View source for Bishapur

{{Short description|Ancient city active during the Sassanid Empire}}
{{distinguish|Nishapur}}
{{Expand French|Bishapour|topic=geo|date=September 2013}}
{{Infobox ancient site
| name = Bishapur
| native_name = in Persian: بیشاپور
| alternate_name = Bishâpûr
| image = Bishapur (Iran) Sassanid Period 2.jpg
| alt = 
| caption = The ruins of Bishapur
| map_type = Iran
| map_alt = 
| map_size = 
| coordinates = {{coord|29|46|40|N|51|34|15|E|display=inline,title}}
| location = [[Kazerun]], [[Fars province]], [[Iran]]
| region = 
| type = Settlement
| part_of = 
| length = 
| width = 
| area = 
| height = 
| builder = [[Shapur I]]
| material = 
| built = 226 AD
| abandoned = 
| epochs = <!-- actually displays as "Periods" -->
| cultures = Persian (Sasanian era)
| dependency_of = 
| occupants = 
| event = 
| excavations = 
| archaeologists = 
| condition = 
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| public_access = 
| website = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} -->
| notes = 
| embedded = {{Infobox UNESCO World Heritage Site
 |child    = yes
 |Part_of  = [[Sassanid Archaeological Landscape of Fars Region]]
 |ID       = 1568-006
 |Year     = 2018
 |Criteria = Cultural: ii, iii, v
 }}
}}
'''Bishapur''' ([[Middle Persian]]: ''Bay-Šāpūr''; {{langx|fa|بیشاپور|}}, ''Bishâpûr'') was an ancient city in [[Sasanian Empire|Sasanid Persia]] ([[Iran]]) on the ancient road between [[Persis]] and [[Elam]]. The road linked the [[Sassanid]] capitals [[Istakhr|Estakhr]] (very close to [[Persepolis]]) and [[Ctesiphon]]. It is located south of modern Faliyan in the [[Kazerun County]] of [[Fars 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 relief]]s.

== History ==
[[File:Bishapour palais Shapur.jpg|thumb|left|Ruins of Shapour Palace in Bishapur]]The name ''Bishapur'' derives from ''Bay-Šāpūr'', which means ''Lord Shapur''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/bisapur-town|title = Welcome to Encyclopaedia Iranica}}</ref>[needs verification]

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 (emperor)|Valerian]] and forced [[Philip the Arab]] to surrender. The city was not a completely new settlement: archaeologists have found remains from the [[Parthian Empire|Parthian]] and [[Elam|Elamite]] eras. 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 [[Ancient Roman architecture#City design|Roman city design]]. This design was never repeated in the [[architecture of Iran]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Salma |first1=K. Jayyusi|last2=Holod|first2=Renata|last3=Petruccioli|first3=Attilio|last4=André|first4=Raymond|title=The City in the Islamic World|date=2008|publisher=Brill|location=Leiden|isbn=9789004162402|page=174}}</ref>

==Excavations and research==
[[File:Bishapur by Eugène Flandin.jpg|thumb|Bishapur in 1840; a painting by [[Eugène Flandin]] in the book "Travel in Persia" (''Voyage en Perse'')]]
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.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Herrmann |first1=Georgia |title=Sasanian rock reliefs at Bishapur. part 1, Bishapur III Triumph attributed to Shapur I |date=1980 |publisher=Deitrich Reimer Verlag |location=Berlin |isbn=9783496001317 |url=https://search.worldcat.org/title/59815517 |access-date=23 June 2024}}</ref>

== Decoration ==
{{Main|Temple of Anahita, Istakhr}}
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|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.<gallery widths="160" heights="140">
File:Mosaic01.jpg|alt=|Persian-Roman floor mosaic detail from the palace of [[Shapur I]] at Bishapur. Presently housed in the [[National Museum of Iran]]
File:Bishapur zan, AO 26169.jpg|alt=|Sasanian era floor pavement marble mosaic excavated by Roman Ghirshman, c. 1939–1941. Presently housed in the [[Louvre]]
File:Bishapour jarres.jpg|alt=|Jars discovered in Bishapur
</gallery>

==See also==
{{div col|colwidth=80em}}
* [[Academy of Gundishapur]]
* [[Shapur cave]]
* [[Roman architecture]]
* [[Roman art]]
* [[Byzantine art]]

{{div col end}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Bishapur}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20121214044246/http://www.photoparsi.com/5/493-lack-of-consideratio-to-bishapur Bishapur]; Photos
* ''Bishapur'', Photos from Iran, [https://www.livius.org/be-bm/bishapur/bishapur.html ''Livius''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161110020054/http://www.livius.org/be-bm/bishapur/bishapur.html |date=2016-11-10 }}.
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxM94DNz6MI City of Bishapur] (Video)
{{Iranian Architecture}}
{{Fars Province}}

[[Category:Buildings and structures completed in the 3rd century]]
[[Category:Architecture in Iran]]
[[Category:Roman Empire art]]
[[Category:Sasanian cities]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Fars province]]
[[Category:Former populated places in Iran]]
[[Category:Kazerun County]]
[[Category:Geography of Fars province]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Fars province]]
[[Category:Stone buildings]]
[[Category:Shapur I]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures on the Iran National Heritage List]]