Band-e Firuzabad (Ardashir Dam) — Firuzabad Plain reservoir dam, Fars
بند فیروزآباد · Ardashir I's Firuzabad Dam · Gur dam · Firuzabad earthen dam
Early Sassanid (Ardashir I–Shapur I, 224–260 CE)·Sassanid Persian (early Sasanian court)·🇮🇷 Fars Province, Firuzabad County, Tang-e Ab valley, Firuzabad Plain north, Ardashir-Khwarrah, Iran
About
About Band-e Firuzabad (Ardashir Dam) — Firuzabad Plain reservoir dam, Fars
Sassanid foundation dam 210 m long, 12 m high earthen-rockfill with limestone skin at Tang-e Ab gorge mouth, retaining a 15-km long reservoir that fed Ardashir I's circular city Gur (Ardashir-Khwarrah, 224 CE) 12 km downstream. Herzfeld–Huff 1930s–70s recorded the dam; Sasanian hydraulic program flooded Firuzabad plain for royal winter capital irrigation preceding Isfahbad. Dam breached before the 14th c (must be al-Muqaddasi). Rehabilitated with Sasanian-style overflow weir of stepped limestone 40 m wide still visible. Demonstrates early Sasanian state hydraulic resettlement parallel to Shushtar but for a new capital.
Why it mattersEarliest Sasanian new-capital reservoir — model for Ctesiphon and Shushtar.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Breach cause
Theories
- 01Gur hydraulic genesis
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.224 – 230 CE (Ardashir I, Ardashir-Khwarrah foundation)
- Period
- Early Sassanid (Ardashir I–Shapur I, 224–260 CE)
- Culture
- Sassanid Persian (early Sasanian court)
- Builders
- Sassanid Ardashir I engineers
- Purpose
- Reservoir for Firuzabad circular capital and plain irrigation
- Abandoned
- Breach before 14th c (Yaqut); unused after Safavid
- Rediscovered
- 1920 Herzfeld; 1974 Huff
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
224 CE
Ardashir crowns, builds Gur and dam
1974
Huff maps 40-m stepped weir
On the ground
Structures & features
28.8500° N · 52.5300° E · 1320 m · 2 mapped features
Stepped Overflow Weir (40 m)
weir40-m stepped limestone overflow weir at east abutment
28.8520° N · 52.5320° EReservoir Terrace (15 km)
reservoirSilty reservoir bed terrace 15 km up Tang-e Ab behind dam
28.8480° N · 52.5280° E
Gallery