Firuzabad ( fa, فيروزآباد or Piruzabad, also
Romanize
Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, a ...
d as Fīrūzābād;
Middle Persian
Middle Persian or Pahlavi, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg () in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasanian Empire. For some time after the Sasanian collapse, Middle P ...
: Gōr or Ardashir-Khwarrah, literally "The Glory of Ardashir"; also Shahr-e Gūr ) is a city and capital of
Firuzabad County
Firuzabad County ( fa, شهرستان فیروزآباد) is located in Fars 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 an ...
,
Fars 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 ...
. At the 2006 census, its population was 58,210, in 12,888 families. Firuzabad is located south of
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 ...
. The city is surrounded by a mud wall and ditch.
The original ancient city of Gor, dating back to the
Achaemenid
The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, wikt:𐎧𐏁𐏂𐎶, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an History of Iran#Classical antiquity, ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Bas ...
period, was destroyed by
Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...
. Centuries later,
Ardashir I
Ardashir I (Middle Persian: 𐭠𐭥𐭲𐭧𐭱𐭲𐭥, Modern Persian: , '), also known as Ardashir the Unifier (180–242 AD), was the founder of the Sasanian Empire. He was also Ardashir V of the Kings of Persis, until he founded the new ...
, the founder of the
Sassanid Empire
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 History of Iran, last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th cen ...
, revived the city before it was ransacked during the
Arab Muslim invasion of the seventh century. It was again revived by the
Buyids
The Buyid dynasty ( fa, آل بویه, Āl-e Būya), also spelled Buwayhid ( ar, البويهية, Al-Buwayhiyyah), was a Shia Iranian dynasty of Daylamite origin, which mainly ruled over Iraq and central and southern Iran from 934 to 1062. Coup ...
under
Fanna Khusraw, but was eventually abandoned in the
Qajar
Qajar Iran (), also referred to as Qajar Persia, the Qajar Empire, '. Sublime State of Persia, officially the Sublime State of Iran ( fa, دولت علیّه ایران ') and also known then as the Guarded Domains of Iran ( fa, ممالک م ...
period and was replaced by a nearby town, which is now Firuzabad.
Climate
Firuzabad has a
hot semi-arid climate
A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi- ...
(
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...
: ''BSh'').
History
Gor dates back to the
Achaemenid
The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, wikt:𐎧𐏁𐏂𐎶, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an History of Iran#Classical antiquity, ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Bas ...
era. It was situated in a low-lying area of the region, so, during his invasion of Persia,
Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...
was able to drown the city by directing the flow of a river into the city. The lake he created remained until
Ardashir I
Ardashir I (Middle Persian: 𐭠𐭥𐭲𐭧𐭱𐭲𐭥, Modern Persian: , '), also known as Ardashir the Unifier (180–242 AD), was the founder of the Sasanian Empire. He was also Ardashir V of the Kings of Persis, until he founded the new ...
built a
tunnel
A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...
to drain it. He founded his new capital city on this site.
Ardashir's new city was known as ''Khor Ardashīr'', ''Ardashīr Khurrah'' and ''Gōr''. It had a circular plan so precise in measurement that the
Persian historian
Ibn Balkhi wrote it to be "devised using a compass". It was protected by a trench 50 meters in width, and was 2 kilometers in diameter. The city had four gates; to the north was the Hormozd Gate, to the south the Ardashir Gate, to the east the
Mithra
Mithra ( ae, ''Miθra'', peo, 𐎷𐎰𐎼 ''Miça'') commonly known as Mehr, is the Iranian deity of covenant, light, oath, justice and the sun. In addition to being the divinity of contracts, Mithra is also a judicial figure, an all-seein ...
Gate and to the west the Wahram Gate. The royal capital's compounds were constructed at the center of a circle 450 m in radius. At the center of the town there was a lofty platform or tower, called ''
Terbal''. It was 30 m high and spiral in design. The design is unique in Iran, and there are several theories regarding the purpose of its construction.
It is thought to have been the architectural predecessor of the
Great Mosque of Samarra of
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
and its distinctive minaret, the ''malwiya''. In the Sasanian period, the abbreviation ART (in
Inscriptional Pahlavi
Inscriptional Pahlavi is the earliest attested form of Pahlavi scripts, and is evident in clay fragments that have been dated to the reign of Mithridates I (''r.'' 171–138 BC). Other early evidence includes the Pahlavi inscriptions of Arsaci ...
) was used as the mint signature to refer to Gōr.
Gōr and
Istakhr
Istakhr (Middle Persian romanized: ''Stakhr'', fa, اصطخر, translit=Istakhr also spelt استخر in modern literature) was an ancient city in Fars province, north of Persepolis in southwestern Iran. It flourished as the capital of the Per ...
strenuously resisted the
invading Arab Muslims in the 630s and 640s; they were conquered by Abdallah ibn Amr in 649–50.
The city's importance was revived again in the reign of
Fanna Khusraw of the
Buyid dynasty
The Buyid dynasty ( fa, آل بویه, Āl-e Būya), also spelled Buwayhid ( ar, البويهية, Al-Buwayhiyyah), was a Shia Iranian dynasty of Daylamite origin, which mainly ruled over Iraq and central and southern Iran from 934 to 1062. Co ...
, who frequently used the city as his residence. It is at this time that the old name of the city, ''Gōr'', was abandoned in favor of the new. In New Persian, spoken at the time, the word ''Gōr'' () had come to mean "grave." King Adud al-Dawla, as the story goes, found it distasteful to reside in a "grave." Per his instruction, the city's name was changed to ''Peroz-abad'', "City of Victory." Since then, the city has been known by variations of that name, including ''Firuzabad'' ( ''Fīrūzābād'').
However, there is a 7th-century
Arab-Sassanian coin from
Ardashir-Khwarra during
Umayyad
The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by the ...
period in which pylwj'b'd (
Pahlavi; ''Pērōzābād'') is mentioned as the mint.
The city was eventually abandoned in
Qajar
Qajar Iran (), also referred to as Qajar Persia, the Qajar Empire, '. Sublime State of Persia, officially the Sublime State of Iran ( fa, دولت علیّه ایران ') and also known then as the Guarded Domains of Iran ( fa, ممالک م ...
period and its nearby settlement was populated, which is now the modern Firuzabad located 3 km to the east of the site of Gor.
Today, among the attractions of Firuzabad are the Sassanid
Ghal'eh Dokhtar
Qal'eh Dokhtar or Ghale Dokhtar or Dokhtar Castle or Dezh Dokhtar ( fa, دژ دختر, "The Maiden Castle"), is a castle made by Ardashir I, in present-day Fars, Iran, in 209 AD. It is located on a mountain slope near the Firouzabad-Kavar road.
...
, the
Palace of Ardeshir
The Palace of Ardashir Pāpakan (in fa, کاخ اردشير پاپکان, ''Kākh-e Ardashir-e Pāpakān''), also known as the ''Atash-kadeh'' آتشکده, is a castle located on the slopes of the mountain on which Dezh Dokhtar is situated. B ...
, and the fire temple and
its nearby Minar.
According to a 1939 publication of the anthropologist
Henry Field, 7,000
Circassians
The Circassians (also referred to as Cherkess or Adyghe; Adyghe and Kabardian: Адыгэхэр, romanized: ''Adıgəxər'') are an indigenous Northwest Caucasian ethnic group and nation native to the historical country-region of Circassia ...
lived in Firuzabad.
Higher education
The city has five universities: Firuzabad Higher education university,
Islamic Azad University
The Islamic Azad University (IAU; fa, دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی, ''Dāneshgāh-e Āzād-e Eslāmi'') is a private university system headquartered in Tehran, Iran. It is one of the largest comprehensive systems of universities, colleg ...
, Firuzabad Branch;
Payame Noor University
Payame Noor University (PNU; Persian: Dāneŝgāhe Payāme Nur) is a large public university in Iran, with its headquarters in Tehran. Established in 1988, is a legal body under the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology. ''Payame Noor'' ...
, Firuzabad center; a branch of
Technical and Vocational University
The Technical and Vocational University (TVU) ( fa, دانشگاه فنی و حرفهای, ''Danushgah-e Feni-ye Herfehai'') includes higher education that runs all technical/vocational colleges across the country. The main objective of this U ...
; and a branch of
University of Applied Science and Technology
The University of Applied Science and Technology (UAST) ( fa, دانشگاه جامع علمی - کاربردی Dāneshgah-e Jām'e Elmi Kārbordi) is a public university in Iran administrated by the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology. ...
.
See also
*
Ghal'eh Dokhtar
Qal'eh Dokhtar or Ghale Dokhtar or Dokhtar Castle or Dezh Dokhtar ( fa, دژ دختر, "The Maiden Castle"), is a castle made by Ardashir I, in present-day Fars, Iran, in 209 AD. It is located on a mountain slope near the Firouzabad-Kavar road.
...
in Firuzabad
*
Palace of Ardeshir
The Palace of Ardashir Pāpakan (in fa, کاخ اردشير پاپکان, ''Kākh-e Ardashir-e Pāpakān''), also known as the ''Atash-kadeh'' آتشکده, is a castle located on the slopes of the mountain on which Dezh Dokhtar is situated. B ...
in Firuzabad
*
Bishapur
Bishapur (Middle Persian: ''Bay-Šāpūr''; fa, بیشاپور}, ''Bishâpûr'') was an ancient city in Sasanid Persia (Iran) on the ancient road between Persis and Elam. The road linked the Sassanid capitals Estakhr (very close to Persepolis ...
*
Cities of the Ancient Near East
The earliest cities in history were in the ancient Near East, an area covering roughly that of the modern Middle East: its history began in the 4th millennium BC and ended, depending on the interpretation of the term, either with the conquest by ...
*
Round city of Baghdad, modeled after Firuzabad and other Parthian and Sassanian round cities
References
Sources
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External links
Ernst Herzfeld Papers, Series 5: Drawings and Maps, Records of Firuzabad Collections Search Center, S.I.R.I.S., Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
*
Fars Cultural Heritage Organization
{{Authority control
Populated places in Firuzabad County
Cities in Fars Province
Architecture in Iran
Sasanian cities
Ardashir I
Gor (Sasanian city)