Bishapur

You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in French. (September 2013) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the French article. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing French Wikipedia article at [[:fr:Bishapour]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template {{Translated|fr|Bishapour}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Bishapur

in Persian: بیشاپور
The ruins of Bishapur
Shown within Iran
Alternative name	Bishâpûr
Location	Kazerun, Fars province, Iran
Coordinates	29°46′40″N 51°34′15″E / 29.77778°N 51.57083°E / 29.77778; 51.57083
Type	Settlement
History
Builder	Shapur I
Founded	226 AD
Cultures	Persian (Sasanian era)

Bishapur (Middle Persian: Bay-Šāpūr; Persian: بیشاپور, Bishâpûr) was an ancient city in Sasanid Persia (Iran) on the ancient road between Persis and Elam. The road linked the Sassanid capitals Estakhr (very close to Persepolis) and Ctesiphon. It is located south of modern Faliyan in the Kazerun County of Pars Province, Iran. Bishapur was built near a river crossing and at the same site there is also a fort with rock-cut reservoirs and a river valley with six Sassanid rock reliefs.

The name Bishapur derives from Bay-Šāpūr, which means Lord Shapur.^[1]

According to an inscription, the city itself was founded in 266 AD by Shapur I (241–272), who was the second Sassanid king and inflicted a triple defeat on the Romans, having killed Gordian III, captured Valerian and forced Philip the Arab to surrender. The city was not a completely new settlement: archaeologists have found remains from the Parthian and Elamite ages. The city remained important until the Arab conquest of Persia the rise of Islam in the second quarter of the 7th century AD.

The city has a rectangular plan with a grid pattern of regular intra urban streets, resembling Roman city design. This design was never repeated in the architecture of Iran.^[2]

The site was cleared by the Russian-French archaeologist Roman Ghirshman in the 1930s. The British archaeologist Georgina Herrmann has also written a book about the Sasanian rock reliefs in Bishapur which was published in 1980.^[3]

The main part of the excavations took place in the royal sector, in the east of the city. A water temple, interpreted as an Anahita temple, was erected near the palace.

The floor was paved with black marble slabs, with a mosaic border. At the top of each alcove there was a picture of women naked under their transparent veils: courtesans, musicians, dancers, women twisting garlands, together with a few richly attired noble ladies.

• 
  Persian-Roman floor mosaic detail from the palace of Shapur I at Bishapur. Presently housed in the National Museum of Iran
• 
  Sasanian era floor pavement marble mosaic excavated by Roman Ghirshman, c. 1939–1941. Presently housed in the Louvre
• 
  Jars discovered in Bishapur

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bishapur.

• Bishapur; Photos
• Bishapur, Photos from Iran, Livius Archived 2016-11-10 at the Wayback Machine.
• City of Bishapur (Video)