sasanian streets. Instead, they were ridges created after the 10th century CE, when the city was transformed into farmland, serving to demarcate agricultural fields and facilitate commuting within them. Additionally, the excavations revealed that many of the scattered mounds within the city did not contain the remains of buildings but were deposits of construction materials from the ruined city, accumulated to expand farmland. This article seeks to offer a clearer understanding of Weh-Andiōk-Shābuhr during the Sasanian period by integrating these new archaeological discoveries with an analysis of historical texts, epigraphy, sigillography, and numismatics.
Keywords: Weh-Andiōk-Shābuhr, Sasanian, Sigillography, Numismatics, Urban Planning, Archaeological Excavations.
1. Introduction
Numerous literary, inscriptional, and sigillographic sources underscore the significance of the city of Weh-Andiōk-Shābuhr during the Sasanian period. These primary sources indicate that the city retained its original name throughout this era. Yet, modern scholarship often refers to it as Gundēshāpūr or Jundīshāpūr—names that only emerged during the Islamic period—when discussing the city’s role in the Sasanian era without clarifying the anachronism. Furthermore, these studies frequently overlook city’s urban fabric, including its layout, spatial organization, structures, and its multifaceted roles in the scientific, administrative, political, religious, and economic systems of the Sasanian era.
This paper seeks to address these gaps by combining archaeological evidence from Yousef Moradi’s 2017 excavations with historical aerial photographs, satellite imagery, and data from primary sources, inscriptions, seals, and coinage.
2. Analysis and Decision
The following sections examine the city’s layout, architectural features, and historical prominence, drawing on textual, epigraphic, sigillographic, numismatic, and archaeological evidence. Each type of source provides complementary insights: historical texts illuminate political, religious, and scientific significance; inscriptions and seals document administrative status; coinage reflects economic activity; and archaeological surveys reveal the city’s physical layout and defensive structures.
2-1. Weh-Andiōk-Shābuhr: Historical Records
Although often blending facts with fiction, historical texts provide abundant information about the political, religious, cultural, scientific, and economic significance of the city of Weh-Andiōk-Shābuhr during the Sasanian period. Many sources attribute the foundation of the city to Shāpūr I, following his victory over the Roman Emperor Valerian (Ṭabarī, 1983: II, 590; Dīnawarī, 1992: 73; Ibn al-’Ibri, 1992: 76; al-Qifṭī, 1992: 183; al-Yaʿqūbī, 1993: I, 201). However, some scholars, building upon Syriac sources (Scher, 1907: 221; Sachau, 1916: 4–5), CORONA satellite imagery of the site (Whitcomb, 2003–2004: 92–93), and linguistic evidence (Potts, 1989: 327–334), argue that the city existed before Shāpūr’s reign and was later rebuilt by him on a grid plan. Pinpointing the precise date of the city’s construction requires further archaeological excavations.
Historical records also suggest that Weh-Andiōk-Shābuhr served as the capital for several Sasanian kings (Ibn al-Balkhi, 2006: 63–69; Mustawfi, 2002: 167; al-Masʿūdī, 1988: I, 279). Significant political and religious events took place there, including the imprisonment of Roman Emperor Valerian (Scher, 1907: 220; Chaumont, 1988: 63; Schwaigert, 1989: 24), the rebellion of Anōshazād against his father, Khosrow I Anushirwān (Dīnawarī, 1992: 74), and the execution of the prophet Mani (al-Maqdisī, 1927: III, 158; Ṭabarī, 1983: II, 596; Thaʻālibī, 1989: I, 319; Dīnawarī, 1992: 74). Known as “Beth Lapat” in Syriac sources, the city was a major center for Christianity in the Sasanian Empire, playing a pivotal role in the history of the Church of the East. It served as the seat of the Metropolitan Archbishop of Khuzestan for much of its history (Scher, 1907: 11; Chabot, 1902: 283, 308–309, 529; Fiey, 1979: 237, 241; Morony, 1989; Vööbus 1988: 82). Moreover, Weh-Andiōk-Shābuhr emerged as a prominent scientific hub during the Sasanian period, contributing significantly to the development of knowledge, especially in medicine and philosophy, which were later transmitted to the early Islamic era (Ibn al-’Ibri, 1992: 76; al-Qifṭī, 1992: 183–185; Dols, 1987: 368; Söylemez, 2005: 1). Armenian sources also mention the cultivation of sugarcane in the region in the early 7th century CE (Hewsen, 1968: 35, n. 25; 1971: 186, 1992: 74), although Lippmann (1890: 93–94) suggests that sugarcane was grown much earlier and was used for medical purposes.
2-2. Weh-Andiōk-Shābuhr: Epigraphic and Sigillographic Evidence
The trilingual inscription of Shāpūr I (r. 241–272) on the Kaʿba-ye Zardosht in Naqsh-e Rostam lists several Sasanian cities and satrapies (šahrabs) including ‘Weh-Andiōk-Shābuhr’ (Middle Persian: why-ʾndywk-šhypwhry), meaning ‘the better Antiochia of Shāpūr’ (Huyse 1999, i, 58–59, §46; ii, 156–157). While ‘Weh-Andiōk-Shābuhr’ enjoyed the status of šahrab in the 3rd century, sigillographic evidence indicates that at least in the 6th century it became a šahrestān ‘provincial city’ administered by a wāspuhragān-framādār (Fig. 2). This upgrade likely resulted from the administrative reform initiated by Kawād I during his second reign (r. 499–531) and completed by his successor Khosrow I (r. 531–579).
2-3. Weh-Andiōk-Shābuhr: Numismatic Evidence
The mint signature “WH” on certain coins from the time of Bahrām IV onward is associated with the city of Weh-Andiōk-Shābuhr (Schindel, 2004: 169–170; 2005: 290–293). The city was one of the most active Sasanian mints, producing substantial quantities of silver coins from Bahrām IV to Kawād I and significant numbers of gold coins during Pērōz I’s reign. This reflects the city’s economic vitality and its central role in regional commerce.
2-3. Weh-Andiōk-Shābuhr: Archaeological Evidence
The city of Weh-Andiōk-Shābuhr has been identified with extensive ruins south of Islamabad, approximately 5 km southeast of Dezful, on the road to Shushtar. The site has a rectangular layout measuring 2.89 km in length and 1.35 km in width, surrounded by low gravel ridges (Figs. 3–5). Adams and Hansen (1968b: 56) interpreted these ridges as simple barriers symbolically marking the limits of the city, rather than as features with defensive military purpose. Keall (2002: 104–105) proposed that the ridges might have formed canal banks, suggesting that Shāpūr built the enclosure not as a city but as a sugar cane plantation. Archaeological excavations in 2017, under the direction of Yousef Moradi, challenged these interpretations. The excavations revealed that the ridges represent fortified outer walls and banks of a moat serving a defensive purpose. These walls, 12 m wide and around 3 m high (measured from the current surface of the moat), were built with consolidated pisé (rammed earth) and reinforced with semi-circular buttresses. The buttresses on the eastern wall are spaced 25.80 m apart, while those on the northern wall are 33.90 m apart. The eastern buttresses have diameters ranging from 7 and 7.40 m, while those on the northern side are slightly smaller, with a diameter of 5.60 m (Figs. 6–11).
Inside the enclosure are intersecting dirt roads, scattered mounds, and low gravel ridges. Some scholars suggest that these roads and the intersecting lines reflect the influence of Roman captives brought from Antioch-on-the-Orontes and resettled in Khuzestan by Shāpūr I in the mid-third century (Abbott, 1968: 71; Adams and Hansen, 1968b: 300; Fiey, 1979: 228–229; Dols, 1987: 368; Chaumont, 1988: 73, n. 86). Recent excavations, surveys, and analysis of historical aerial photographs and satellite imagery dispute this view. Excavations on these roads revealed materials from the 9th and 10th centuries (Figs. 12–13), indicating that the grid pattern was not part of the Sasanian city. Instead, it appears the grid was established after the city’s abandonment in the Islamic period, likely to demarcate agricultural fields and simultaneously facilitate commuting within them, rather than serving as streets in a living city.
Adams and Hansen suggested that the large mounds were intentionally formed by deposited fill to support modest dwellings during the site’s final phase of occupation in the tenth century (1968a: 55–56). However, recent excavations show the lack of architectural remains indicating they are not elevated platforms for Islamic buildings (Fig. 14). Rather, they are featureless heaps piles created through organized efforts to recycle building materials, clearing the area for conversion into agricultural land.
3. Conclusion
Analysis of literary, epigraphic, sigillographic, numismatic, and archaeological evidence demonstrates Weh-Andiōk-Shābuhr functioned not only as a political and religious hub but also as a dynamic center of economic and scientific activity. Historical sources emphasize its prominence as a royal capital, a site of major political events, and a seat of Christian authority, while numismatic evidence attests to its economic vitality. Recent archaeological investigations have corrected previous misconceptions about the city’s layout, revealing fortified walls, defensive structures, and well-organized internal spaces while dispelling earlier assumptions about Roman-influenced grid patterns. The grid pattern was not part of the Sasanian urban plan but it was established after the city’s abandonment during the Islamic period to delineate agricultural fields and facilitate commuting within them.
کلیدواژهها English
