Rabʿ-i Rashidi in Tabriz: Archaeological and Architectural Field Research
In 1309, the statesman and scholar Rashid ad-Din Fazl Allah, vizier of the Il-Khans who ruled over Iran, founded one of the most important charitable institutions of his time. According to a well-established pattern, it combined elements of welfare with those of science and learning. The foundation was located outside the city of Tabriz, residence of the Ilkhanid court. The original buidlings of the founding period have long vanished and partly overlaid by a fortress of the 16th-17th century. However, the core area of the so-called Rabʿ-i Rashidi is clearly marked out in the present urban context and has been kept free from modern construction.
Archaeological and architectural field reseach on the area has been undertaken by the Tabriz Islamic Art University in cooperation with the German Archaeological Institute and the University of Bamberg. After a first campaign that focused on visible architectural remains, archaeological excavations took place in 2018 and 2019, which aimed at the various phases of use. It was possible to retrieve findings from the founding phase of the Rabʿ-i Rashidi, and to ascertain some later developments. It became clear that hydraulic installations must have played a major part in structuring and using the area.
Under the title “Tracking the Mongol Presence in Iran”, the project was adopted for continued funding by the German Research Foundation under the umbrella of the focus programme 2176 “Iranian Highlands”.
Publications:
Christian Fuchs: Tabrīz, Iran. Die Südbastion auf dem Gelände des Rabʿ-i Rashīdī: Untersuchungen zur Baugeschichte. Die Arbeiten des Jahres 2017, in: e-Forschungsberichte des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts 2017-2, S. 100-106. URL: publications.dainst.org/journals/index.php/efb/article/view/1995
Christian Fuchs und Anja Heidenreich: „Iran, Tabrīz. Das ilkhanidische Tabrīz: Bauforscherische und archäologische Untersuchungen zum Rabʿ-i Rashīdī. Die Arbeiten des Jahres 2018“, in: e-Forschungsberichte des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, 2019-1, S. 116-130. URL: https://publications.dainst.org/journals/efb/2186/6599
Lorenz Korn and Anja Heidenreich: The Site of Rabʿ-i Rashidi, Tabriz: Goals and Beginnings of the Iranian-German Research Project, in:Ahmad Mortazi (ed.): Proceedings of the First International Conference on the Commemoration of Rashid al-Din Fazl-Allah Hamadani (University of Tabriz, March 2021), Tabriz: University of Tabriz Press, 2021, pp. 295-314.
Thomas Lorain: The Rabʿ-e Rashidi archaeological campaign, Tabriz: Trench XII-XIII, preliminary results 2019, S. 315-336in: in:Ahmad Mortazi (ed.): Proceedings of the First International Conference on the Commemoration of Rashid al-Din Fazl-Allah Hamadani (University of Tabriz, March 2021), Tabriz: University of Tabriz Press, 2021, pp. 315-336.
Thomas Lorain, Christian Fuchs und Lorenz Korn: “Ilkhanid Tabrīz: Architectural and Archaeological Research on the Rabʿi Rashīdī, Season 2019”, e-Forschungsberichte des Deutschen Archäologischen InstitutseDAI-F 2022-2 § 1-35, https://doi.org/10.34780/3h77-denz
Thomas Lorain, Lorenz Korn and Bahram Ajorloo: The Rabʿ-i Rashīdī Iranian-German Archaeological Campaign, Tabriz: Trench XII and XIII Preliminary results. Submitted for: P. Callieri et al. (eds.): Proceedings of the 12th International Congress on the Archeology of the Ancient Near East – Islamic Archaeology (in press).
