Chogha Zanbil

The ancient city of Dur Untash, located at the southwest of Susa, on the banks of Dez River, was founded by Untash Napirisha, around 1250 BC. Chogha Zanbil, a ziggurat dedicated to the great God, Inshushinak, was considered as the most important religious center of the Elamite kingdom. In addition, the palaces, the temples, the paved brick roads, and the water irrigation system of the city of Dur Untash (Assyrian), also known as Untash-Gal (Elamite), represented a sample of the advanced art, culture, and civilization of the Elamites.  However, the unused bricks found at the site show that the city remained unfinished after Untash Napirisha’s death.

This 100-acre city used to have three concentric ramparts: the outer wall enclosing a vast complex of residences, and the royal quarter, a second wall guarding the temple, and the third wall enclosing the ziggurat. At the northwest of the inner enclosure wall, there were three temples attributed to minor divinities Napirisha, Ishnikarab, and Kiririsha. The middle zone, named temenos by Ghirshman, consisted of four gates leading to the outer area, and accommodated several temples. The outer area forms the largest part of the city, including the residential quarter. Some 200 m northeast of the outer wall, there is another area close to the city gate which is recognized as the royal quarter, including three buildings and several courtyards. The remains of three royal palaces, the water reservoir, and a few temples are located in this part.

One of the striking features of the city is its water irrigation system which includes the oldest physical water treatment system in the world. Untush Napirshah ordered to build a 45-meter-long water canal to bring the water from the ancient river of Karkhe to the city of Dur Untash. Accordingly, the large water reservoir was installed outside the city wall and a small basin inside it. When the reservoir was filled up, the filtered water passed through nine water ways and filled the small basin inside the city.

In spite of the ravages of time, archeological excavations revealed footprints of humans and animals dating back to thousands of years ago. Also, several items were found such as: glass bars, nails, door leaves, pottery, mace, animal figurines, cylindrical seals and a chariot wheel. The glass bars found on the western gate were used to decorate the doors. Interestingly, this is the oldest use of glass in the world's architecture.

The Ziggurat

Being buried under heaps of dust, Chogha Zanbil ziggurat first came to the attention of one of the explorers of the Anglo-Iranian oil company in 1935. Then, the initial excavation was carried out by Roman Ghirshman from 1946 to 1962.

Located at the center of the city, Chogha Zanbil is the largest ziggurat built outside the Mesopotamia. This ziggurat was built during a time when Elamite civilization was at the peak of its cultural development, contemporaneous with the reign of the Elamite king, Untash Napirisha (1275-1240 BC). In that era, the ziggurat served as the religious center and the burial ground for the Elamites. 

The ziggurat of Chogha Zanbil was mainly made of mud brick; however, blue and green glazed bricks, plaster mortar, glass, and pottery were lavishly used for its decoration. The brick inscriptions are repeated in every eleventh row of baked bricks on the four sides of the ziggurat.

The early structure of the ziggurat used to be a four-sided structure consisting of a square open courtyard of 105 m, surrounded by rooms and fortified walls as long as 4 km. Four of these rooms were dedicated to the temple of Inshushinak. In another phase of construction, some mud-brick terraces and another temple attributed to Inshushinak were annexed to the main temple. Later on, at the reconstruction phase, a five-storey temple tower with a height of 52 meters was built. It is believed that the highest storey of the temple was dedicated to Inshushinak, as he was the guardian of Susa. Every floor started from the ground level, a characteristic unlike the style used in Mesopotamian, where ziggurats were built by placing stories successively one above another.

Nowadays, of the five stores, only two have stood the test of time. The first floor is 105 * 105 m and one meter higher than the ground level. The second floor is 8 meters high and 16 meters wide. There used to be four doors in the middle of each side, decorated with a pair of guardian animals, like winged griffins and bulls. Of these four entrances, only the southwestern door gave access to the highest floor.       

Three small circular brick buildings were built on three sides of the Ziggurat. The one on the northwest has remained undamaged and during the excavations of the site, it served as a model for the French archeologists based on which another circular structure on the southwest of the ziggurat was renovated. These three structures used to function as the sundial by showing the sunset, sunrise and the beginning of each season.