Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1 Iranian Center for Archaeological Research, Research Institute of Cultural Heritage and Tourism, Tehran, Iran
2 Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Literature and Human Sciences, University of Tehran,Tehran, Iran
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 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 pisé 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 offers 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.
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