Sasanian cities: archaeological perspectives from top down and bottom up (original) (raw)

The programme of this conference is attached. This particular paper re-examined old and new archaeological evidence for Sasanian urban planning, and attempted to show the huge impact this had on the Sasanian economy. It began with a discussion of circular and massive rectilinear foundations, some only briefly surveyed or or simply recorded from satellite imagery, and ended with a brief presentation of some of the excavated findings from Merv, Qasr-i Abu Nasr and Veh Ardashir to show how much (or little) we know about the appearance of these cities. The conclusions to this paper should be read alongside earlier papers on Sasanian Mesopotamia and the Merv oasis.