behruz omrani

The Nasriya complex (build up in 1478), also known as the Sultan Hassan Grand Mosque and the Mosque-Madrasa of Hassan Padshah, were destroyed due to earthquake in 1780, along with most of the historical monuments in Tabriz. Over archaeological speculations, two pieces of blue and white porcelain were discovered in this complex in 2006. As Tabriz was considered as an important commercial center in the Silk Road with respect to geographic position and plays a main role in extending relationships with Far East (East Asia), especially China, Chinese blue and white dishes were regarded as one of Chinese goods which were demanded by Iran and Tabriz. Therefore the authenticity and origin of two discovered potteries with respect to historic period and construction area were regarded as the main questions in the present study. In this regard, research on the samples carried out by using experimental methods such as thermo-luminescence dating (TLD), scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM/EDS) and petrography as well as comparing the motifs and symbols of these potteries with Chinese ones. The results indicated that the potteries under study belong to the late Safavid government (1640-1648). Based on petrography and elemental analysis of the samples to compare the Zonous Kaolinite located in the northwest of Tabriz indicated that the soil of this area was probably used to construct these potteries. Further, the glaze of these samples was under color and alkaline and their blue pigment involved cobalt and iron, while bright blue consisted of chromium, cobalt, and iron. Due to high percentage of iron and low percentage of aluminum in these pigments, the blue ink of these samples was related to cobalt silicate which was inconsistent with Chinese potteries in which cobalt aluminate leads to blue color. The shape of the mark which was drawn on the exterior of these potteries is the type of “character marks” drawn by the potters of Safavid era on the products of their workshop. The motif related to the pottery having the mark is blue and grey plant, animal, and geometric with high delicacy, while that of other pottery is dark and bright blue human motifs (narrative) with lower delicacy. These potteries were probably constructed in Safavid era and probably created in Tabriz. Studying further samples and comparing with control ones can help conclusive results.

Northwest Iran, on the one hand, is linked to the regions of the Transcaucasus, Anatolia and Mesopotamia, and on the other hand has links with Central Plate and East Central Zagros. Therefore, this region is always the center of the intersection of different ethnic groups with different ethnic and cultural structures.In the 4th millennium BC and the early 3rd millennium BC, with the complexity of economic and social relations between societies, we face a different form of economic, political and cultural interactions in the Mesopotamia, Anatolia, the Caucasus and the Iranian plateau. At that time, along with the formation of the Uruk culture and the expansion of the influence of Mesopotamian communities in its main climbs, there were Transcaucasian cultures fluctuations in the highlands and mountainous areas of the north and east of the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates of the . At the same time, in the Uremia Lake basin, a cultural gap is between Hasanlu VIII / the late Chalcolitic period / Pisdeli (in horizon with Obaid and the early Uruk in Mesopotamia) and Hasanlu VII / the early Bronze Age (simultaneously with the culture of kura Arax II-III in the north of the Urmia lake, the culture of painted orange pottery/ POW is observed in the south of the Urmia Basin and the early dynasties and the Akad in Mesopotamia). Therefore, the transfer from Hasanlu VIII to Hasanlu VII is an important discussion in the prehistory of the region. On the other hand, according to relations Uruk culture, Kura Arax and orange painted pottery culture In some cases, the study of cultural distribution and interactions is important in this period. The importance of this research is for Not only for study the cultural relations of this people in the prehistory of this region, but also affects the status of the region in the cultural-economic exchanges between the Iranian plateau and the Caucasus and Mesopotamia

By selecting Northwest Iran as the early capital of Ilkhanid dynasty, Mongol rulers had governed this area for about one century which would have been the official route of administration and communication between Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, Northeast China, and Iran. The existence of three unknown rock-cut archetypes in Maraghe (new capital) and its surroundings are among the most controversial subjects for historians and archaeologists. Although the period between 1256 and 1335 is seen as a period of cultural interventions from Mongolia and Inner Mongolia into the Northwest Iran, the architectural influences during Mongol's dominion has been less considered by the scholars. In this way, recent archaeological developments related to this region are beginning to shed new lights on recognition the architectonic appearance and the application of these unique underground architectures in Northwest Iran. Considering comparative studies besides analytical expository of architectural evidences from Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Northeast China, this project is aimed at standardizing the identity of unknown rock-cut structures in Northwest Iran. According to the results, the combination of a corridor leading to one or more chambers is not entirely random in Northwest Iran but also shares an exact assimilation of those in Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Northeast China.

Around the controversial subject of Seljuq architecture in Iran, the dominion of such a style in Islamic architecture, not only following the stereotype of "Razi Style"; which was proposed by Prinya, but also includes various irrelevant architectural axis. Further, considering various schools in Islamic architecture like Khurasani, Razi, Azari, and Isfahani, does not match the existence architectural specimens. Although in his book titled “The Architecture of Islamic Iran: The Seljuk Period”, G. Hatam, tried to develop a new attitude towards Seljuk architecture in Iran, his conclusion was a reflection of previous studies in another language, focusing on describing plans and decorations; while, the architectural revolutions of structural developments were not considered. On the other hand, Hillenbrand’s classification of tower tombs and dome chamber do not suffice to clarify tangible boundaries between different regions of Iran. By analyzing architectural revolutions of Iran after Arab invaders, it can be concluded that the political stability was one of the main factors of Seljuq dominion in which for the first time after Sassanid extinction, art and architecture had reached to considerable success. Although Seljuq architecture in Iran has been assumed as a follower of Sassanid architecture style, but the formation of Seljuq dynasty in Northeast Iran territories, the gradual transition of monarchy to west and the selection of Isfahan, as the last powerful capital of Iran during 5th and 6th centuries caused distinguish architectural movements in various parts of Iran which clarifying distinctive feature of that has always been underestimated. According to the historical context, Seljuks were the first dynasty which had expanded their boundaries through Minor Asia and Anatolia for the first time. Hence, by the first half of 11th century, an unprecedented wave of Turkic groups turned to the Northwestern Iran near the Byzantine borders. In other words, the domination of Byzantine world and conquering Anatolians were not possible without having this point of Iran. It's not exaggeration if we consider here (Azerbaijan) as the collection of tombs; since, here is the frontier of Sunnis Muslim to meet the non-Muslim region Anatolia, where conflicts were in its peak. Hence, Azerbaijan was the garrison of Muslims and the presence of memorial buildings was for commemorating the ones killed in “Jihad” (The Holy War) to motivate the others to get involved in the war. So, a building as a mausoleum must be the best reflection of this desire. In this way, the distribution of tombs is considerably prominent from Northeast to the Northwest of Iran. If we titled the Northeast-Northwest axis as the axis of “Military Affairs” of Seljuk court with its powerful architecture focused on the tombs, central Iran would be the “political-religious” axis of Seljuk. Undoubtedly, the high security level of central Iran and the position of populated political cities like Isfahan, the construction of mosques, especially dome chamber shaped the framework of religious architecture there. According to the results, authors have proposed two distinguishable axes for the structure of the domes during Seljuk era. One starts from the most northeastern point of Iran and ends to the most northwestern point of Iran. Emphasizing on double layer domes with conical and pyramid shape and pointed domes in the structures like Lajim Tower, Resget Tower, Chehel Dokhtaran Tower, Radkan Tower in northeastern Iran and Mumina Khatun, Yusif-ibn-Gosair and Gonbad-e-Surkh in northwestern Iran. the outer layer of the latter has reached its maximum height to preserve the structure against its pulverous climate, guarantying the stability of the structure by channeling the forces in a more vertical angle. This axis is in connection with the other one where it starts from Kharragan’s towers and continues its direction to the central Iran in the structures. The character of this axis mainly includes double shield pointed domes whose interval is not considerable compared with the northeast-northwest axis. one important fact about northwestern Iran′s Seljuk structure is the technique of strengthening the join point where two walls meet. Taking the advantages of circular buttresses where tension could damage the whole structure gives one important character to these buildings i.e. the possibility of higher structures by decreasing the width of the wall. Considering climatic variations, technical characteristics of different areas as well as the architectural necessities depended on social-political conditions, two different axis including Northeast-Northwest axis with the centrality of Tomb and the central axis which is the “political-religious” axis of Seljuk's emphasizing on dome chamber, would deform the stereotype of "Razi Architectural style" in Iran. From this point of view, spotlighting the architectural technology of Tombs and dome chamber during Seljuk period in Iran would reviews the unity of Seljuk architecture and shed new lights towards Iranian architecture. Since there has been no critical review about what is known as "The Iranian Stylistics of Architecture" which is proposed half a century before by Pirniya, this project would be the pioneer in this filed.

Considering the architectural remnants of the so-called structure of Ali-Shah in Tabriz as the last sequence of large-scale buildings during the Ilkhanid era in which it’s approximate 29-meter span had held the largest and the highest ever made arch in the Islamic World, proposing controversial technical bugs parallel to the violation of theoretical possibilities towards erecting such an arch would be the opposite point of more than half a century’s studies of historic architecture, archaeological investigation as well as historic documents in relation to the location of the Great Ali-Shah Mosque. With this pre-assumption that the U-shape structure including roughly 11 meter thickness for its walls had been considered to create a brick arch of a huge architectural project; clarifying the statically limitations of the mentioned building in terms of stability, durability, vulnerability and the impossibility of creating any kind of arch and vault in mentioned span would shed new lights towards the  interpretation of historical contexts and its connections with the Ilkhanid structure appeared in the sources.
After responding to question of statically feasibility of any kind of arch made by traditional masonry in so-called Ali-Shah Ark, besides statically analyses with no attention to historic reports and events, this project is aimed to play a vital role in reviewing the historic chronologies of Ali-Shah Mosque. According to the results, tensions result of loading due to any kind of arch would exceed the mechanical potentials of structure and will cause grossly deformation of vertical units under any condition. From this point of view, there has been no covering of arch either of vaults in this building anytime. In other words, there has been no relation between what is marked as Ali-Shah Mosque including the world’s largest brick arch, and what is known as today’s remnants of the so-called Ali-Shah Ark.

Stable isotope analysis, being used in many research areas, has also been applied in archaeology during the last three decades to address questions regarding the paleoclimatology and ancient diet, mobility and migration. Despite the growing number of the application of stable isotope analysis in archaeological studies, there is a very few research in this regard in archaeology of Iran. This research aims to study the human skeleton remains of Iron Age site of Masjed Kabud in Tabriz, using strontium stable isotope analysis. Therefore, tooth and bone samples obtained from skeletons of the mentioned site where studied through strontium isotope ratio (87Sr/86Sr) and trace element analysis Sr/Ca and Ba/Ca to address the question if the skeletons are local or non-local. Result of 87Sr/86Sr revealed that all samples could be considered as local except of 81-8 burial, which belongs to a female individual, as it was out of the local range (local mean ± 2 SD). The result of trace element analysis and measuring the Sr/Ca and Ba/Ca were analyzed statistically suing independent test sample. Results for both sample groups (Sr/Ca and Ba/Ca between teeth and bones) demonstrate that there is no significant difference between the two sample groups. Therefore skeletons could be considered as local. This research in addition to addressing the hypothesis, mentioned above, revealed that the method could be applied in similar research projects and the result of strontium isotope and trace element analysis could be also sued in different studies such as archaeology, geology and other interdisciplinary scientific areas.