Takht-e Soleymān country Iran
Takht-e Soleymān (Persian: تخت سلیمان, lit. 'Throne of Solomon'), is an archaeological site in West Azerbaijan, Iran dating back to Sasanian Empire. It lies midway between Urmia and Hamadan, very near the present-day town of Takab, and 400 km (250 mi) west of Tehran.
The fortified site, which is located on a hill created by the outflow of a calcium-rich spring pond, was recognized as a World Heritage Site in July 2003. The citadel includes the remains of Adur Gushnasp, a Zoroastrian fire temple built during the Sassanid period and partially rebuilt (as a mosque) during the Ilkhanid period. This temple housed one of the three "Great Fires" or "Royal Fires" that Sassanid rulers humbled themselves before in order to ascend the throne. The fire at Takht-i Soleiman was called Adur Gushnasp and was dedicated to the arteshtar or warrior class of the Sasanid. A 4th century Armenian manuscript relating to Jesus and Zarathustra, and various historians of the Islamic period, mention this pond. The foundations of the fire temple around the pond is attributed to that legend. Takht-E Soleyman appears on the 4th century Peutinger Map.
This site got its biblical name after the Arab invasion of Iran in the 7th century. Folk legend relates that King Solomon used to imprison monsters inside a nearby 100m deep crater which is called Zendan-e Soleyman "Prison of Solomon". Solomon is also said to have created the flowing pond in the fortress.
Archaeological excavations have revealed traces of a 5th-century BC occupation during the Achaemenid period, as well as later Parthian settlements in the citadel. Coins belonging to the reign of Sassanid kings, and that of the Byzantine emperor Theodosius II (AD 408–450), have also been discovered there.Ilkhanid Period of Takht-e Soleyman
Situated in the province of Azerbaijan of northwestern Iran, the remains of the Takht-e Soleyman complex can be found upon a grassy plain, surrounded by a volcanic mountain region. Meaning “the Throne of Solomon” in Persian, Sughurlukh in Turkish, translating to “a place abounding in marmots”, Takht-e Soleyman was built in the thirteenth century under the Ilkhanid dynasty as a summer and hunting palace. Beforehand, the site was a Zoroastrian fire temple, which was the state religion of the Sasanian dynasty, which they built during the fifth century. The Ilkhanid patron, Abaqa Khan (r.1265-82), the second Ilkhan ruler and son of Hülagü, the first ruler of the Ilkhanid dynasty, chose this site for his summer residence partly because of the massive ruins remaining of the old fire temple and Sasanian palace. He could create his complex using the ancient layout and general direction to help dictate his own architectural plan. Choosing this historic site in Iran also legitimized their presence within previous Iranian culture. The Ilkhanids wanted to integrate themselves into the historical Iranian fabric, hence them using the pre-existing and pre-Islamic Sasanian structure to build their own post-Islamic and Mongol inspired complex.
Nation State Land Territory