By Sadeq Dehqan
The largest historical site of the country is located in Neyshabur, northeastern province of Khorasan Razavi, said the head of the city’s Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Department.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Iran Daily Mohammad Esmaeil Etemadi added that a large part of the area, known as Shahr-e Kohneh (Old City), is buried under the ground.
He noted that simultaneous with archeological excavations, being conducted to dig out some parts of the site, measures are underway to register the historical area on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Referring to the history of Shahr-e Kohneh, he noted that like many other ancient cities of the world, the exact date of its establishment is not known.
“The city reached its peak size in the third century AH (816-913 CE) and after that it was chosen as the capital of Iran in two periods,” he said.
The official stated that for the first time, the city was chosen as the capital of the country by Abdullah ibn Tahir, the founder of the Tahirid Dynasty, in 205 AH (821 CE).
“Arab caliphs ruled the country during early Islam, but Abdullah ibn Tahir, founder of Taherid Dynasty, rose against Umayyad caliphs and chose Neyshabur as his capital by defeating them,” he said.
He noted that in fact, 200 years after the advent of Islam to Iran, the country had no independent government and the king of Tahirid Dynasty established the first Iranian administration in Neyshabur.
“Neyshabur was the capital of Tahirid rulers for 50 years, but later they moved the center of their governments to other cities including Merv, Herat and Balkh,” Etemadi noted.
He said Neyshabur was among the most important cities of the country in the other historical periods, pointing out that Toghrul, the founder of Seljuk Dynasty, once again, chose the city, as the capital of Iran in the fifth century AH (1009-1106 CE).
The official said that Neyshabur was one of the largest Islamic cities during early Islam, noting, at that time, there were 33 Nezamiyehs (groups of higher education institutes) in the whole Islamic world, 27 of which were located in Neyshabur.
“This indicates the importance of the city in the fields of science and culture,” he said.
He continued that at that time, the city had 47 neighborhoods and according to some historians, each neighborhood was half the size of Shiraz of that time. The city had a population of more than 1.5 million people and numerous thinkers and scholars grew up there. It had a number of large libraries and mosques, including Jaame mosque.
“The city of Neyshabur, with all its greatness, was destroyed completely in 618 AH (1221 CE) after the Mongol invasion of Iran, and a large number of its people were massacred. According to historians, the Mongols flooded the city and then plowed it and started farming so that no trace of the city remained,” he said.
The head of Neyshabur’s Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicraft Department continued that in this way, the Old City of Neyshabur was completely buried.
He said that Shahr-e Kohneh, with an area of 4,500 hectares, is recognized as the largest historical site of the country.
Etemadi explained that the site was registered on Iran’s National Heritage List 20 years ago, adding efforts are underway to prepare a dossier for its registration on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.
He expressed hope that site would be registered globally in the next two or three years.
“If it is registered, Shahr-e Kohneh would become the first world heritage site of Neyshabur,” he said.
The official pointed out that the registration process was launched last year and related studies are presently underway to collect information and prepare necessary documents.
“After completing these steps, the dossier would be sent to the World Registration Council of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts to be approved and sent to UNESCO,” he said.
Etemadi stated that the process of preparing the dossier is expected to last until summer of 2022.
Etemadi said Shahr-e Kohneh is situated 6km southeast of the current location of Neyshabur and its buried parts are presently known as historical hills called Qanat, Bazaar, Madreseh, Takestan, Ahangaran, Kohan Dej and others.
The official said an area of 2,500 square meters of the total 4,500 hectares of the ancient city has been unearthed during archeological excavations, which are underway in the Shadyakh neighborhood of Neyshabur since 1999.
He pointed out that a museum site is expected to be established in the area to display the ancient objects found there.
"Many architectural structures were discovered in the area, including a mosque, a palace, several pottery and glass workshops and the southern gate of the Shadyakh neighborhood,” the official said.
He concluded that Shadyakh, with an area of about 36 hectares, is one of the main neighborhoods of Neyshabur’s Old City.
No comments:
Post a Comment