MOHAMAD ARIF BIN MD. ZAIN 2007106125HAFIZ AZIZUL BIN ZULKARNAIN 2006118993SARA AMELIA BT NOORASLAN 2008409528

SASSANID EMPIRE

224-651 AD

ARK 532 HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE IV

200 AD 300 AD

205-310 AD ORIGINS AND EARLY HISTORY

209 AD Ghaleh Dokhtar, or "The Maiden's Castle,“ in Fars, Iran, built by Ardashir I before he was finally able to defeat the Parthian empire.

208 AD Over the protests of his other brothers who were put to death, Ardashir I declared himself ruler of Persis.

226-227 AD Ardashir I rebels against the Parthians229-232 AD Zend Avesta is assembled

260 AD Sassanians capture Emperor Valerian I

241-270 AD Shapur I rules the Sassanian empire

260 AD Sassanians defeat a Roman legion

224-241 AD Ardashir I, descendant of the priest Sassan, seizes the throne of Persia/Parthia, ends the Arsacid dynasty, and becomes the first Sassanid king with capital in Istakhr (near Persepolis) and Zoroastrianism as the official religion

272-273 AD Hormizd I rules the Sassanian empire273-276 AD Bahram I rules the Sassanian empire

276-293 AD Bahram II rules the Sassanian empire293 AD Bahram III rules the Sassanian empire293-302 AD Narseh rules the Sassanian empire

309-379 AD Shapur II rules the Sassanian empire

233 AD Ardashir I conquers Kushan

250 AD Shapur I establishes the library of Jondi Shahpur, one of the largest in the world

225 AD Ardashir I defeats Artabanus V, last Parthian ruler, and moves the capital to Ctesiphon

Ardashir I The Maiden's Castle

Zend Avesta Shapur I

Shapur I capture Roman Emperor Valerian I

256 AD The Sassanids conquer Dura Europus in Mesopotamia

298 AD The Sassanids sign a peace treaty with Rome

'Investiture of Narseh' at Naqsh-e RostamStatue of Shapur I Gold coin of Ardashir I

302-309 AD Hormizd II rules the sassanian empire

300 AD 400 AD

309-379 AD FIRST GOLDEN ERA

309-379 AD Reign of Shapur II, Sassania353-358 AD Sassania campaigns against the Chionite Huns

363 AD The Sassanid king Shapur II defeats the Roman emperor Julian and recapture Nisibis and Armenia

At the center of the circular city of Firuzabad was the spiral fire temple tower, the

architectural precedent of the great spiral of the Great Mosque of Samarra in Iraq.

Gold coin of Shapur II

The Firuzabad fire templeFiruzabad in aerial view Falak-ol-Aflak Castle in ancient times was known as Dežbār as well as Shāpūr-Khwāst

Under Shapur II's reign the collection of the Avesta was completed, heresy and apostasy punished, and the Christians persecuted. The Avesta is the primary collection of sacred texts of Zoroastrianism, composed in the Avestan language

Shapur II was successful in the east, and the great town Nishapur in Khorasan (eastern Parthia) was founded by him.

Silver plate showing Shapur II hunting a deer whilst riding a stag.

Manuscript portion of the Zend Avesta, the Zoroastrian scripture.

300 AD 400 AD 500 AD

379-498 AD INTERMEDIATE ERA

420-422 AD Sassanian war with Rome

483 AD Edict of Toleration granted to Christians

388-399 AD Bahram IV rules the Sassanian empire383-388 AD Shapur III rules the Sassanian empire

379-383 AD Ardashir II rules the Sassanian empire

491 AD Armenian Church repudiates the Council of Chalce

399-420 AD Yazdgard I rules the Sassanian empire420-438 AD Bahram V rules the Sassanian empire

438-457 AD Yazdgard II rules the Sassanian empire457-459 AD Hormizd III rules the Sassanian empire

488-497 AD Kavad I rules the Sassanian empire

459-484 AD Peroz rules the Sassanian empire

484-488 AD Balash rules the Sassanian empire

497-499 AD Zamasp rules the Sassanian empire

381 AD Bahram IV begins another Romano-Persian war. After initial success, the Persians are pushed back across the Danube by a young Roman general named Symmachus

High relief at Taq e Bostan of the investiture of Ardashir II

Sarvestan Palace built by Bahram V

Image of Shapur III on a coin minted during his reign.

Silver coin of Bahram V with fire temple on its verso

379 AD Shapur II died after conquering Arabia and reaching the border with China

Yazdgird I

Bas relief near Kermanshah representing Shapur II and Shapur III

Ancient Iranians attached great importance to music and poetry, as they

still do today. This 7th century plate depicts musicians from the Sassanid era.

Sassanid silver vase featuring wine harvest decorations

400 AD 500 AD 600 AD

498-622 AD SECOND GOLDEN ERA

540 AD Sassania sacks Antioch

622 AD Emperor Heraclius of Byzantium invades Sassania

614 AD Sassanians capture Damascus and Jerusalem from Byzantium

533 AD Treaty of Endless Peace with Rome531-579 AD Khusrau I (Chosroes I) rules the Sassanian empire

590-628 AD Khusrau II (Chosroes II) rules the Sassanian empire

579-590 AD Hormizd IV rules the Sassanian empire

560 AD The Sassanid king Khusro I builds the Palace of the Great Arch in Ctsiphon

590-591 AD Bahram VI rules the Sassanian empire

499-531 AD Kavad I (restored) rules the Sassanian empire

579 AD The Sassanid king Khusro I dies

590 AD The Sassanid king Khusro II launches a new attack against Byzantium

Simorgh found in Khusrau fort

619 AD The Sassanids capture Jerusalem from Byzantium

Palace of the Great Arch in Ctsiphon built by Khusro I at 560 AD Palace of the Great Arch in Ctsiphon in present day

Sassanid silk twill textile of a Simurgh in a beaded surround, 6–7th century.

Example of sassanid empire stucco works

Egyptian woven pattern woolen curtain or trousers, which was a copy of a Sassanid silk import, which was in turn based on a fresco of King Khosrau II fighting Axum

Ethiopian forces in Yemen, 5–6th century

Irano-Roman floor mosaic detail from the palace of Shapur I at Bishapur in Iran.

Silver coin of Kavad II

600 AD 700 AD

622-651 AD DECLINE AND

FALL ERA

627 AD Heraclius of Byzantium defeats a Sassanian army

637 AD Capital of Sassania, falls to Muslim attack

633 AD Muslims invade Iraq

628 AD Kravad II rules the Sassanian empire

622 AD Emperor Heraclius of Byzantium invades Sassania

642 AD Persian army destroyed at Nehawand642 AD Muslim invasions end the Sassanian empire

628-630 AD Ardashir III rules the Sassanian empire630 AD Shahrbaraz rules the Sassanian empire630-631 AD Boran rules the Sassanian empire

632-651 AD Yazdgard III rules the Sassanian empire

631-632 AD Azarmedukht rules the Sassanian empire

651 AD Arab conquest of Sassanid Empire

632 AD The Sassanid queen Purandokht signs a peace treaty with Byzantium

636 AD The Arabs capture Ctesiphon, the last Sassanid is assassinated in Merv and the Sassanid empire ends

632 AD Abu Bakr, one of Mohammed's followers and the first Muslim caliph ("prophet's successor"), quells upheavals throughout Arabia and declares war on the Roman and Persian (Sassanid) empires

623 AD Byzantine troops destroy the fire temples of Persia (in revenge for the Persian desecration of Jerusalem)

626 AD The Sassanids besiege Byzantium

627 AD The Sassanid king Khusrau II is defeated by Roman emperor Heraclius at Niniveh

628 AD Khusrau II is assassinated by his troops while the Romans retake Syria from the Sassanids

Kavad II

Coin of Yazdgard III

KhosrouII Defeated by Heraclius Roman Emperor (Roman drawing In Constantinopolis)

Sassanid army helmet

Darband castle a Sassanid fortress in modern

Sassanian Cavalry in Full Armour riding through the wars. The Sassanian Knights are said to have inspired the European Knights of the Middle Ages

particularly in the use of mail in their Armour.

Sassanid vase with four dancers. Gilded silver

REFERENCE

•Iran Chamber Society (History of Iran)•http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sassanid•http://www.timelines.info/history/empires_and_civilizations/islamic_empires/sassanid_dynasty/•http://ancienthistory.about.com/library/bl/bl_time_persianempirekings2.htm•http://www.alternatehistory.com/Discussion/showthread.php?t=124167•http://www.scaruffi.com/politics/persians.html•http://www.flickr.com/photos/30791560@N00/2492762054/•http://iranianidentity.blogspot.com/2008_05_01_archive.html•http://www.cais-soas.com/CAIS/Geography/firuzabad.htm•http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_architecture

SASSANID ARCHITECTURAL STYLE

General•Oblong square plan•Comprises a court near the building•Circular base dome•Semi circular arches•Panels showanimal figures•Spiral tower•Massive walls of brick decorated with molded or carved stucco

MaterialsAvailable building materials dictate major forms in traditional Iranian architecture. Heavy clays, readily available at various places throughout the plateau, have encouraged the development of the most primitive of all building techniques, molded mud, compressed as solidly as possible, and allowed to dry. This technique used in Iran from ancient times has never been completely abandoned. The abundance of heavy plastic earth, in conjunction with a tenacious lime mortar, also facilitated the development of the brick.

GeometryIranian architecture makes use of abundant symbolic geometry, using pure forms such as the circle and square, and plans are based on often symmetrical layouts featuring rectangular courtyards and halls.

DesignCertain design elements of Persian architecture have persisted throughout the history of Iran. The most striking are a marked feeling for scale and a discerning use of simple and massive forms. The consistency of decorative preferences, the high-arched portal set within a recess, columns with bracket capitals, and recurrent types of plan and elevation can also be mentioned. Through the ages, these elements have recurred in completely different types of buildings constructed for various programs and under the patronage of a long succession of rulers.The columned porch, or talar, seen in the rock-cut tombs near Persepolis, reappear in Sassanid temples, and in late Islamic times it was used as the portico of a palace or mosque, and adapted even to the architecture of roadside tea-houses. Similarly, the gonbad on four arches, so characteristic of Sassanid times, is a still to be found in many cemeteries and Imamzadehs across Iran today. The notion of earthly towers reaching up toward the sky to mingle with the divine towers of heaven lasted through the 19th century, while the interior court and pool, the angled entrance and extensive decoration are ancient but still common features of Iranian architecture

Herzfeld's depiction of Persian architectural column typology.

Models of Adobe Ceramic maquette of a tower (dated 13th

century BCE) in their work. Excavated at Chogha Zanbil, Iran.

The ruins of Persepolis, approximately 2500 years old.