Evening star., 1925-12-25
GREATEST CASTLE
RUINS DISCOVERED
German ArcheoIogist Finds
Remains of Mighty Struc-
ture in Persia.
BY HAYDEN CHURCH.
Special Correspondent of The Star a
North American Newspaper Alliance.

! University Of Berlin to the king
: Ardashir palace, whose ruins he dis
| covered on his fifth archaeological ex-
| pedition into Persia. He has just re-
| turned to Europe, after completing
! the program of the expedition. which
| was financed in part by James Loeb.
! retired New York banker, formerly
| Of the firm of Kuhn. Loeb & Co.
Another important discovery made
| by the expedition was a group OF
| rock hewn catacombs on the Island OF
! Kharg In the Persian Gulf contain
! ing Christian tombs dating back TO
| the third century. This is the first
| time that Christian remains have
| been found In Persia. and the dis
| covery has great Importance in show
! ing how Christianity spread from
| Babylonia into India by way Of the
| Persian Gulf.
Kept Eternal Fires.
\ third series of discoveries en-
| brace the remains of the temples of
| fire worshipers OF 200 to 500 a. D..
These are the first authentic temples
of this kind to be found In them
fires We're kept burning eternally as
part of the worship OF the god
Ahurama zda.
The palace of King Ardashir is To-
Gated on the summit Of a mountain
l600 feet high. near Firuzabad. in
Southern Persia. 1t is constructed on
| more sumptuous scale than any
castle in Europe. With central
building covering two and half acres.
It's walls were 100 feet high, and it
contained "A banqueting hall big
| enough 10 contain the largest cathe-
dral in Europe.
The royal builder of this trenen-
dous pile was Ardashir. King of
Kings" and founder OF the Sassanian
dynasty which raised Persia 10 a
height OF power and prosperity such
as II had never before attained. The
castles position at the top OF mac
cessible perpendicular cliffs made II
an almost impenetrable fortress in its
time.
French Explorers Missed Castle.
1T is extraordinary that the castle
was not found long ago" said Prof
Herzfeld in an interview. II Is To-
Gated only short distance from Firu-
zabad, which Is a we'll known city and
a place frequently visited by trav-
elers But the country around Firu'
Zabad is mostly uninteresting and un-
attractive to visitors. Yet II was not
entirely unexplored. for two scientific
expeditions. both French. passed this
way, one in 1870 and one in 1880.
Both expeditions noted the high group
Of rocks. but nobody took the
trouble to climb these rocks and find
the mighty ruins on top.
The ca stle of Ardashir is especially
interesting because it is an obvious
prototype of the earliest castles built In
Europe 1t is one OF the parents Of all
the great structures which were
thrown up during the Middle Ages by
the castle builders Of medieval Eu.
rope Presumably the beginnings of
European architecture may be at
| tributed to the migration OF builders
from the East
| This Persian castle was the home Of
| the Sassa nian kings for several CEN
turtles. It was only after 400 years.
! when the successive monarchs of this
! great dynasty had passed one by one
| TO their account, that the splendid for
! tress fell into ruins. The last OF the
| Sassanians, Yezdigerd, was driven
| from his throne by the Arabs. after
great battle at Nahavend in 639 AID.
| The world soon forgot the ruined pal
ace, and it remained in oblivion until
| this wear, when II was brought TO
| light by Prof. Herzfeld. just at the
| completion of a lengthy tour OF eX-
| ploration. The professor. who is one
| Of the greatest living authorities on
Babylonia, climbed up the precipictous
!
| sible inscriptions carved in the rocks
Fifth Visit to Persia
! The Herzfeld expedition has been in
Persia for nearly three years. This is
the fifth expedition which DR.. Herr
| field has led into this part Of the
world.
"The ruins of Ardashir's palace are
| 30 well preserved that I am confident
they can be restored at some future
time" said DR.. Herzfeld. THE stone
walls are largely intact. and they have
a thickness in places OF 20 to 80 feet,
proportionate to their enormous
height. The mortar is in splendid con-
dition, and as strong as iron.
although there Is nothing about the
building to indicate great skill in arch
itecture, every feature is clear. and
there are indications that the interior
fittings were on a more sumptuous
scale than anything we have ever
known in Europe"
Prof. Herzfeld has a surprisingly
youthful appearance for one who
has accomplished SO much In the
f1eld of archaeology and exploration.
His most important scientific
achievement was the excavation, with
Prof. Sarre, of the site Of Samarra.
ancient capital of the caliphs, 80
| interrupted by the World War, and
when the Turks were driven out of
Mesopotamia by the British they
| left behind them so packing cases
| Of relics which had been carefully
| boxed by Herzfeld. These were
| brought to England and placed IN
| the British Museum. which invited
| Herzfeld to supervise the unpacking.
| The invitation was sent him imme-
diateiy after the armistice was
| signed, and he was the first Ger
| man to visit England after the close
Of the war.
OF his many learned works. the
chief is his "paikun Inscriptions in
| the Pahlavi Language" The price
| Of 1t Is 500, but even at this price
few, II any. copies are now avail
able.
1.-THE expedition from which I have
| just returned" said Prof. Herzfeld.
was partly financed by James
Loeb Of New York and partly by
! Edmund SHINES of Berlin. I set of
| in February, 1928. and reached Persia
| by way of Bombay and Bagdad.
| During the Summer and Autumn Of
the first year I worked in northern
| Persia and during the Summer Of
| 1924 along the Persian Gulf. Then
| I visited India In November of last
| year and returned to Persia by way
| Of Afghanistan and Baluchistan,
reaching Teheran in August last.
| No European Assistants.
II came back to Europe via Mos
| COW and Leningrad and reached Ber-
lin a short time ago. I did most Of
my work without European assist
ance. using eight natives, Arabs.
whom I recruited near Bagdad. They
were all men trained in excavation.
which is q hereditary profession in
1 Io