Gonbad-e-Ghabous
in Mazandaran privince of North Iran
The Gonbad-e-Ghabous (tomb tower of Ghabous Ziari) in Gorgan North Iran bears the inscribed sate A.D. 1006-07 (A.H. 397). The building has a diameter of 17.08 m. (50 feet) at the foundation course and a height of 51 m. (167 feet) from the plinth to the top of the roof. The tower goes down for about 10.7 m. (35 feet) more beneath an artificial hillock, which would make the original height above ground approximately 61 m. (200 feet). The bricks are square and measure about 20.8 cm. (8 1/4 inches) by nearly 4.7 cm. (two inches) thick. They are hard fire and are so fine in composition that they ring when struck. Specially shaped bricks were used on the roof. This mausoleum was built for Ghabous ebn Voshmgir (Ghabous sun of Voshmgir), ruler of Iran with his capital at Mazandaran/Gilan province city Gorgan from A.D. 988 to about 1025 (A.H. 366 to about 403). According to legend, Ghabous coffin according to Zoroastrian religious tradition was suspended high in the building so that the rays of the sun shining through a small window could greet him daily.
Gunbad-e-Ghabous, lofty cylindrical brick tower with a perfect conical roof and two bands of inscriptions in Kufic calligraphy; one on the middle of the shaft and the other (Pahlavi) under the roof.
"Wake! For the Sun behind you Eastern height Has chased the Session of the Stars from Night; And, to the field of Heaven ascending, strikes The Sultan's Turret with a Shaft of Light".
Poem from "Omar Khayam, Rubaiyat" the famous poet of Iran
Gonbad-e-Ghabous
ccording to Professor
Pope: "at the foot of the eastern Alborz towards the Gorgan Plateau stands a
superb architectural masterpiece, in the north of Iran, whose uniqueness rests
upon its great height, desolation, plane composition and imposing form." The
structure with its grandeur and elegance is yet another display of physical eath
with its ultimate oblivion.
As one of the splendid monuments built during the ziari's Dynasty in the 11th
Century AD, the massive "Gonbad-e-Ghabous" structure still stands on a hilltop
of a 15 meters height near the city of Gorgan (Jorjan). Gonbad-e-Ghabous
diameter at base measures 19 meters while its height stands 55 meters. However,
despite the simplicity of its style the mentioned structure is certainly among
the most impressive tombs erected throughout the Islamic world.
