quaderni di vicino oriente - antichita.uniroma1.it · maria vittoria fontana - sapienza university...

QUADERNI DI VICINO ORIENTE

SAPIENZA UNIVERSITÀ DI ROMA _________________________________________________________________________

QUADERNI

DI VICINO ORIENTE

XIII - 2018

ISTAKHR (IRAN), 2011-2016 HISTORICAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL

ESSAYS

edited by

Maria Vittoria Fontana

ROMA 2018


SAPIENZA UNIVERSITÀ DI ROMA _________________________________________________________________________

Direttore Scientifico: Lorenzo Nigro

Redazione: Daria Montanari, Chiara Fiaccavento

ISSN 1127-6037

e-ISSN 2532-5175

ISBN 978-88-98154-09-8

Sapienza Università di Roma - The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International

Cooperation - The Max van Berchem Foundation, Geneva

The English language has been revised by Rebecca Milner

Cover illustration: Istakhr 2012 (photo courtesy of the Joint Iranian-Italian Archaeological

Mission at Istakhr, Iran)


SAPIENZA UNIVERSITÀ DI ROMA

_________________________________________________________________________

CONTENTS

Contents 5

Acknowledgments 7

Note on Transliteration of Arabic and Persian 9

Maria Vittoria Fontana - Introduction, with a bibliography devoted to Istakhr

and the Marvdasht plain edited by Martina Rugiadi

11

Pierfrancesco Callieri - Persepolis in the Post-Achaemenian Period: Some

Reflections on the Origins of Istakhr

27

Gianfilippo Terribili - Istakhr and Its Territory. A Glance over Middle Persian

Sources and Sasanian Epigraphic Evidence

45

Mario Casari - The Rebel City: Fragments from Istakhr in the Islamic Era 77

Ahmad Ali Asadi - Carlo G. Cereti - Two New Pahlavi Inscriptions from Fars

Province, Iran

87

Federica Duva - Some Notes on the Different Names Given to the Kur and

Pulvār Rivers: From Classical Historiography to Modern European Travellers

107

Martina Rugiadi - Luca Colliva - On the Ground. The Archaeological Site of

Istakhr

127

Maria Vittoria Fontana - 17th

-early 20th

-century European Travellers to

Istakhr. The Contribution of Their Accounts

197

Michelina Di Cesare - Laura Ebanista - The Site of the Mosque at Istakhr 251

Alessandro M. Jaia - Excavations at Istakhr in 2012: The Test West of the Site

of the Mosque

303

Laura Ebanista - Appendix - Stratigraphic Analysis of the Excavation

Contexts

316

Agnese Fusaro - Serenella Mancini - Excavations at Istakhr in 2012: Ceramics

and Stratigraphy

345


SAPIENZA UNIVERSITÀ DI ROMA

_______________________________________________________________________

6

Agnese Fusaro - Opaque Glazed Wares from Istakhr: A Contribution to an

Outstanding Issue

353

Anna Candida Felici - Appendix 1 - Preliminary Chemical Analyses

(Xrf) on Opaque Glazed Samples from Istakhr

369

Serenella Mancini - Appendix 2 - Preliminary Chemical and

Mineralogical Analyses on Opaque Glazed Samples from Istakhr

375

Agnese Fusaro - Anna Candida Felici - Serenella Mancini -

Conclusions on the Opaque Glaze Wares from Istakhr

379

Serenella Mancini - A Note on the Painted Wheel-Made Ware from Istakhr 403

Ahmad Ali Asadi - Mould-Made Relief Pottery Found in Istakhr During

Excavations by the Oriental Institute of Chicago in the 1930s and Kept in the

Persepolis Museum

413

Appendices 437

Appendix I - Istakhr in the Islamic Era: Arabic and Persian Sources

(ed. by Mario Casari - Alessandro Buontempo)

439

Appendix II - 17th

-early 20th

-century European Travellers to Istakhr

and the Plain of Marvdasht (ed. by Federica Duva)

465

[Quaderni di Vicino Oriente XIII (2018), pp. 7-8]

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This book contains the results of five years of research and studies on the Iranian town

of Istakhr and its territory, carried out both in Iranian and European schools of excellence

and in the field. The results have been achieved due to the cooperation of many institutions

and scholars who deserve heartfelt thanks.

First of all, I wish to thank all the Iranian and Italian colleagues who collaborated in this

collection of essays, and other colleagues involved in the accomplishment of this volume. I

refer in particular to those who participated in the campaigns at Istakhr: Alessandro Blanco

(spring and autumn 2012), Nasser Noruz Zadeh Chegini (autumn 2012), Valentina Cipollari

(autumn 2012), Seyyed Mahmoud Mireskandari (spring 2012), Laleh Rouhangiz (spring

2015). I also express my sincere gratitude to Sébastien Gondet (then at Bologna University)

and Kourosh Mohammadkhani (then at Lyon 2 University) who conducted the geophysical

survey during the 2012 autumn campaign (by gracious permission of the joint Iranian-

Italian Archaeological Mission in Fars, directed by Pierfrancesco Callieri and Alireza

Askari Chaverdi).

As for the fieldwork at Istakhr - due to an agreement signed in November 2011, reached

largely due to the work of the Italian Embassy to Tehran, and in particular the then Cultural

Counsellor, Carlo G. Cereti (also a member of the Iranian-Italian team at Istakhr), to whom

I would like to express my great thanks - I am very grateful to the Iranian counterpart of the

joint Iranian-Italian Archaeological Mission. I would like to thank Seyed Mohammad

Beheshti, Head of the RICHT, Hamideh Choubak, Director of the ICAR, and Mohammad

Hassan Talebian, Deputy of ICHHTO. Special thanks are due to my Co-Directors: Seyyed

Mahmoud Mireskandari (spring campaign 2012), Nasser Noruz Zadeh Chegini (autumn

campaign 2012), and Ahmad Ali Asadi (spring campaign 2015), the latter also as Iranian

Field Director in the 2012 campaigns; thanks is also due to the Italian Field Director

Martina Rugiadi and the Italian Chief Archaeologist Alessandro M. Jaia, without whom the

2012 campaigns could not have been carried out and who devoted their time and energy in

both Iran and Italy in the following years.

I also wish to thank fifteen Iranian University students who joined the in-the-field

research team: Mehrdad Daneshmandi and Mohammad Hossein Taheri (during the 2012

spring season), and Mohsen Armat, Mohammad Derakhshah, Mohsen Emadi, Vahed

Fatehi, Reza Golbakhsh, Fazlollah Habibi, Hamid Reza Kahami Dehsheykhi, Javad

Keshavarzi, Ahmad Monazahian, Hamid Moulayi, Abuzar Tavakkol, Salar Vatandoust and

Hamid Reza Zareh (during the 2012 fall season). My most sincere thanks goes to Masoud

Rezai, Director of the Archaeological Site of Persepolis, and especially to his assistant,

Maryam Rahsaz, who carefully supported the joint Mission in the field from a logistical and

instrumental perspective, arranging the supplies and permission to use the equipment.

The Istakhr campaigns were funded by the Sapienza University of Rome, the Italian

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and the Max van Berchem

Foundation of Geneva: I express my deep gratitude for their generous contributions.

The systematic investigations conducted on Istakhr since 2011 on behalf of the

Department of Ancient Studies of the Sapienza University of Rome by a number of

Maria Vittoria Fontana QVO

8

specialists in the different fields of archaeology, topography, history, epigraphy, languages,

and literature have received special support and appreciation from the above-mentioned

Department, its Director (from 2012) Enzo Lippolis, its Managing Director Angelina

Chiaranza, and all the administrative and technical staff, who contributed to the progress of

the research: my sincere thanks goes to each and every one of them.

Special thanks goes to Mario Casari, also the author of an essay in this volume, for

presiding over the transliteration of Arabic and Persian words in the volume.

Serenella Mancini, the Sapienza University PhD candidate in charge of the study of

Istakhr pottery finds, is to thank for image enhancement and composition of the figures

accompanying the articles collected in this volume.

I also wish to thank colleagues and friends who over the past years have helped the team

to improve and enrich the research. Here, I wish to mention Mario Piacentini (Department

of Earth Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome), Fabio Bellatreccia (Department of

Science, Roma Tre University), Roberta Giunta (Department of Asian African and

Mediterranean Studies, “L’Orientale” University of Naples), and Alireza Askari Chaverdi

(Department of History and Archaeology, Shiraz University).

Lastly, I wish to thank the Sapienza University of Rome, and in particular the Office for

Research Grants, and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation,

and in particular the General Directorate for Cultural and Economic Promotion and

Innovation (VI - Archaeological Missions), for sponsoring this publication.

A special note of gratitude is due to Lorenzo Nigro for deeming this volume worthy of

publication in the Quaderni di Vicino Oriente series, of which he is the Director, and to

Rebecca Milner, who helpfully reviewed the English of all the essays collected herein.

Maria Vittoria Fontana (August 2017)


NOTE ON TRANSLITERATION OF ARABIC AND PERSIAN

Arabic and Persian terms have been transliterated according to The Encyclopaedia of

Islam (3rd

ed.)

From Arabic: From Persian:

Short vowels: a; i; u

ʾ; ā ا ʾ ء

b ب ā ا

p پ b ب

t ت t ت

th ث th ث

j ج j ج

ch ݘ ḥ ح

ḥ ح kh خ

kh خ d د

d د dh ذ

dh ذ r ر

r ر z ز

z ز s س

zh ژ sh ش

s س ṣ ص

sh ش ḍ ض

ṣ ص ṭ ط

ḍ ض ẓ ظ

ṭ ط ʿ ع

ẓ ظ gh غ

ʿ ع f ف

gh غ q ق

f ف k ك

q ق l ل

k ک m م

g گ n ن

l ل h ه

m م a; -at in iḍāfa ة

n ن ū; -uww-; word final ū و

v; ū و ī; -iyy-; word final ī ي / ى

h ه

at- ة

ī; -iyyi ي / ى

QuadVO

10

Please note:

no word-initial hamzas: al-amr

no sun letters

compound names with Allāh are in general written as one word: ʿAbdallāh, Hibatāllah

other compound names are written as two words: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān

Persian iḍāfa is written -i after consonants, -yi after vowels.

Furthermore:

The names of rivers and mountains have been transliterated with diacritics. No diacritics

have been used for the names of renowned cities or regions such as Shiraz, Nishapur, ...

Fars, Gurgan. Diacritics have been used for the names of small centres such as Hājjīābād,

Kāmfīrūz, … or specific toponyms such as Qalʿa Iṣṭakhr, Takht-i ṭāvūs.

Quotations preserve the transliteration system used in the original sources.

Square brackets [ ] are used to mark the authors’ interventions in the quotations.

The Iranian names of scholars and contributors to the project have been transcribed

according to their chosen Latin spelling, if any, or to the standard transcription system for

current international usage.


On comprend sous le nom d’Istâkhr, un

espace de huit à neuf kilomètres de tour

[...] Nous en avions vu assez pour prévoir

une suite longue et fertile de recherches et

d’études (Flandin - Coste 1852, 137).

Judicious excavations would reveal much

of Istakhr which would perhaps determine

a great many doubtful questions respecting

Istakhr and Persepolis (Stanley 1895, 173).

Excavations in the mounds and piles of

débris [at Istakhr] might produce more

satisfactory results (Curzon 1892, 136).

If museums would send men and money

here [to Istakhr] to displace the shepherds

and their goats and sheep and uncover the

contents of these mounds, the result would

tell us many things (Amory 1928, 54-55).

INTRODUCTION

Maria Vittoria Fontana - Sapienza University of Rome, Italy

The town of Istakhr (29° 58’ 51’’ N, 52° 54’ 34’’ E) is situated in the Fars province,

about 60 km north of Shiraz and approximately 5 km north of Persepolis, in the narrow

valley of the Pulvār River,1 on the northern edge of the plain of Marvdasht (figs. 1, 3-4).

2

The so-called gate of Istakhr3 - a complex of large stone blocks, partially cultivated terrain

and an alignment of three different stone pillars -, recently interpreted as part of the

hydraulic system for the water supply of Persepolis or a bridge,4 marks the point where the

road from Persepolis enters the Pulvār valley. The town was enclosed by walls with round

towers, today clearly discernible on the high earthen mound surrounding the archaeological

area (fig. 2).5 A few remains of a building interpreted as a mosque (including large worked

Bibliographical references to the 17th-early 20th-century travellers cited in the notes can be found in Appendix

II, edited by F. Duva. 1 For the different names attributed to this river cf. F. Duva in this volume.

2 Important surveys of the archaeological remains of the Marvdasht plain were carried out by Vanden Berghe

(1951-52), Gotch (1968; 1969), Sumner (1972), and, more recently, Hartnell - Asadi (2010); see also Sumner

1986, and Sumner - Whitcomb 1999 (especially devoted to ceramics found in Fars). For a review of the

archaeological evidence of the settlements at Istakhr before 2012 see Kleiss (1994), Bazrgar - Amini (1998-99, 95-110) and Asadi (2004; 2005b).

3 On this subject cf. Niebuhr 1778, 155, and 1780, 126 (see in this volume Appendix II, edited by F. Duva), who was the first European traveller to suggest this identification.

4 See Kleiss 1994, 164, 169; Asadi 2006; Callieri 2007, 12; Malekzadeh 2007, 2008; Hartnell - Asadi 2010, but

especially Gondet 2011, 326-330, § 5.5.3.3.2 (see also Kortum 1975 and 1976). Cf. also in this volume Callieri, n. 51, and Rugiadi - Colliva, § 1, notes 16-17.

5 The fortification has never been investigated (with the exception of one of the southern towers, see below and

n. 13; cf. also, in this volume, Rugiadi - Colliva, § 2.2 and fig. 13), and therefore it is difficult to date. Schmidt


12

stones and stone columns, one of which is still standing, although only after recent

reassembly)6 are preserved. Furthermore, a 19

th-century square enclosure, with mud walls

on a small stone foundation, known as Takht-i ṭāvūs (the peacock throne), stands to the

west of the ‘mosque’.7

1. BRIEF PROGRESS REPORT ON THE RESEARCH

After the visits made to Istakhr by many European travellers from the 17th

century

onwards, who provided as many detailed descriptions of its ruins - occasionally

accompanied by drawings (figs. 5-6) that are still useful -,8 only very limited areas of the

town were excavated in the years following the 1st World War.

In fact, the earliest archaeological researches were carried out by the Chicago Oriental

Institute in the 1930s.9 Ernst Herzfeld first, from 1932,

10 and Erich F. Schmidt later, from

1935,11

executed some on-site tests, but the area was only partly excavated and

unfortunately the results of their research were never fully published. Herzfeld investigated

the fortification «with short-curtain walls between, and with five stories of recessed loop-

holes».12

He excavated one of the round towers of the fortification and two other spots.13

The investigations only partially brought to light at least one building14

with a square

hypostyle plan identified by Herzfeld, and in turn by Schmidt, as a mosque.15

Schmidt

investigated areas both to the east of the latter structure and in the western half of the site,

where he found a Sasanian settlement and an Abbasid building.16

He dedicated a few pages

to illustrating some Islamic pottery and other finds uncovered during the excavations.17

In

(1940, 107) first attributes the circumvallation to the Sasanian period, but at a later date (1970, 58) is more

cautious. 6 On this column and its zoomorphic capital see in this volume Fontana, European Travellers, especially notes

47-50, figs. 2-5, Rugiadi - Colliva, § 2.2a and n. 46, § 2.2c and n. 60, and Di Cesare - Ebanista, § 2. 7 Cf. in this volume Rugiadi - Colliva, § 2.1a, and Fontana, European Travellers, in particular notes 35-36. 8 See Fontana, European Travellers, in this volume. 9 For a more exhaustive reconstruction of the Chicago Oriental Institute activities in the 1930s, see Rugiadi -

Colliva in this volume, § 2.2. 10

Herzfeld 1935, 45-50; 1941, 276-281, figs. 375-377, pls. XC-XCIII. Herzfeld first investigated the ruins in 1924 (Herzfeld 1926, 245). See also, in this volume, Rugiadi - Colliva, § 2.2.

11 Schmidt 1939, 105-121 and fig. 74; 1940, 12-16. See also, in this volume, Rugiadi - Colliva, § 2.2.

12 Herzfeld 1941, 276.

13 Cf. Schmidt 1939, 107. Cf. Rugiadi - Colliva in this volume, § 2.2.

14 As for the possibility, instead, of two buildings, see the opinion first expressed by Porter in 1821 and then by

Herzfeld (cf. in this volume Fontana, European Travellers, n. 59), as well as the conclusions reached by Di

Cesare - Ebanista in this volume. 15

The remains of this building have been identified as a palace by two 19 th-century travellers (see Flandin - Coste 1843 [Pl], pl. 58, lower; the detail of the «palace» is reproduced, in this volume, in Di Cesare -

Ebanista, fig. 6). As regards Niebuhr’s identification of this building as the palace of Queen Humay, see

Fontana, European Travellers, note 57. On this topic see in this volume Fontana, European Travellers,

especially notes 60-65, and Di Cesare - Ebanista, especially § 3. 16

Schmidt 1939, 107-111, figs. 74-77; 1940, pls. 8-9, showing the locations of all the trenches (reproduced, in this volume, in Di Cesare - Ebanista, figs. 26-28).

17 Schmidt 1939, 111-121, figs. 78-87; see also Kleiss 1994, 169-183, figs. 6-7, 9-27, pls. 30.2-3, 31, and, in this

volume, Asadi, Mould-Made Relief Pottery.

XIII (2018) Introduction

13

that same period Schmidt also produced a first and important series of aerial photographs of

the site.18

Studies on the documentation by the Chicago Oriental Institute were undertaken in the

1970s by Donald Whitcomb, who also investigated the site.19

Re-examining one of

Schmidt’s aerial photographs taken in 193620

he was able to recognise, to the east of the

Sasanian city, the limits of the Islamic city with a roughly square plan (with sides

measuring approximately 400 m) sharing the same orientation as the building that,

following the previous interpretation and also in accordance with medieval Islamic

sources,21

Whitcomb also interpreted as a mosque. The town was divided into four

quadrants by orthogonal streets; three of these quarters were identified as residential areas,

while the southwest quadrant contained «the mosque, bazaar, and palace».22

Although it has only been outlined here, the history of the research carried out at Istakhr

is enough to demonstrate why the prospect of reopening the on-site archaeological

investigations aroused much interest. Istakhr is one of the few and still poorly explored

places in Iranian territories where remains from at least the Sasanian to the Islamic period

are preserved.

2. THE JOINT IRANIAN-ITALIAN MISSION AND THE ISTAKHR PROJECT (2011-2015)

An Iranian-Italian cooperation agreement was signed in November 201123

to enable the

start of the Istakhr Project, the aim of which was the historical-archaeological study of the

early Islamic phase of the town.24

18

Schmidt 1939, 133-136, fig. 96; 1940, 12-14, pls. 8-10 (reproduced, in this volume, in Di Cesare - Ebanista, figs. 26-28).

19 Whitcomb 1979a; 1979b. See also Whitcomb 1985, 2003-2004, 2008; and cf. Whitcomb 1999. As for some

limited excavations allegedly conducted in the 1970s by Ali Akbar Tajvidi at Istakhr, reported by Amiri and other scholars (cf. Amiri et al. 2013, 91), see, instead, Tajvidi (1976, 27-29) who merely seeks to point out the

need to promote sondages aimed at covering the entire time span from the Achaemenian to the Islamic period. 20

AE 20471, Schmidt 1940, pl. 10 (reproduced, in this volume, in Di Cesare - Ebanista, fig. 28); cf. Whitcomb 1979a, 155.

21 In this respect, cf. in this volume Fontana, European Travellers, n. 61. 22

Whitcomb 1979a, 155 (cf. also Kleiss 1994). As regards the ‘palace’, Whitcomb suggested that it could be the 7th century dār al-imāra, and that it would be interesting to investigate this possibility (cf. also Whitcomb 1979b, 366 and ill. on p. 367, reproduced, in this volume, in Di Cesare - Ebanista, fig. 30).

23 On behalf of the Iranian Cultural Heritage, Handicraft and Tourism Organization (ICHHTO), the agreement was signed by the then Head of the Research Center of the Iranian Cultural Heritage, Handicraft and Tourism

Organization (RCICHHTO) - Mohammad Reza Bazrgar - and the then Head of the Parsa-Pasargadae Research Foundation - Mohammad Hasan Talebian. On behalf of the Sapienza University of Rome, the

agreement was signed by the then Rector - Luigi Frati - and the then Director of the Department of Ancient

Studies - Gianluca Gregori. 24

The Istakhr Project was funded by The Sapienza University of Rome, The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

and International Cooperation, and The Max van Berchem Foundation (Geneva): this volume represents an opportunity to thank these institutions for their contributions which allowed the Istakhr Project to conduct

research over the years. Seyyed Mahmoud Mireskandari and Maria Vittoria Fontana were appointed Co-

Directors of the Iranian and Italian teams, respectively, but while the Italian Co-Director never changed, the Co-Director of the Iranian team did change over the years (see the following notes).


14

A preliminary survey at the site was conducted by a small team from the Istakhr Project

at the end of 2011.

The work undertaken in two seasons in 2012 aimed to provide a better understanding of

the complexity of the archaeological area of the town and its surroundings, as well as to

carry out an in-depth investigation of a sector within the city walls.25

The work included

archaeological and topographic surveys and the creation of an archaeological map of the

site. Moreover, in the chosen urban sector - after digital terrain modelling and a targeted

geo-physical investigation - a test trench was excavated and a preliminary study was made

of the finds.26

Unfortunately, no field work was carried out in 2013 or 2014.27

Nevertheless, in those

years the Italian team channelled its energy into a specific objective and focused on

gathering and studying medieval Arabic and Persian sources dealing with Istakhr. The

Sapienza University invested for this very purpose, establishing an annual post-doctoral

scholarship, that made it possible to rely on an essential collection of medieval Islamic

sources28

which have contributed to our understanding and supported the historical and

archaeological reconstruction of the town and its buildings in the Islamic period.29

Finally, in 2015 the Iranian counterpart decided to officially interrupt the Istakhr

Project, nevertheless it approved a spring plan of a few weeks targeted at classifying and

researching the ceramic finds excavated during the second campaign of the Istakhr Project

(autumn 2012) and assessing the chronology of the phases identified in the trench.30

6209

pottery artefacts were processed, both glazed and unglazed,31

and a very important part of

the field work also concerned the archaeometric analyses.32

As one might imagine, the project’s higher expectations were not achieved: the

excavation of the area which held so much promise, of which just a very small part was

tested in the 2012 autumn season, did not permit an exploration of the outer face of the

25

Seyyed Mahmoud Mireskandari was the Co-Director of the Iranian team in the spring season; Nasser Noruz

Zadeh Chegini in the autumn season. 26 For the results of the first campaign of 2012 see Fontana et al. 2012; for the results of the second campaign of

2012 see Chegini et al. 2013; Fontana 2013. See also, in this volume, Jaia - Ebanista, Di Cesare - Ebanista, §

5-6, and Rugiadi - Colliva. 27 The then Iranian Co-Director, N.N.Z. Chegini, did not allow fieldwork to resume despite numerous meetings

in Tehran and Rome with the highest representatives of both the Iranian Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicraft Organization and the Parsa-Pasargadae World Heritage Site, who supported continuing the

fieldwork; however, as the result of his exclusive work, Chegini published an article (Chegini 2014), which is

actually an abridged Persian translation of Chegini et al. 2013. 28

As a result of this in-depth task devoted to a special topic regarding Persepolis and Istakhr, see Di Cesare 2015.

29 See in this volume Appendix I, edited by M. Casari and A. Buontempo, and the papers by Mario Casari and Michelina Di Cesare.

30 Ahmad Ali Asadi was appointed Iranian Co-Director; for the results of this 2015 campaign see Fontana et al.

2016, and Fontana - Asadi 2017. 31

See the different papers by Fusaro and Mancini in this volume. This ceramic corpus is the subject of Serenella Mancini’s PhD Programme at the Sapienza University.

32 Archaeometric analyses were performed in Iran by A.C. Felici during that campaign. Petrographic and

chemical analyses are currently being carried out by Fabio Bellatreccia of the Department of Science, Roma Tre University, and S. Mancini.


15

fundamental wall 4 (WSU 1-7)33

down to its lower layers.34

Moreover, it was not possible

to investigate the city walls, whose dating is still uncertain today,35

and these were only the

initial objectives that the project had set but not achieved.

The regret over this situation and the desire to recompense the generous efforts of the

scholars involved in the Istakhr Project and the institutions that supported it, as well as the

need to make known the results obtained so far, prompted us to assemble these essays and

publish them.

3. THE WORK PLAN

The volume contains thirteen essays which aim to contribute to the knowledge of the

city of Istakhr and its territory, providing new data and suggesting new interpretations

above all from a historical, archaeological and environmental perspective.

The first three articles have a historical emphasis and consequently focus on the history

of Istakhr and its territory. The volume opens with a paper by Pierfrancesco Callieri on the

foundation of Istakhr: a post-Achemanian origin of the town (during the reign of the local

kings of Fars largely corresponding to the Arsacid period) is suggested on the basis of both

archaeological and textual evidence. The very important role of Istakhr in the Sasanian

period as the first seat of the political authority of the dynasty is illustrated by Gianfilippo

Terribili who focuses on the town and the sacral sites of its territory, making use of middle

Persian sources - mainly redacted in the early Islamic period - and Sasanian epigraphic

evidence. Medieval Arabic and Persian sources, starting from the 9th century, are investigated

by Mario Casari, who actually identifies therein Istakhr’s role as a site of merely clashes

and passage until its apparent abandonment in the 11th

century.

Three essays deal with some geographical peculiarities and anthropic aspects developed

over the centuries in the territory around Istakhr. As regards these aspects, the process of

integration and transition that occurred in the region from the Sasanian to the Islamic period

is evidenced by two new Pahlavi inscriptions found at as many sites on the Marvdasht plain

(Qalʿa Iṣṭakhr) and in Marvdasht county (Kāmfīrūz) respectively, and presented by Ahmad

Ali Asadi and Carlo G. Cereti. The continuity of settlement over the centuries on the

Marvdasht plain was guaranteed by its orographical and hydrographical system: Federica

Duva focuses on the two important rivers of the plain - the Kur and Pulvār - examining

classical, medieval Islamic, as well as modern European sources. Lastly, Martina Rugiadi

and Luca Colliva present an overview of the site and remains of the territory of Istakhr,

including agricultural levelling, brick production and quarrying, and cemeterial areas, and

they touch on the field research carried out at Istakhr, highlighting in particular the results

obtained by the joint Iranian-Italian Mission in 2012.

This last essay also introduces another seven papers, which refer to the archaeological

area of Istakhr. The accounts of 17th

-early 20th

-century European travellers who described

the ruins of the archaeological site of Istakhr are investigated by Maria Vittoria Fontana.

The paper by Michelina Di Cesare and Laura Ebanista sets out to interpret the archaeological

33 See, in this volume, fig. 32 produced by Ebanista in Di Cesare - Ebanista. 34 See, in this volume, Jaia, § 1.1. Sector 1. The West Wall in Jaia - Ebanista. 35 See above and n. 5; cf. also Rugiadi - Colliva in this volume, § 2.2.


16

remains of the ‘mosque’ site, also on the basis of medieval Islamic sources, reworking

sketches and plans made in the 19th

century up to those produced based on the

archaeological work of both the Chicago Oriental Institute in the 1930s and the Iranian-

Italian excavations in 2012: as a result new interesting proposals are being put forward. The

most important results obtained from the trench excavated to the west of the ‘mosque’ site by

the joint Iranian-Italian mission during the second campaign of 2012 are presented by

Alessandro M. Jaia, with an Appendix by Laura Ebanista, providing new insights on the

arrangement of the buildings in the area and the urban layout of this sector of the city during

the early Islamic period. During that campaign more than 6,000 pottery fragments were

found: a brief but convincing text by Agnese Fusaro and Serenella Mancini sums up the

preliminary results, connecting the ceramic finds with the archaeological phases and

suggesting their dating; furthermore, two important classes, opaque glazed ware and

unglazed painted ware, are presented by the same authors, respectively (the first essay is

also supported by two Appendices devoted to the archaeometric analyses conducted by

Anna Candida Felici and Serenella Mancini). An essay by Ahmad Ali Asadi discusses

another very important batch of ceramics, i.e. the unglazed mould-made relief ware found

during the 1930s campaigns carried out by The Oriental Institute of Chicago and now kept

in the Persepolis Museum.

The volume ends with two Appendices edited by Mario Casari and Alessandro

Buontempo, and Federica Duva, respectively: the first one collects the Arabic and Persian

texts of the Medieval Islamic sources dealing with the history of Istakhr; the second one the

accounts of the 17th

-early 20th

-century European travellers who visited and described the

archaeological remains of Istakhr.


17

A bibliography (presented in chronological order) devoted to Istakhr and the Marvdasht

plain, in particular territorial and archaeological matters and focusing on the Islamic period,

follows (edited by Martina Rugiadi):

1891

HOUTUM-SCHINDLER, A.

1891 Notes on the Kur River in Fârs, Its Sources and Dams, and the Districts It Irrigates:

Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society and Monthly Record of Geography 13.5

(1891), pp. 287-291.

1896

SCHWARZ, P.

1896 Īrān im Mittelalter nach den Arabischen Geographen, I, Leipzig 1896. See especially pp. 13-30, 186-190, 277.

1897

BLOCHET, E.

1897 Liste géographique des villes de l’Iran: Recueil de travaux relatifs à la philologie et à

l’archéologie Égyptiennes et Assyriennes, Paris 1897, pp. 165-176. See p. 174, no. 40 [for other editions and translations of the

Šahrestānīhā ī Ērānšahr, cf. T. Daryaee in Encyclopædia Iranica 2007, s.v.

(http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/sahrestaniha-i-eransahr)].

1905

LE STRANGE, G.

1905 The Lands of the Eastern Caliphate: Mesopotamia, Persia, and Central Asia, from the

Moslem Conquest to the Time of Timur, Cambridge 1905.

Istakhr is mentioned on pp. 6, 13, 248-250, 260, 262, 264, and described on pp. 276-278.

1926

HERZFELD, E.

1926 Reisebericht: Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenländischen Gesellschaft 80 [N.F. 5] (1926),

pp. 225-284. See pp. 244-251.

1927

STRECK, M.

1927 Iṣṭakhr: The Encyclopaedia of Islam1 II, Leyden - London 1927, pp. 556-560.

1931

MARKWART, J.

1931 A Catalogue of the Provincial Capitals of the Ērānshahr (Pahlavi Text, Version and

Commentary), ed. G. MESSINA (Analecta Orientalia 3), Rome 1931. See pp. 91-92, § 41.

1932

CRESWELL, K.A.C.

1932 Early Muslim Architecture. Umayyads, Early ʿAbbāsids & Ṭūlūnids, Part I. Umayyads,

A.D. 622-750, Oxford 1932. Istakhr mosque is mentioned on p. 14.

The publications relating to medieval Islamic sources and the accounts of the 17th-early 20th-century travellers

and scholars concerning Istakhr have not been included; they can be found in Appendix I (by M. Casari and A. Buontempo) and Appendix II (by F. Duva), respectively.


18

1934

ANON. [HERZFELD, E.]

1934 Recent Discoveries at Persepolis. Lecture by Dr Ernst Herzfeld 1933: Journal of the

Royal Asiatic Society (1934), pp. 226-232.

1935

HERZFELD, E.

1935 Archaeological History of Iran, London 1935. See pp. 45-50.

1939-1940

SCHMIDT, E.F.

1939 The Treasury of Persepolis and Other Discoveries in the Homeland of the Achaemenians

(OIC 21), Chicago 1939. See pp. 105-121, figs. 74-87.

1940 Flights over Ancient Cities of Iran, Chicago 1940. See pp. 12-16, pls. 8-10, map 1.

1941

HERZFELD, E.

1941 Iran in the Ancient Near East. Archaeological Studies Presented in the Lowell Lectures at

Boston, London - New York 1941. See pp. 276-281, figs. 375-377, pls. XC-XCIII.

MILES, G.

1941 Epigraphy: Ars Islamica 8 (1941), pp. 105-108. See pp. 106-107.

1942

HERZFELD, E.

1942 Damascus: Studies in Architecture, I. The Mukarnas Dome. The Madrasa: Ars Islamica 9

(1942), pp. 1-53. See p. 13 and fig. 51.

1951-1952

VANDEN BERGHE, L.

1951-52 Archeologische Opzoekingen in de Marv Dasht Vlakte (Irān): Jaarberichte Ex Oriente

Lux 12 (1951-52), pp. 211-220.

1959

CHAUMONT, M.-L.

1959 Pāpak, Roi de Staxr, et sa cour: Journal Asiatique CCXLVII (1959), pp. 175-191.

MILES, C.G.

1959 Excavation Coins from the Persepolis Region (The American Numismatic Society), New

York 1959. See pp. 2-8 and, for the catalogue of the coins found in the 1930s specifically at Istakhr, pp. 19-84.

1968-1969

GOTCH, P.

1968 A Survey of the Persepolis Plain and Shīrāz Area: Iran 6 (1968), pp. 168-170.

1969 The Persepolis Plain and Shīrāz: Field Survey 2: Iran 7 (1969), pp. 190-192.

1970

SCHMIDT, E.F.

1970 Persepolis III - The Royal Tombs and Other Monuments, Chicago 1970. Istakhr is mentioned on pp. 3, 12-13, 39, 45-49, 58, 67, 69, 76, 122.


19

1971

TSKITISHVILI, O.

1971 Two Questions Connected with the Topography of the Oriental City in the Early Middle

Ages: Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, 14.3 (Dec., 1971), pp.

311-320. See p. 315 for Istakhr mentioned by al-Iṣṭakhrī (10th century).

1972

SUMNER, W.

1972 Cultural Development in the Kur River Basin, Iran. An Archaeological Analysis of

Settlement Patterns, PhD Diss., University of Pennsylvania 1972 (unpublished).

1974

ISHRĀQĪ, I.

1974 Chashmandāzī ba qalʿaha-yi Iṣṭakhr va Qahqaha dar rūzgār-i ṣafaviyya [A Glance at the

Fortresses of Iṣṭakhr and Qahqaha during the Safavid Era]: Hunar va Mardum Series 12,

142 (1353/1974), pp. 16-23. 1975-1976

FRYE, R.N. (ed.)

1975 The Cambridge History of Iran, 4. The Period from the Arab Invasion to the Saljuqs,

Cambridge 1975.

Istakhr is mentioned on pp. 4; 21-23; 26; 38; 113; 119; 123; 257; 261; 281-282; 316; 366-372.

KORTUM, G.

1975 Siedlungsgenetische Untersuchungen in Fars. Ein Beitrag zum Wüstungsproblem in

Orient: Erdkunde 29.1 (1975), pp. 10-20.

SĀMĪ, A.

1975-76 Vīrānahā-yi shahr-i bāstānī-yi Istakhr [The Ruins of the Ancient City of Istakhr], Hunar

va Mardum 158 (1354/1975-76), pp. 2-12 [in Persian].

KORTUM, G.

1976 Die Marvdasht-Ebene in Fars: Grundlagen und Entwicklung einer alten iranischen

Bewässerungslandschaft (Kieder Geographische Schriften 44), Kiel 1976.

TAJVIDI, A.

1976 Dānistanīhā-yi nuvīn dar bāra-yi hunar va bāstānshināsī-yi ʿasr-i hakhāmanishī bar

bunyād-i kāvūshhā-yi panj sāla-yi Takht-i Jamshīd (sālhā-yi 2527 tā 2532 shāhinshāhī)

[New Data on the Art and Archaeology of the Achaemenian Period on the Basis of the

Five-years Excavations at Takht-i Jamshīd (Persian Imperial Years 2527-2532/1968-

1973)], Tehran 1355/1976. See pp. 27-29 on the necessity of conducting excavations at Istakhr.

1977

SHAHBAZI, A.S.

1977 From Pārsa to Takht-e Jamšīd: Archäologische Mitteilungen aus Iran N.F. 10 (1977), pp.

197-207.

1978

STRECK, M. - MILES, G.C.

1978 Iṣṭakhr: The Encyclopaedia of Islam2 IV, Leiden 1978, pp. 219-222.

1979

CRESWELL, K.A.C.

19792 Early Muslim Architecture, I.1. Umayyads, A.D. 622-750, New York 1979 (1st ed. 1932;

reprint of the revisited edition Oxford 1969). Istakhr mosque is mentioned on p. 21.


20

KREFTER, F.

1979 Mit Ernst Herzfeld in Pasargadae und Persepolis 1928 und 1931-1934: Archäologische

Mittelungen aus Iran N.F. 12 (1979), pp. 13-25.

WHITCOMB, D.

1979a The City of Istakhr and the Marvdasht Plain: D. REIMER (ed.), Akten des VII. Internationalen

Kongress für Iranische Kunst und Archäologie, München 7.-10. September 1976

(Archäologische Mitteilungen aus Iran 67), Berlin 1979, pp. 363-370.

1979b Trade and Tradition in Medieval South Iran, PhD Diss., University of Chicago 1979

(unpublished).

1983

BIER, L.

1983 Sculpted Building Block from Istakhr: Archäologische Mitteilungen aus Iran N.F. 16

(1983), pp. 307-316.

YARSHATER, E. (ed.)

1983 The Cambridge History of Iran, 3.2. The Seleucid, Parthian and Sasanian Periods,

Cambridge 1983. See pp. 747-777: Ch. Brunner, “Geographical and

Administrative Divisions: Settlements and Economy”.

1984

HINDS, M.

1984 The First Arab Conquests in Fārs: Iran 22 (1984), pp. 39-53.

1985

WHITCOMB, D.

1985 Islamic Archaeology at Susa: Paléorient 11.2 (1985), pp. 85-90. See, in particular, pp. 88-89.

1986

SUMNER, W.

1986 Achaemenid Settlement in the Persepolis Plain: American Journal of Archaeology 90

(1986), pp. 3-15.

1988-1989

HUFF, D.

1988 Zum Problem Zoroastrischer Grabanlagen in Fars: Archäologische Mitteilungen aus Iran

N.F. 21 (1988), pp. 145-176.

1989a Ein Christilicher Felsgrab bei Istakhr: L. DE MEYER - E. HAERINCK (eds.), Archaeologia

iranica et orientalis. Miscellanea in honorem Louis Vanden Berghe, Gentz 1989, II, pp.

713-729.

1989b Säulenbasen aus Deh Bozan und Taq-i Bustan: Iranica Antiqua XXIV (1989), pp. 285-

296. See p. 292 and pl. I.h.

1991

BACHARACH, J.L.

1991 Administrative Complexes, Palaces, and Citadels. Changes in the Loci of Medieval

Muslim Rule: I.A. BIERMAN - R.A. ABOU-EL-HAJ - D. PREZIOSI (eds.), The Ottoman City

and Its Ports. Urban Structure and Social Order, New Rochelle, N.Y. 1991, pp. 111-128. Istakhr is only briefly mentioned on p. 115 regarding

the relationship between the palace and the mosque.


21

1992

BLAIR, SH.S.

1992 The Monumental Inscriptions from Early Islamic Iran and Transoxiana (Studies in

Islamic Art and Architecture. Supplement to Muqarnas V), Leiden - New York -

København - Köln 1992.

See pp. 20-21 on the 9th-10th-century inscriptions from Bahmāndiz (north-western Fars).

1993-1994

FINSTER, B.

1994 Frühe Iranische Moscheen (Archäologische Mitteilungen aus Iran 19), Berlin 1994. See pp. 200-201, especially devoted to Istakhr.

KABĪRĪ, A.

1993-94 Kashf-i masāfatnamā «sang-i kilūmitr» dar Marvdasht [Discovery of a Distance Marker

“Milestone” in Marvdasht]: Athār 22-23 (1373/1993-94), pp. 196-200 (in Persian).

KLEISS, W.

1994 Istakhr und Umgebung. Archäologische Beobachtungen und Befunde: Archäologische

Mitteilungen aus Iran N.F. 27 (1994), pp. 165-189.

1998-1999

BIVAR, A.D.H.

1998 Eṣṭakr. i History and Archaeology: Encyclopædia Iranica VIII.6, New York 1998, pp.

643-646.

BOYCE, M.

1998 Eṣṭakr. ii As a Zoroastrian Religious Center: Encyclopædia Iranica VIII.6, New York

1998, p. 646.

BADHRGAR, M.B.

1998-99 Haft shahr-i tārīkhi-yi fārsī [Seven Historical Towns of Fars], Shiraz 1377/1998-99 (in

Persian). See pp. 95-110, devoted to Istakhr.

SUMNER, W. - WHITCOMB, D.

1999 Islamic Settlement and Chronology in Pars: An Archaeological Perspective: Iranica Antiqua

34 (1999), pp. 309-324.

2000

WHEATLEY, P.

2000 The Places Where Men Pray Together: Cities in Islamic Lands, Seventh through the Tenth

Centuries, Chicago - London 2000. See p. 146 and notes 14-15 on p. 432.

2001

FLOOD, F.B.

2001 The Great Mosque of Damascus. Studies on the Making of an Umayyad Visual Culture

(Islamic History and Civilization - Studies and Texts 33), Leiden - Boston - Köln 2001. See pp. 156-157, n. 80 on the relationship between the palace and the mosque at Istakhr.

KENNEDY, H.

2001 The Armies of the Caliphs. Military and Society in the Early Islamic State, London 2001. Istakhr is mentioned on p. 70.

2002

DARYAEE, T. (ed.)

2002 Šahrestānīhā ī Ērānšahr. A Middle Persian Text on Late Antique Geography, Epic, and

History, Costa Mesa 2002. See no. 41 on pp. 15, 20, 24, 50.


22

MOUSAVI, A.

2002 Persepolis in Retrospect: Histories of Discovery and Archaeological Exploration at the

Ruins of Ancient Parseh: Ars Orientalis 32 (2002), pp. 209-251.

2003-2006

WHITCOMB, D.

2003-04 Iranian Cities of the Sasanian and Early Islamic Period: The Oriental Institute 2003-2004

Annual Report, Chicago 2003-04, pp. 91-94. Available on-line: oi.chicago.edu/oi/AR/03-

04/03-04_AR_TOC.html. See especially pp. 91-92.

ASADI, A.A.

2004 Nigāhi ba pazhūhishhā-yi bāstānshināsī-yi shahr-i Istakhr [A Glance of the Archaeological

Investigation at the Town of Istahkr]: Bāstānpazhūhī, 5.12 (1383/2004), pp. 75-81 (in

Persian).

2005a Istakhr City During the Historical Periods with a Focus on the Sasanian Era. An

Archaeological Investigation. MA Thesis, Tehran University, Tehran 1384/2005 (in

Persian, unpublished).

2005b Istakhr az didgāh-i muṭālaʿāt-i bāstānshināsī [Istakhr from the Archaeological Point of

View]: Pārsa. Annual Report of the Research Foundation of Parsa-Pasargadae I.1

(winter 1385/2005), pp. 52-63 (in Persian, with English abstract on pp. 10-12).

2006a Nigāhi ba tārīkh-i siyāsi-yi Istakhr [A Glance of Political History of Istakhr]:

Bāstānpazhūhī N.S. I.1 (1385/2006), pp. 32-41 (in Persian).

2006b The so-called Istakhr City-Gate Structure. Introduction and Functional Analysis: B.A.

SHIRAZI (ed.), Proceedings from the Third Congress on the History of Iranian Architecture

and Urbanism. Bam Citadel (Kerman, Iran. April, 14-19 2006), Tehran 2006, II, pp. 295-

320 (in Persian).

KENNEDY, H.

2006 From Shahristan to Medina: Studia Islamica, 102-103 (2006), pp. 5-34. On p. 16 Kennedy refers to Masʿūdī and his citation of the Istakhr mosque.

2007-2008

CALLIERI, P.

2007 Persepolis in the Post Achaemenian Period: Bastanpazhuhi, N.S. II.4 (1386/2007), pp 8-

14 (in English). On the origin of Istakhr, see, in this volume, Callieri’s up-dated text on this topic.

DARYAEE, T.

2007 The Mysteries of the House of Sāsān: When Did Ardaxšīr Rule over Istakhr?:

Bāstānpazhūhī N.S. II.4 (1386/2007), pp. 14-20 (in English).

GOODE, J.F.

2007 Negotiating for the Past: Archaeology, Nationalism, and Diplomacy in the Middle East,

1919-1941, Austin (University of Texas Press) 2007. Ch. 7 - Winning Persepolis (pp. 141-166): Istakhr is mentioned on pp. 145, 176.

KENNEDY, H

2007 The Great Arab Conquests. How the Spread of Islam Changed the World We Live In,

London 2007.

Istakhr is mentioned in Chapter V.

MALEKZADEH, M.J.

2007 Dams of the Ancient City of Istakhr: Proceedings of the International History Seminar of

Irrigation and Drainage (2-5 May 2007, Tehran, Iran), Tehran 2007, pp. 121-134.


23

JAFARI, M.

2008 Kuh-e Rahmat Burials: New Evidence for Burial Practices from Achemenid to Sasanid

Periods in Central Fars: Majalla-yi bāstānshināsī va tārīkh / Iranian Journal of Archaeology

and History 21.2-22-1 (2008), pp. 60-67 (in Persian, with English abstract).

JAYYUSI, S.K. (ed.)

2008 The City in the Islamic World, I, Leiden - Boston 2008. Istakhr/Estakhr is mentioned on pp. 39, 103, 104, 113, 528, 533, 537, 725.

KAIM, B.

2008 The Temples of Estakhr: Bāstānpazhūhī N.S. III.5 (1387/2008), pp. 6-8 (in English).

MALEKZADEH, M.J.

2008 Bandhā-yi bāstānī-yi Istakhr bar rū-yi rūdkhāna-yi Sayvand [Ancient Dams of Istakhr on

Sīvand River]: Fārs-shinākht N.S. 1 (1387/2008), pp. 121-194 (in Persian).

WHITCOMB, D.

2008 Istakhr in the Eyes of Muqaddasi and Modern Excavations: Bāstānpazhūhī N.S. III.5

(1387/2008), pp. 9-11 (in English).

2009

NOVÁČEK, K.

2009 Chapter 13, Moulded Pottery from Istakhr: P. MAŘÍKOVÁ VLČKOVÁ - J. MYNÁŘOVÁ - M.

TOMÁŠEK (eds.), My Things Changed Things. Social Development and Cultural Exchange

in Prehistory, Antiquity and Middle Ages, Prague 2009, pp. 118-126.

2010

HARTNELL T. - ASADI, A.

2010 An Archaeological Survey of Water Management in the Hinterland of Persepolis: P.

MATTHIAE - F. PINNOCK - L. NIGRO - N. MARCHETTI (eds.), Proceedings of the 6th the

International Congress of the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, Wiesbaden 2010, II,

pp. 219-232.

IRWIN, R. (ed.)

2010 The New Cambridge History of Islam, 4. Islamic Cultures and Societies to the End of the

Eighteenth Century, Cambridge 2010.

Istakhr is mentioned on pp. 276-277.

MILWRIGHT, M.

2010 An Introduction to Islamic Archaeology, Edinburgh 2010. See p. 55 on the relationship between the mosque and the palace at Istakhr.

MORGAN, D.O. - REID, A. (eds.)

2010 The New Cambridge History of Islam, 3. The Eastern Islamic World Eleventh to

Eighteenth Centuries, Cambridge 2010. Istakhr is mentioned on pp. 219-222 (devoted to the

fortress of Istakhr during the Safavid era, by Sh.A. Quinn).

ROBINSON, CH.F. (ed.)

2010 The New Cambridge History of Islam, 1. The Formation of the Islamic World Sixth to

Eleven Centuries, Cambridge 2010.

Istakhr is mentioned on pp. 26; 48; 50; 143; 450; 452-455; 458; 462.

2011

GONDET, S.

2011 Occupation de la plain de Persépolis au 1er millénaire av. J.-C. (Fars central, Iran), PhD

Diss., Université Lumière Lyon 2, 2011 (unpublished), available at:

http:/theses.univ-lyon2.fr/documents/lyon2/2011/gondet_s#p=0&a=top

UPTON, J.M. - HENNESSEY, C. - COUROUBLE, X.

2011 Smithsonian - Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. Ernst Herzfeld Papers,

Washington D.C. 2011 (https://www.asia.si.edu/research/finding-aids/herzfeld.pdf).

https://www.asia.si.edu/research/finding-aids/herzfeld.pdf


24

2012 ASADI, A.A.

2012 Qalʿa-yi Iṣṭakhr va sangnivishta-yi sāsāni-yi nawyāfta [Qalʿa-yi Iṣṭakhr and Newly

Discovered Sasanian Stone Inscriptions]: H. FAHIMI - K. ALIZADEH (eds.), Nāmvarnāmeh.

Papers in Honour of Massoud Azarnoush, Tehran 1391/2012, pp. 384-398 (in Persian).

FONTANA, M.V. - MIRESKANDARI, S.M. - RUGIADI, M. - ASADI, A. - JAIA, A.M. - COLLIVA, L. -

BLANCO, A.

2012 Estakhr Project - First Preliminary Report of the Joint Mission of the Iranian Center for

Archaeological Research, the Parsa-Pasargadae Research Foundation and the Sapienza

University of Rome, Italy: Vicino Oriente XVI (2012), pp. 167-180.

MOUSAVI, A.

2012 Persepolis. Discovery and Afterlife of a World Wonder, Boston - Berlin 2012. Istakhr is mentioned on pp. 5, 9, 63, 70, 74, 77-78, 80-84,

87-90, 92, 104, 113, 124, 137, 160, 169-170, 207.

2013 AMIRI, M. - MOUSAVI KOUHPAR, S.M. - NEYESTANI, J. - KHADEMI NADUSHAN, F.

2013 Comparative Study of a Pottery Sample from Sasanian Islamic Sites of Fars and Siraf:

Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry 13.2 (2013), pp. 89-101. See especially p. 91 and the tables.

CHEGINI, N.N.Z. - FONTANA, M.V. - ASADI, A. - RUGIADI, M. - JAIA, A.M. - BLANCO, A. - CIPOLLARI,

V. - EBANISTA, L.

2013 Estakhr Project - Second Preliminary Report of the Joint Mission of the Iranian Center for

Archaeological Research, The Parsa-Pasargadae Research Foundation and the Sapienza

University of Rome, Italy: Vicino Oriente XVII (2013), pp. 7-20.

2014 CHEGINI, N.N.Z.

2014 Pazhūhish va kāvūsh-i maḥdūd-i bāstānshinākhtī-yi Shahr-i Istakhr [Investigations and

Limited Archaeological Excavations of the City of Istakhr]: Brief Articles Published on

Occasion of the 12th Annual Symposium on the Iranian Archaeology 2014, Tehran 2014,

pp. 430-433 (in Persian).

WHITCOMB, D.

2014 Landscape Signatures in Sasanian Archaeology: Journal of Ancient History 2.2 (2014),

pp. 209-215. Istakhr is mentioned on pp. 211-212.

2015 CERETI, C.G. - GONDET, S.

2015 The Funerary Landscape Between Naqš-e Rostam and Estaḫr (Persepolis Region).

Discovery of a New Group of Late Sasanian Inscribed Rock-Cut Niches: Iranica Antiqua

50 (2015), pp. 367-403.

DI CESARE, M.

2015 Jamshīd’s Takht or Solomon’s Malʿab? Archaeological Reflections on Persepolis and

Iṣṭakhr in Arabian and Persian Texts (9th 15th Centuries) (Quaderni di Vicino Oriente IX),

Roma 2015.

2016 ALLEN, L.

2016 ‘The Greatest Enterprise’: Arthur Upham Pope, Persepolis and Achaemenid Antiquities:

Y. KADOI (ed.), Arthur Upham Pope and A New Survey of Persian Art, Leiden - Boston

2016, pp. 127-167.


25

FONTANA, M.V. - ASADI, A.A. - RUGIADI, M. - FELICI, A.C. - FUSARO, A. - MANCINI, S.

2016 Estakhr Project - Third Preliminary Report of the Joint Mission of the Iranian Center for

Archaeological Research, The Parsa-Pasargadae Research Foundation and the Sapienza

University of Rome, Italy: Vicino Oriente XX (2016), pp. 75-98.

SHOBAIRI, S.A.

2016 New Evidence of Late Sasanid and Early Islamic Period in the Marvdasht Plane: D.

GENEQUAND (ed.), Islamic Session, in Proceedings of the 9th International Congress on

the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, Wiesbaden 2016, II, pp. 425-440.

2017 FONTANA, M.V.

2017 Qalʿa Iṣṭakhr and the Si Gunbadān: Vicino Oriente XXI (2017), pp. 147-165.

FONTANA, M.V. - ASADI, A.A.

2017 Estakhr Project - 2015 Preliminary Report of the Joint Mission of the Iranian Center for

Archaeological Research, the Parsa-Pasargadae Research Foundation and the Sapienza

University of Rome: Proceedings of the 15th Annual Symposium on the Iranian

Archaeology (5-7 March 2017), Tehran (ICHTO) 2017, pp. 820-823.


27

Fig

. 3

- M

ap o

f M

arv

das

ht

pla

in p

rod

uce

d i

n 1

84

0 b

y F

lan

din

- C

ost

e 1

843

(P

l),

pl.

57

.


28

Fig. 4 - The Istakhr area (after Kleiss 1994, ill. on p. 166).


29

Fig. 5 - The area of the ruins of Istakhr drawn in 1840 by Flandin - Coste 1843 (Pl), pl. 57,

detail (the image is rotated in accordance with the orientation of the image in fig. 6).

Fig. 6 - The area of the ruins of Istakhr drawn in 1840 more accurately than in the previous

plate by Flandin - Coste 1843 (Pl), pl. 64, detail. The ruins are marked on both river banks.

quaderni di vicino oriente - antichita.uniroma1.it · maria vittoria fontana - sapienza university...

Documents