Great Wall of Gorgan

The Great Wall of Gorgān ( Persian: Divar -e Bozorg-e/Pahnāvar-e Gorgān; Arabic: Sadd'i Iskandar ) is a border fortification in the region of Gorgan in north-eastern Iran. It is the oldest and longest wall in Iran and after the Great Wall of China is the second longest wall in Asia.

Location

The 200 km long and 6 to 10 meters wide wall is located in the lowlands of Gorgān ( Dasht -e Gorgān ) in the Iranian province of Golestan. It begins on the coast of the Caspian Sea, winds north of the city Gonbad -e Kavus, also extends to the northwest and disappears behind the mountains Pīshkamar (cow - sar -e Pīshkamar ). In the course, and close environment of the Wall is a series of forts that were built at a distance of 10 to 50 km. A British - Iranian research team found up to 30 such forts in September 2007.

History

The wall was (248 BC - 224 AD) during the Parthian dynasty built to ( among other things later Hephthalites ) protect Iran against the invasion of various northern tribes. During the Sassanid period ( 224-651 AD), the wall was restored in parts.

The archaeological studies on the wall began to 1976-1977 under the archaeologist Mohammad Yousef Kiani and continue until today. Since 2007, carried out investigations of a British -Iranian team (the ICHHTO (Iran 's Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts, and Tourism Organization) in collaboration with the University of Edinburgh and Durham University ).

Surnames

The wall is mentioned in various historical documents under different names, such as under Sadd -e Eskandar ( dt: Alexander's wall), Anushirvan Dam, Firuz Dam and Ghezel Arssalan Dam.