Product Code Database
Arrajan ( Argan) was a medieval Persian city located between Fars province and Khuzestan, which was settled since the civilisation of Elam in the second millennium BCE, and was important from the Sasanian Empire until the 11th century as the capital of a province of the same name that corresponds to present-day Behbahan in Khuzestan province, Iran.
The city was refounded by the Sasanian emperor Kavad I and continued to develop in the Islamic period. Having fertile soil and supplies of water and integrated into a major road system, this small province flourished and reached its peak in the 10th century. It declined by the 11th century as a result of an earthquake and military conflicts.
Arjan, or Argan/Arigan is the ancient name of Behbahan, which belongs to the Elamite / Khuzi period, in Iran.
In 1982 there was a big discovery in the ruins of the ancient Arjan: a bronze coffin was discovered containing ancient artifacts.
The remains of the city ruins are located on both sides of the Maroon River, a site of about 500 hectares.
Kavadh allegedly renamed the city as Weh-az-Amid Kavād (; literally "Better than Amida, Kavadh built") or Bih-az-Āmid-i Kavād (). This name is Arabic in medieval Islamic sources (including coins) as Wāmqubādh (وامقباذ), Bizāmqubādh (بزامقباذ), Rām-Qubādh (رامقباذ), Birām-Qubādh (برامقباذ), and Āmid-Qubādh (آمدقباذ). It is also erroneously recorded as Abar-Qubādh (أبرقباذ) and Abaz-Qubādh (أبزقباذ) in Arabic sources. The more common name Arrajān comes from an older town that was populated before the foundation of this new one. The name of Arrajan ( Argān) can be found on a Sasanian clay bulla.A. Shapur Shahbazi, Erich Kettenhofen, John R. Perry, "Deportations", Encyclopædia Iranica, VII/3, pp. 297-312 (accessed on 30 December 2012). The Pahlavi scripts abbreviation WHYC found on Sasanian coinage and Arab-Sasanian coins is considered by some to refer to Arrajan. However, it is more likely that the abbreviation refers to two places; it refers to Arrajan in the coins of Kavad I, and refers to a place in al-Mada'in in later coins; because it is unlikely that a small settlement continued to mint coins for all of these kings. (2025). 9781854441737, Ashmolean Museum. ISBN 9781854441737
Other Sasanian cities located in the Arrajan province and recorded by Islamic sources include:
There are remains of Sasanian buildings in Pataveh (a bridge over Khersan river) and Chahartaqi of Kheyrabad.
Medieval Islamic sources provide details about the city in that period, depicting it as a large and beautiful city. It featured six gates, an administrative building, and a citadel. The Great Mosque was located roughly at the city's center, and the bazaar was located nearby. Ashlar was used in the construction of the buildings. The houses featured cool apartments below ground level, as the city featured a "hot but tolerable" climate. There were subterranean canals supplying water to all houses in the town. Two bridges were constructed across the Kordestan river (Tāb طاب) nearby.
Islamic sources mention 47 place names and/or districts located in the Arrajan province, including Jūma (جومة) (capital of the Bilad-Shabur بلاد district), Junbadh-Mallaghān (جنبذ ملغان), and Mahruban (مهروبان).
As a province, Arrajan, which is recorded as Kūra Qubāḏ-kurra or Kūra Qubāḏ in New Persian, was situated in an important position; it was integrated into a road system that connected Mesopotamia, Susa, Shiraz, Isfahan, and the ports of Mahruban and Basra at Persian Gulf to each other.
Arrajan's economy was based on agricultural production and trade with India, the Far East, and Iraq through the ports of Jannāba, Sīnīz, and Mahrūbān. Exporting goods included various cloths, dates, date syrup, grapes, grape syrup, olives, olive oil, soap, , Maize, nuts, oranges, and lemons.
In 1085, Arrajan was destroyed by an earthquake and never recovered; the new settlement, Behbahan, later arose nearby.
The activities of the Nizari Ismailis in the region, who launched raids from the nearby strongholds of Qal'at al-Jiss (قلعة الجص), Qal'at Halādhān (Dez Kelāt, دز کلات), and Qal'at al-Nazir (قلعة الناظر) further harmed Arrajan and Juma. They eventually captured Arrajan, but were eventually repulsed during Muhammad Tapar's anti-Nizari campaign.
As the Arrajan city declines, the province name "Arrajan" also disappears. Mahrūbān later became the most important center of the maritime trade, marginalizing Jannāba.
Drawings on the tray include five circles, and in its center a sixteen-pointed flower (similar to a sunflower or a type of chrysanthemum). This flower symbolizes the sun and the spinning wheel or wheel of destiny. A row of lions, cattle, and birds are associated with various rituals. Seven circles or rings represent the number seven, which is sacred in Judaism and many other religions. The origin of this sanctity is not clear, but like many symbols of famous religions it has a history in ancient primitive religions.
The logo of the Iranian 2020 Olympic teams was the Arjan tray.
Elamite bowl selected symbol for Iran Olympic. [2]
The Arjan bowl
In 1982, the remains of a tomb belonging to the second millennium BC were discovered near the Arjan ancient site, which opened a new chapter in local archeology. The tomb contained a large bronze coffin, a golden ring, ninety-eight golden buttons, ten cylindrical vessels, a dagger, a silver bar, and a bronze tray with various images. This is called the Arjan bowl or Hotran Korlosh, and is more than three thousand years old.
Categories: Elamite Cities, Behbahan County, Sasanian Cities, Martyropolis, Populated Places Established In The 6th Century, Populated Places Disestablished In The 11th Century, 11th-century Disestablishments In Asia, Anastasian War, 6th-century Establishments In Asia, Roman–iranian Relations, Kavad I
|
|
