Seljuk era palace discovered in northern Iran
“During the excavations of the area surrounding the Resket Tower, we became curious about a mound below the tower. Unlike the other nearby hills, there was not much grass or very many plants growing on the mound, and its height and depth gave some indication that an architectural site was buried under the mound,” team director Mehdi Abedini told the Persian service of CHN on Saturday.
“The team began excavating the mound and found the remains of stone walls constructed and covered with a thick layer of gypsum. Afterwards, we found a way to the interior sections, where we saw frescoes bearing plant motifs and geometrical shapes. The frescoes have been painted using the colors yellow, red, and green,” he explained.
Only two 50-centimeter exterior walls remain from the 14x14-meter palace, the interior walls of which were constructed with mud brick.
“We have found Kufic inscriptions, indicating that the palace dates back to the Seljuk era (11th century CE). However, the frescoes bear traces of Sassanid era art,” Abedini said.
“Such beautiful frescoes have never been seen in any of Mazandaran’s private or public monuments. In addition, the inscriptions written in floriated Kufic indicate that the architectural ruins were a palace,” he added.
Historical texts on Tabaristan (modern Mazandaran) state that the region was devastated by earthquakes several times during the 11th and 12th centuries. The archaeologists say that the palace was destroyed in the first jolt and the later earthquakes increased the damage.
Resket Tower was constructed in the 11th century during the reign of the Zeyarid dynasty (927-c. 1090), which was supported by the Seljuks. The archaeological team believes that the palace was built in this era.
The tower is a brick cylindrical structure with a dome. The area between the dome and the main part of the tower is decorated with painted arches. It has two brick epigraphs, one in Sassanid Pahlavi script and the other in Kufic script.