Seh Gonbad Tower: A Seljuk Funerary Monument in Iran
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.3
- Popularity
- Low
- Country
- Iran
- Primary era
- Medieval
- Eras represented
- Medieval
- Civilizations
- Seljuk
- Site type
- Religious
- Remains
- Tomb
On this page6 sections
History
Seh Gonbad Tower is a Seljuk funerary monument in Urmia, Iran, built in 1184 in the Seljuk architectural tradition of monumental brick tomb towers. The Seljuks were a Turkic ruling dynasty that controlled large parts of the Middle East and Iran during the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Three Kufic inscriptions at the entrance, using an angular form of Arabic-script calligraphy, include the date Muharram 580 AH, corresponding to 1184.
Construction and Attribution
A popular tradition connects the tower with Jalal al-Din Khwarazmshah, the final ruler of the Khwarazmian dynasty, which controlled parts of Iran and Central Asia in the early thirteenth century. The entrance inscription places the monument before his arrival in Azerbaijan. It names the architect as the son of Abu Mansur Musa. A ruined tomb beside Seh Gonbad may belong to the period associated with Jalal al-Din Khwarazmshah.
The monument may have been the surviving part of a group of three tower tombs. Tradition explains the name Se Gonbad, meaning “three domes,” either through the supposed arrangement of three domes on three levels or through two additional structures once located near the village of Chehrik in Salmas County. The name “Se Gonbad” appears in Hamdallah Mustawfi’s Tarikh-i Guzida, completed in 1330. Hamdallah Mustawfi was a Persian historian and geographer of the Ilkhanid period, and the reference indicates that the tomb or tomb group was already known by that time.
Burial Ground and Later Status
Numerous graves surround the tower, and the ground may once have formed its courtyard. The burials were possibly associated with religious figures, military commanders, merchants, and members of the aristocracy who were interred there because the place was considered sacred. Seh Gonbad Tower was registered as an Iranian national monument in 1935 under registration number 242. Built as a tomb, it now functions as a museum.
Remains
Seh Gonbad Tower is a cylindrical, tower-shaped structure with a circular exterior and a square interior. It rises approximately 13 metres and measures about 5 metres in diameter. The surviving monument is organized vertically into a lower crypt, or serdab, meaning a subterranean or partly subterranean chamber, and an upper burial room. An arched covering separates the two levels. The lower doorway is 1.70 metres high, while the entrance to the upper chamber reaches 2.50 metres. Vents occur on all four sides, and the two doorways are aligned one above the other.
Stone and Brick Construction
The lower portion is built of stone and extends well above the floor of the upper chamber, accounting for roughly one-third of the tower’s overall height. Brick forms the upper portion. The original conical outer dome has collapsed, while the two-level body of the tomb remains.
Entrance and Inscriptions
The entrance faces northeast and incorporates a brick iwan, a vaulted hall or porch open on one side. Its doorway is placed within shallow arches and a richly ornamented architectural frame. Three stone Kufic inscriptions are set at the entrance, including the date Muharram 580 AH and identifying the architect as the son of Abu Mansur Musa.
