نشریه پیام باستان شناس
پیاپی 8 (پاییز و زمستان 1386)

During the third millennium (B.C) Shahr-i Sokhta was located between commercial courses and connected cultures and eastern ancient precincts like Baluchistan, Pakistan, and in the west, it did so to Shahdad, central Asia ancient civilization in the north and southern precincts like Khoorab, Damin and Bampoor.Meanwhile, because of the strategic position of this city (Shahr-i Sokhta), which was both geographical and commercial, and its environmental conditions, many people immigrated to this country and so there appeared many social classes that were simultaneously under the obligation of the central government.They had some special regional beliefs. These factors contributed to many common things in this precinct.In this survey, we will take into account the common beliefs of these precincts in view of the architecture of tombs and burial paces.According to surveys that were done in southeast precinct cemeteries of Iran, and according to the structure and materials applied to them, we could classify these tombs into their main groups:Cavity like catacomb and mud-brick, each have different subdivisions.We could also classify their deceased burial paces:1- Bury the dead on the right side,2- Bury the dead on the left side,3- Bury it in supine form with legs bent.

In the early third millennium, the central Zagros region faced major cultural changes, which revealed the advent of a new culture. Archaeological studies show this culture that covered vast areas of the west and northwest of Iran originated from the Kura Araxes Caucuses. This study tries, based on archaeological surveys, to display Bronze Age settlements in this region.

The bas-reliefs are one of the most important materials of archaeologists and experts of art. The bas-reliefs with historical occurrences thematic are at the peak of position in Archaeology. One of the most important ones is the Parthian Sar-e pol-e Zahab bas-relief. This bas-relief is well-known 150 years ago through different research. I first study the former opinions and finally perform the results of my studies.

Damghan is a city in Semnan Province, Iran, 342 kilometers from Tehran and it is limited from north to Mazandaran & Golestan province, from east to Shahroud city, from south to Esfahan province, and from west to Semnan province. One of the important historical places in this city is Tari-khaneh Mosque is in fact the oldest mosque in Iran belonging to the 1st century after the arrival of Islam which still preserves its original shape. Tari-khaneh and Fahraj Mosque in Iazd-Kerman are the only mosques in the Islamic World that resemble the Medina Mosque. This mosque was built during the 8th century AD by imitating Roman, Iranian, and Arabic architecture. This is an Arabic design but the building material and architecture is Sassanid. This leads us to believe that originally, it had been a fire temple during the Sassanid period, and later the mosque was built over its ruins. One column resembling Sassanian architecture at the eastern wing is proof of this assertion. Tarikhaneh Mosque is equipped with a square yard and a gallery with 34 columns facing the Qiblah and porticos surround the three sides of the yard. The minaret rising over the mosque is said to belong to Seljuk’s period. The prefix "Tari", a Turkish term, means God, and "khaneh" means house so the word means the house of God. In this article, Tari-khaneh is studied for its uniqueness from single applied materials.

One of the most important architectural decorative elements of the Ilkhanid period is the stucco decoration. Samples of this decoration could be seen in most of the Ilkhanid structures. The Ilkhanid period in comparison with the other periods, has great importance due to the use of stucco decoration. The Ilkhanid hunting palace at Takht-i Sulaiman is one of the oldest structures of the Ilkhanid period and the only remaining kind of pleasure palace in this period. Among the decorations of the Ilkhanid hunting palaces at Takht-i Sulaiman, there are stamp stucco, stucco relief, and muqarnas which could be seen in the other remaining buildings of the Ilkhanid period, too. Therefore, there is a lot of importance in surveying the stucco decoration of this building carefully, to study the other Ilkhanid buildings and their decoration. To the author's knowledge, there is a lack of reported research about the stucco decoration of Takht-i Sulaiman. This paper meanwhile describes the different theories about the muqarnas used at Takht-i Sulaiman, the stucco decoration of this building, and the impact of the stucco in previous periods on the stucco decoration of the Ilkhanid period at Takht-i Sulaiman will be studied.