The Arg-e Bam (Persian: ارگ بم), located in the city of Bam in Kerman province in southeastern Iran, is the largest mud-brick building in the world. The entire structure was once a large fortress that included the citadel. However, because the citadel is the most prominent part of the ruins, the entire fortress is now called the Bam Citadel.
UNESCO added it to the World Heritage Site "Bam and its Cultural Landscape." This site has a history dating back to at least the Achaemenid Empire (600 BC to 400 BC). The citadel became important between the 7th and 11th centuries as a key location along the Silk Road and other trade routes. It was also known for making silk and cotton clothing.
On December 26, 2003, the citadel was nearly destroyed by an earthquake, along with much of the city of Bam and its surrounding areas. A few days after the earthquake, Iran's president at the time, Mohammad Khatami, announced that the citadel would be rebuilt.
History
There is no exact date from archaeologists for when the buildings of the Citadel of Bam were constructed.
During the Parthian era, the fort was expanded and became known as Arg-e-Bam, the Citadel of Bam. A study titled “Bam and a Brief History of Urban Settlement and Planning in Iran” found that the main part of the city of Bam and the area where the governor lived were built during the Parthian era. Under the Sassanids, the castle was taken over by Ardeshir Babakan. Between 224 and 637 AD, new walls and fortifications were added.
In 645 AD, the Kerman region was conquered by the Arabs, and Arg-e-Bam may have been damaged during the war. One of the Arab commanders built the Al Rasoul mosque, which was one of the first mosques in Iran during the early Islamic era. In 656 AD, a group of Muslims called the Khawarij, who had been defeated by Ali, moved to Kerman and Bam and settled in Arg-e-Bam. In 869 AD, Ya'qub ibn al-Layth al-Saffar, who was fighting the Abbasids, defeated the Khawarij and took control of Arg-e-Bam. He then used the citadel as his permanent base.
The name “Bam” first appeared in writings by Islamic authors in the 10th century. These writers described Bam as a well-established marketplace surrounded by a large agricultural area. The city was known for its beautiful cotton fabrics, its strong fortress, its busy markets, and its palm trees.
After the Mongol invasion of Iran, Bam and the Kerman region were given to the Qarakhataian dynasty, which ruled from 1240 to 1363 AD. Bam had a good location on the spice route, which connected the region to the Silk Road. The city was famous for raising silkworms and producing silk.
During the Safavid era, from 1502 to 1722, Iran experienced a time of peace and stability. Arg-e-Bam was greatly developed, along with the rest of the country. The Four Seasons Palace was built during this time. Near the end of the Safavid rule, Arg-e-Bam was taken over by Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar, who started the Qajar dynasty. He used the citadel as a military base to protect against attacks by Afghans and Baluchis, turning it into a military complex.
In 1839, Aga Khan I, the leader of the Nizari Ismaili sect, rebelled against Mohammad Shah Qajar and took shelter in Arg-e-Bam until Prince Firuz Mirza, later known as Farman Farma, captured him. As more soldiers lived inside the citadel, people began to move outside its walls. In 1880, Firuz Mirza noted that only soldiers lived within the citadel and suggested that the old, abandoned city at its base be torn down and turned into a garden. In 1900, the new city of Bam was built, and people gradually left the old city.
The citadel was used as a military base until 1932, after which it and the old city were abandoned. In 1953, the site was recognized as a historically important place in Iran, and efforts to preserve and restore it began. Most of the work happened from 1973 onward.
After the Islamic Revolution, Arg-e-Bam was placed under the care of Iran’s Cultural Heritage Organization (ICHO). In 1993, the citadel was named one of the most important projects of the Cultural Heritage Organization.
Citadel design and architecture
The citadel is located in the center of the fortress-city, on the highest point for clear sightlines, to help protect the area.
All buildings are constructed from adobe, which is a type of clay brick that is not fired in a kiln. Before the 2003 earthquake, the Bam Citadel was probably the largest adobe structure in the world.
In 1976, the Citadel was used as the main filming location for the movie The Desert of the Tartars by Valerio Zurlini.
Description of the citadel
The citadel has four main parts: a living area, the stables, the army barracks, and the governor’s home.
Arg-e-Bam had 38 watchtowers and four entrance gates. A moat surrounds the outer defense wall. The Government Quarters are located on a rocky hill and are protected by two strong walls. The most important buildings include the bazaar, the Congregational Mosque, the Mirza Na’im group of buildings, and the Mir House.
Dimensions
Bam Citadel is larger than Rayen Castle. The area of Bam Citadel is about 180,000 square meters (44 acres). It is surrounded by very large walls that are 6–7 meters (20–23 feet) high and 1,815 meters (5,955 feet) long.
2003 earthquake
On December 26, 2003, at 5:26 a.m., the city of Bam was hit by a strong earthquake. The United States Geological Survey measured the earthquake’s strength as 6.6 on the Richter scale. The shaking was powerful enough to cause vertical movement equal to the force of gravity. At the time, about 142,000 people lived in the Bam area. The earthquake was extremely damaging, killing around 26,200 people, injuring thousands, and leaving more than 75,000 without homes. About 70% of the buildings in the area were destroyed. The earthquake was particularly severe because its underground starting point, called the hypocenter, was located just below the city of Bam, at a depth of about 7 kilometers.
The area around Bam has underground cracks, or faults, in the Earth’s crust. The main fault, called the Bam Fault, had not been active for a long time. The earthquake occurred near the southern part of Bam, and the main movement of the seismic waves was in an east-west direction. This movement was perpendicular, or at a right angle, to the main fault, which was located about 3 kilometers to the east of Bam. It appears that the Bam Fault directed the earthquake’s energy toward the north-south direction but also reflected or amplified the energy back toward the east-west direction.
This pattern was visible in areas where buildings were mostly destroyed. These buildings had their main walls aligned in a north-south direction, such as in Arg-e-Bam, Bam, and villages east of Bam. Because the seismic waves came from the east or west and were perpendicular to these walls, the buildings could not withstand the force and collapsed.
Buildings that had their main walls aligned east-west were better able to handle the shaking. These buildings were damaged in some areas but were not completely destroyed. They showed cracks that ran along the walls, which is common when the ground moves in the same direction as the walls.
Structures that had been repaired, expanded, or changed many times over the years suffered more damage than older buildings that had not been altered. This same pattern was also seen in buildings that were strengthened or restored during the late 20th century.
Consequences of the earthquake
The citadel, which includes the governor’s residence, the main tower, the Chahar Fasl (Four Seasons) turret, and the hammam, was almost completely destroyed. This happened because the buildings were located on top of a rocky hill. The hill made the earthquake’s energy stronger. Also, the buildings collapsed because their bases were built on uneven ground made of rocks and loose earth. The loose earth moved when the ground shook. The city below the citadel was nearly flattened, especially the parts that had been repaired before the earthquake. Most of the curved roofs were cracked or badly damaged.
The Konariha quarter had not been repaired before the earthquake. It was already in very poor condition, with only a few buildings left that had broken vaults and domes. Surprisingly, this area suffered less damage than the repaired parts of the city, even though the surrounding walls fell down. Only a few walls collapsed, and some pieces of already broken curved roofs fell.
The Zoroastrian temple, located behind Arg-e-Bam, and the Khale Dokhtar citadel, 2 kilometers north of Arg-e-Bam, had also not been repaired before the earthquake. Both were already in very poor condition. The earthquake did not damage them as badly as the repaired parts of Arg-e-Bam. The Khale Dokhtar citadel had few curved roofs left before the earthquake. Its main damage was to a tower and some broken pieces from earlier collapsed vaults and domes. The Khale Dokhtar citadel dates back to the Sassanid Period and is believed to be older than Arg-e-Bam.
Three kilometers east of Arg-e-Bam are the Summer Pavilion, Kushk Rahim Abad, and an old caravanserai. None of these were damaged further by the earthquake. The Summer Pavilion was already in very poor condition before the earthquake. The old caravanserai had been abandoned for a long time, and some of its parts had already fallen apart. The earthquake caused very little damage to the caravanserai compared to other areas like Arg-e-Bam, Bam, and nearby villages. This may be because the caravanserai was built well with strong details, unlike most buildings in the area.