Shapur ( Persian غار شاپور ) is the most important historical monument of Iran . It is located on a hill 300 meters high, in the Tang-Chogan gorge, located 4 kilometers from the city of Bishapur , Shakhristan Kazerun , the most important capital of Persia of the Sassanid era . The depth of the cave is 30 meters. At her entrance is a statue of Shapur I , carved from the stalagmites of the cave itself. For 1700 years, this statue has not left its home and is located in the same place. This is the only sculpture preserved from ancient times, whose height is about 7 meters and a width of more than 2 meters. The statue of the standing Shapur I is one of the largest monuments of fine art of the Sassanid era and, moreover, is one of a kind for the ancient art of the Middle East . Even after centuries, this statue is still intact, with the exception of only two hands that were destroyed. After the conquest of Persia by the Arabs, the statue was overturned, but in 1957, with the assistance of the military, it was put in its place [1] [2] [3] .
| Shapur | |
|---|---|
| Persian. غار شاپور | |
 | |
| Characteristics | |
| Depth | 30 m |
| Location | |
| A country |
|
| Ostan | Farce |
| Shahrestan | Kazerun |
There is an assumption that before the ascension to the throne of the Sassanid dynasty, the cave served as a temple for the inhabitants of this region, and here, like in the caves of Niyasar and Babajabar, various ceremonies were held. Ardeshire I (Papakan) wanted to create religious unity among the people, for this he built a Zoroastrian temple near the cave. A few years later, his son Shapur I ordered the erection of his statue inside this cave [4] .
Content
- 1 Shapur I of the Sassanid dynasty
- 2 Description
- 3 History
- 4 notes
- 5 Links
Shapur I of the Sassanid dynasty
Shapur I, the son of the founder of the Sassanid dynasty Ardashir Papakan , ruled the country from 215 to 272 AD. e. Shapur I was able to expand the borders of the country almost to the borders of the empire of Darius I from the Achaemenid dynasty, although he still could not regain the power and greatness of the Achaemenid state. It should be noted that Shapur I was an excellent strategist, he waged wars with Ancient Rome and won brilliant victories over Roman commanders. During the next war, in the battle for Edessa (the north of Antakya - modern Turkey ), the Persians managed to capture the Roman emperor Valerian . For several centuries, a warrior between Persia and Rome, such an event occurred only once. Shapur I, in honor of his grand victory, ordered to cut several bas-reliefs in the province of Fars, in order to perpetuate his victory and pass on the memory of it to descendants [5] .
Description
The bas-reliefs are carved on the walls at the entrance to the cave, each of which captures a certain historical event of the Sassanid era. Near the entrance, on the right wall are the fortresses, which apparently show that the city of Bishapur was protected from a possible enemy attack. Under the gorge itself is the channel of the , the water from which, flowing through different channels, fell into the city.
History
There is a legend that after the Arabs conquered the province of Fars on August 28, 633, one of the Arab commanders, whose name was Nasser Ibn Sayr, entered the Shapur cave, where at that time a large number of historical monuments of Iran were stored, examined it and ordered to overturn the statue Shapur I, and other relics to pick up or destroy. Later, local residents turned to the Arab commander with a request that he allow them to put the statue of Shapur I in their former place and offered him gold for this, but were refused [6] .
At the entrance to the cave there are two stone tablets, on one of which is a translation of Shapur I’s record from Naksh-e Rajab , and on the other it is described how the Iranian military, after 1000 years, in 1958, restored the statue and returned it to its original place [7] . Both inscriptions were made by the same military [8] .
One of the plates that were made by the Shah army and installed by them inside the cave, reads as follows:
The Shah decree on the restoration and return to the former place of the statue of Shapur I by the forces of the corps of General Mohammad Togi Majidi, with the support of the headquarters of the Shah’s army of Iran, headed by General Bahram Arian.
During the reign of his imperial greatness, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the valiant fighters of the Shah’s army of the second Shahinshah of the Pahlavi dynasty restored and put in place the statue of the second Shahinshah Shapur I from the Sasanid dynasty that had lain for more than 1000 years.
After 6 months of round-the-clock work, on February 15, 1958, at 5 o’clock in the afternoon, the statue was restored and returned to its place. To accomplish this task, 8 officers, 1 civilian, more than 200 sergeants, privates and engineers from Shiraz and Kazerun were involved . Directed directly by General Mohammad Togi Majidi. His corps also undertook the obligation to complete the construction of the highway from the Shapur River to the parking lot for cars, the construction of a mountain road from the parking lot for cars to the entrance to the cave, the construction of a staircase of 230 steps made of carved stone and iron railings, the construction stone buildings, and stairs inside the cave itself. All these works were performed by military personnel whose names are immortalized in this inscription. [9]
Notes
- ↑ معرفی غار شاپور کازرون
- ↑ غار شاپور
- ↑ غار شاپور
- ↑ همشهری آنلاین - آشنایی با غار شاپور - فارس
- ↑ غار شاپور اول ساسانی ، غار شاپور ، غار شاپور کازرون ، غار شاپور بیشاپور
- ↑ روزنامه اطلاعات مورخ پنجشنبه ۳ شهریور ۱۳۹۰ شماره ۲۵۱۱۲ بخش امروز در تاریخ
- ↑ غار شاپور اول ساسانی
- ↑ سایت جامع شهرستان کازرون unopened (inaccessible link) . Date of treatment February 25, 2017. Archived February 25, 2010.
- ↑ گزارش ستاد قرارگاه سپاه ۵ بهمن ماه ۱۳۳۶