Paikuli Tower

Illustration

Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin
by
published on 04 August 2014
Subscribe to author
Paikuli Tower Download Full Size Image

The tower lies on a hill near Barkal, a modern village south-west of Lake Darband-i-Khan, Sulaimaniya Governorate, Iraq. It was set up as a monument commemorating the victory of the Sassanian king Narseh over his nephew Warham III (Barham III). The inscriptions were written in Parthian and middle Persian languages. The western wall was written in middle Persian and consisted of 46 lines and 8 horizontal stone blocks. The western side was the Parthian version and composed of 7 horizontal stone blocks forming 42 lines of inscription. According to Humbach-Skjaervø, the total number of the blocks is 230-240 and the total length of the text is 940 cm; this makes it the longest surviving Sassanian inscription to date. All of the inscribed stone blocks are now in the Sulaimaniya Museum while the stone blocks shown here in situ were used for the construction of the tower and were not inscribed. 293 CE.

Remove Ads
Advertisement
Subscribe to this author

About the Author

Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin
Associate Professor of Neurology and lover of the Cradle of Civilization, Mesopotamia. I'm very interested in Mesopotamian history and always try to take photos of archaeological sites and artifacts in museums, both in Iraq and around the world.

Cite This Work

APA Style

Amin, O. S. M. (2014, August 04). Paikuli Tower. World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://www.worldhistory.org/image/2885/paikuli-tower/

Chicago Style

Amin, Osama Shukir Muhammed. "Paikuli Tower." World History Encyclopedia. Last modified August 04, 2014. https://www.worldhistory.org/image/2885/paikuli-tower/.

MLA Style

Amin, Osama Shukir Muhammed. "Paikuli Tower." World History Encyclopedia. World History Encyclopedia, 04 Aug 2014. Web. 23 Feb 2025.

Membership