Teppe Hasanlu

🕰️When was it built?

Hasanlu was lived in over many periods, and its buildings were not all built at the same time. Many of the stone buildings belong to Period IV, around 1300 to 800 BC. After a great fire, parts of the defensive wall and towers were rebuilt, and the line of the wall shifted slightly.

🏛️What was it built for?

This was a settlement, a fortress and a ceremonial centre. Rooms, storerooms and columned halls were built around a central courtyard. The halls were added at different times, and some spaces were later turned into stores or stables for horses.

👀What you will see

• The central courtyard is not perfectly regular, and on its north and west sides there were platforms of flat stones.
• On the east side, the site of a columned hall and storerooms holding large jars was found.
• The remains of the defensive wall and square towers mark the edge of the fortress; the wall was originally about three metres thick.
• West of the courtyard, linked rooms and narrow corridors led to larger halls, and the plan can still be made out.
• In the west hall, single-piece stone columns and the place of a hearth are among the architectural details found in excavation.

💡Something interesting

The Hasanlu Gold Bowl was found in a small room near the west hall. It is an Iron Age piece and is kept in the Museum of Ancient Iran; what you visit here is the site where it was found.

🎒Good to know before you go