The Band-e Kaisar (), Pol-e Kaisar ("Caesar's bridge"), Bridge of Valerian or Shadirwan was an
ancient arch bridge in
Shushtar
Shushtar ( fa, شوشتر; also Romanized as Shūshtar and Shūstar and Shooshtar) is a city and capital of Shushtar County, Khuzestan Province, Iran.
Shushtar is an ancient fortress city, approximately from Ahvaz, the centre of the province ...
,
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
, and the first in the country to combine it with a dam.
Built by the Sassanids, using
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
prisoners of war as workforce, in the 3rd century AD on
Sassanid
The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...
order, it was also the most eastern example of
Roman bridge
The ancient Romans were the first civilization to build large, permanent bridges. Early Roman bridges used techniques introduced by Etruscan immigrants, but the Romans improved those skills, developing and enhancing methods such as arches and ...
design and
Roman dam, lying deep in
Persia
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
n territory. Its dual-purpose design exerted a profound influence on Iranian civil engineering and was instrumental in developing Sassanid water management techniques.
The approximately 500 m long
overflow dam over the
Karun
The Karun ( fa, کارون, ) is the Iranian river with the highest water flow, and its only navigable river. It is long. It rises in the Zard Kuh mountains of the Bakhtiari district in the Zagros Range, receiving many tributaries, such as t ...
, Iran's most effluent river, was the core structure of the
Shushtar Historical Hydraulic System
The Shushtar Historical Hydraulic System ( fa, سازههای آبی شوشتر) is a complex irrigation system of the island city Shushtar from the Sassanid era. It consists of 13 dams, bridges, canals and structures which work together as ...
(سازههای آبی شوشتر) from which the city derived its agricultural productivity, and which has been designated by the
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
as Iran's 10th
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
in 2009.
[Shushtar Historical Hydraulic System](_blank)
UNESCO, retrieved on 1 May 2010 The arched superstructure carried across the important road between
Pasargadae and the Sassanid capital
Ctesiphon.
Many times repaired in the
Islamic period,
the dam bridge remained in use until the late 19th century.
[; ]
History
According to Persian tradition, the Band-e Kaisar is named after the Roman emperor
Valerian (253–260 AD), who was captured with his entire army by the Sassanid ruler
Shapur I
Shapur I (also spelled Shabuhr I; pal, 𐭱𐭧𐭯𐭥𐭧𐭥𐭩, Šābuhr ) was the second Sasanian King of Kings of Iran. The dating of his reign is disputed, but it is generally agreed that he ruled from 240 to 270, with his father Ardas ...
after having been defeated in the
Battle of Edessa
The Battle of Edessa took place between the armies of the Roman Empire under the command of Emperor Valerian and Sasanian forces under Shahanshah (King of the Kings) Shapur I in 260. The Roman army was defeated and captured in its entirety ...
(260). This vast labour force, which may have numbered up to 70,000 men and included the Roman engineering corps, was employed by the victors for construction work in Shushtar, an important agricultural center in south-western Iran. To service its large stretches of arable land, altogether some 150,000
hectare
The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100- metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is ...
s, the Romans set out to construct three structures: a canal called
Ab-i Gargar Āb-i Gargar (known in medieval Arabic as ''Masruqān'') is a canal in Iran. On this canal lies the medieval town of ʿAskar Mukram.Matthew S. Gordon, 'ʿAskar Mukram', ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'', 3rd edn, ed. by Kate Fleet and others (Leiden: Bril ...
, and the two dams of Band-e Kaisar and Band-e Mizan, which directed the water flow of the Karun river into the artificial watercourse.
[The names of the two barrages are confused by Smith (1971) and Hodge (1992 & 2000). O'Connor (1993), too, incorrectly locates the Band-e Kaisar on the Ab-i Gargar branch.]
The story is related by the Muslim historians
Tabari
( ar, أبو جعفر محمد بن جرير بن يزيد الطبري), more commonly known as al-Ṭabarī (), was a Muslim historian and scholar from Amol, Tabaristan. Among the most prominent figures of the Islamic Golden Age, al-Tabari ...
and
Masudi
Al-Mas'udi ( ar, أَبُو ٱلْحَسَن عَلِيّ ٱبْن ٱلْحُسَيْن ٱبْن عَلِيّ ٱلْمَسْعُودِيّ, '; –956) was an Arab historian, geographer and traveler. He is sometimes referred to as the "Herodot ...
in the 9th and 10th centuries.
Although their novelistic narrative cannot be blindly trusted, the historical presence of the Romans is corroborated by modern local names, such as "Roumischgan" for a nearby village, and a
Lurs tribe by the name of "Rumian".
Moreover, local tradition ascribes to Roman settlers the origin of a number of trades, like the production of
brocade, and several popular customs.
The dam bridge at Shushtar belonged to the important road connection between the Sassanid centres of
Pasargadae and
Ctesiphon.
Two further Sassanid dam bridges on this road, the Pa-i-Pol across the
Karkheh
The Karkheh or Karkhen کرخه (perhaps the river known as the Gihon—one of the four rivers of Eden/Paradise to the Bible and as the Choaspes in ancient times; also called Eulæus; Hebrew: אולי Ulai) is a river in Khūzestān Province, ...
and the one at
Dezful
Dezful ( fa, دزفول, pronounced , Dezfuli dialect: Desfil, pronounced ) also Romanized as Dezfūl and Dezfool; also known as Dīzfūl and Ab I Diz is a city and capital of Dezful County, Khuzestan Province, Iran. At the 2011 census, its popu ...
over the Ab-i Diz, are also assumed to be the contemporary work of Roman prisoners of war. Both exhibit typically Roman masonry bound with
mortar, a technique completely foreign to indigenous architecture.
Modelled on the Roman example, the integration of a bridge superstructure into dam design became a standard practice of Iranian hydraulic engineering which lasted until about 1000 AD, when it culminated in the still existing Band-e Amir at
Shiraz
Shiraz (; fa, شیراز, Širâz ) is the fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars Province, which has been historically known as Pars () and Persis. As of the 2016 national census, the population of the city was 1,565,572 p ...
.
Construction
Shushtar lies on a rocky plateau above the Karun, Iran's most effluent river. An early dam, built by the Sassanids to divert water for the town and its extensive irrigable hinterland, did not work properly.
The irrigation scheme put into effect after the arrival of the Roman labour force included three steps: First, the river was redirected towards the Ab-i Gargar, a channel which branches off the Karun at a point upstream of the dam construction site, rejoining the main river some 50 km south; the island it forms, called Mianâb ("Paradise"), is known for its
orchard
An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees which are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of ...
plantations.
Then, the Band-e Kaisar was built across the dried-up riverbed, with its foundations following a winding course in search for solid strata of
sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...
. As the water flowed permanently over the top, the hydraulic structure conforms to the definition of a
weir
A weir or low head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the river level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...
rather than a dam.
Estimations of the raised water level range from a few feet
to 7–10 m, but was most likely in the order of 3–4 m, which was enough to supply water for the irrigation conduits on both banks during the dry season.
Despite its modest height, the weir wall was quite thick (9–10 m) to accommodate the arcaded superstructure.
On top of the weir, a roadway originally supported by at least forty arches ran along its entire length of around 500 m.
The
pointed arch
A pointed arch, ogival arch, or Gothic arch is an arch with a pointed crown, whose two curving sides meet at a relatively sharp angle at the top of the arch. This architectural element was particularly important in Gothic architecture. The earlie ...
es which visually dominate the present-day structure, or rather its remains, are testimony to numerous reconstruction and maintenance works executed in Islamic times. The typical clear span of the Pol-e Kaisar was between 6.6 and 9 m.
The piers, protected on their upstream side by pointed cutwaters, were of rectangular shape and pierced by high-set floodways; their considerable thickness of 5 to 6.4 m restricted the waterway by nearly one-half.
By comparison, pier thicknesses of Roman bridges located within the
empire
An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
’s frontiers commonly made up one-fourth of the length of the bridge and did not exceed a maximum of one-third.
The facing of the piers and the foundation consists of cut sandstone blocks bonded by mortar and joined by iron clamps; the interior was filled with
Roman concrete
Roman concrete, also called , is a material that was used in construction in ancient Rome. Roman concrete was based on a hydraulic-setting cement. It is durable due to its incorporation of pozzolanic ash, which prevents cracks from spreading. ...
, a building technique also observed in the Pa-i-pol bridge.
On the upstream face, the river-bed was paved with large stone slabs, probably to prevent the current from undermining the dam base. One former Persian name of the dam, "Shadirwan", derives from this paving.
Finally, another smaller barrage, the Band-e Mizan, whose construction may postdate the Roman works, was erected upstream to control the flow of water into the Ab-i Gargar canal. The time it took the Roman labour force to complete the ancient Shushtar hydraulic complex is variously reported as spanning three to seven years.
The site has been referred to as "a masterpiece of creative genius" by UNESCO.
Along with the hydraulic works, it also includes Selastel Castle and a tower for water level measurement, as well as a series of
water mill
A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production ...
s.
Gallery
نمایی از پل معروف به بند قیصر.jpg
A historical painting of Shadirwan Bridge.jpg
پل معروف به بند قیصر - شوشتر.jpg
نمایی دیگر از پل معروف به بند قیصر - شوشتر.jpg
See also
*
List of Roman bridges
This is a list of Roman bridges. The Romans were the world's first major bridge builders. The following list constitutes an attempt to list all known surviving remains of Roman bridges.
A Roman bridge in the sense of this article includes an ...
*
List of Roman dams
*
Romans in Persia Romans in Persia is related to the brief invasion and occupation of western and central areas of Parthia (modern-day Iran) by the Romans during their Roman Empire, empire. Emperor Trajan was even temporarily able to nominate a king of western parts ...
Notes
References
Sources
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Further reading
*
External links
* Livius.org
Shushtar* UNESCO
World heritage site
{{Dams and reservoirs in Iran
Bridges in Iran
Roman bridges
Bridges completed in the 3rd century
Dams in Iran
Ancient Roman dams
Weirs
World Heritage Sites in Iran
Persian words and phrases
Buildings and structures in Khuzestan Province
Tourist attractions in Khuzestan Province
Shapur I
Stone arch bridges
National works of Iran
Buildings and structures demolished in 1885