PERSIA the ANCIENT IRAN



( ÊÎÊ ÓáíãÇä ) The archaeological site of Takht-e- Soleyman (the Throne of Solomon) is considered to be one of the most ancient sites, located in North Western Iran. The ruins of Takht-e- Soleyman lie in a broad and remote mountain valley between cities of Zanjan and Tekab. The site includes the principal Zoroastrian sanctuary partly rebuilt in the Ilkhanid (Mongol) period (13th century) as well as a temple of the Sassanid period dedicated to Anahita.There is a lake with floor springs in the region.
Sassanid built massive stone walls and thirty-eight towers around the lake by the third century A. D. After their coronation at Ctesiphon near present-day Baghdad, Sassanid kings journeyed there on foot to receive the divine investiture at the sanctuary of the eternal flame which left no ashes and from which all other sacred fires were ignited.

Zendan -e- Soleyman (Salmon's Prison)is the name of a volcanic conical void core mount, located 3km away from Takht -e- Soleyman. It is a 97 to 107m tall mount with a huge hole on top, with 65m span and around 80m depth. The hole was full of water, fed by floor springs and after an earth quake begins to dry, centuries ago. Remnants of a pre-historic and a Median temple are explored in the region.

On July 3, 2003 Twenty- four sites were inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List; one of these sites was Takht- e- Soleyman.