Taq-e Kisra

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Taq-e Kisra in 1932
Ruins of Ctesiphon on a 1923 Iraqi postage stamp
Plant in 1864
Plant, 1824 (the northern brick facade was still standing here)
Map of Ctesiphon showing the changes in the course of the Tigris river over the past centuries

The Taq-e Kisra (often written: Taq-i-Kisra and Taq Kasra , translated: Arch of Chosrau , sometimes also called Arch of Ctesiphon ), ( Persian طاق كسرى) Ṭāq-e Kesrā or ( Persian إيوان كسرى) Ayvān-e Kesrā , is a Sassanid palace ruin in Mahuza , which forms the only aboveground remnant of the city of Ctesiphon in modern-day Iraq . The ruin is about 35 kilometers southeast of Baghdad .

history

The palace is said to have been built during the reign of the important Sassanid ruler Chosrau I (531 to 579). However, this widespread thesis is not universally recognized; the palace is sometimes attributed to Shapur I , the second Sassanid ruler (240 to 272), based on later literary sources . Under this, Ctesiphon had already been the main residence of the Sassanid Empire. Most scholars assume, however, that Chosrau I, after decisively defeating the White Huns around 560 and making peace with Ostrom , had his palace expanded, which included the Taq-e Kisra archway . Of what was once the largest Sassanid residence, only a small part is left today, along with the archway.

In 637 the complex was captured and looted by the Arabs as part of the Arab-Islamic expansion . The palace was temporarily used as a mosque.

In 1888 a third of the ruins fell victim to a flood of the Tigris . In 1909 further floods of the river tore away the north wing. Saddam Hussein began restoring the north wing from 1975 until the 1980s. After the second Gulf War , the project was discontinued.

architecture

The entire complex was characterized by a right-angled courtyard, around which four building wings were grouped. The more than 24.5 m wide and 33 m high brick vault covered the 48 m long throne room in which the Sassanid princes , dressed in brocade and silk , gave audiences . The construction is parabolic , which is why the archway looks particularly large. Near the bottom, the arch is seven meters thick and one meter at the top. According to a Mesopotamian technique , the bricks close to the ground were installed horizontally and those in the vault upright. Experts from the Eastern Roman emperor Justinian helped with the construction. Scaffolding was not used despite the height. Roman-Byzantine marble reliefs and mosaics showing the conquest of Antioch were incorporated into the vaulted hall . Further insignia of power were a 27 x 27 meter carpet ( Bahār-e Kisra ) at the feet of the Sassanid emperor and a magnificent, huge crown that hung from the ceiling of the arch (attached to a gold chain). The huge Ivan was framed on both sides by six-story brick façades with architraves , although it is unclear whether these have Roman or Hellenistic echoes. The facades were adorned with decorative arches and columns . The other rooms of the palace were hidden behind them. The archway is the largest surviving ivan from pre-Islamic times. The ideal that living rooms were grouped together and draped around a fortified inner courtyard became an integral part of Iranian architecture and is also reflected in this property. The ashlar construction method has been increasingly replaced since the 4th century by finer processing of the brick and its construction with gypsum mortar . In addition, stucco ornaments were increasingly used.

"Spring of Chosrau"

According to later sources, there was once a garden carpet in the palace with checkerboard-like field patterns measuring 27 x 27 meters. His name was Bahār-e Kisra . The carpet depicted flower beds, fruit trees, paths and water channels and at the crossroads, pavilions. It was interwoven with precious metals. The branches of the trees were represented in gold and silver, flowers and fruit were represented by precious stones, and watercourses by crystal glass. In honor of the Sassanid King, who is still legendary in the Orient, the vernacular in Iran speaks of the carpet as the "Spring of Chosrau" or "Baharestan".

literature

  • André Godard : The Art of Iran . Translated by Michael Heron. Allen and Unwin, London 1965.
  • Ernst Herzfeld : Damascus: Studies in Architecture - II. In: Ars Islamica 10 (1943), pp. 59–61.
  • Oscar Reuther : Sasanian Architecture. In: A Survey of Persian Art from Prehistoric Times to the Present . Edited by Arthur U. Pope / Phyllis Ackerman. Oxford University Press, London / New York 1964, pp. 515-517, 543-544.
  • Chris Scarre : The 70 Wonders of the World, The Most Mysterious Buildings of Mankind and How They Were Built , 3rd Edition, 2006, Frederking & Thaler, ISBN 3-89405-524-3 .
  • Hakan Baykal, From Persian Empire to Iran, 3000 Years of Culture and History, Konrad Theiss Verlag Stuttgart, 2007, ISBN 978-3-8062-2035-3 .

Web links

Commons : Taq-i Kisra  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ^ Taq Kasra Online
  2. ↑ Entry in the EIr
  3. ↑ a b Julian Reade, in: Chris Scarre (Ed.): The Seventy Wonders of the ancient world. The Great Monuments and how they were built . Thames & Hudson, London 1999, pp. 185-186, ISBN 0-500-05096-1 .
  4. ^ "Although it is not clear which of the Sasanian kings built this palace, two hypotheses exist. Highlighting the classical motifs used in the facade, Oscar Reuther argues for a late antique date. Herzfeld , believing that Western methodology cannot be adopted to date buildings of the East, uses historical sources to date the construction. Herzfeld points to a passage from a Sasanian Chronicle, Khudhay-Nama, translated by the great Persian translator Ibn Muqaffa (721-757 / 9) in which the ruins of the Taq-i Kisra have been attributed to the reign of Shapur I (241 -72), the second Sasanian King. Although the destruction of the palace is blamed on different individuals by various sources, Abbasid caliph Al-Mansur (754-775) is most commonly mentioned for its ruin " (Denis Wright: Persien. Zürich / Freiburg i. B. 1970, p. 75).
  5. ↑ Digital Library, Taq-i Kisra ( Memento of the original from August 5, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / archnet.org
  6. ↑ Peter Kerber, Iran: Islamic State with a culture that is thousands of years old
  7. ↑ Chris Scarre, The Arch of Ctesiphon - No. 42 (see LIT.)
  8. ↑ Mahmoud Rashad, Iran: History, Culture and Traditions: Ancient Sites and Islamic Art in Persia
  9. ^ History of Humanity: From the seventh century BC to the seventh century AD
  10. ↑ Hakan Baykal, s. Lit. (p. 62)
  11. ↑ Carpet legend (field pattern carpet) in Taq-e Kisra ( Memento from May 1, 2013 in the Internet Archive )

Coordinates: 33 ° 5 ′ 37.4 ″  N , 44 ° 34 ′ 51.6 ″  E