The Great Wall of Gorgan (also called the Gorgan Defense Wall and Sadd-e Eskandar) is an ancient defensive facility located in the Gorgan region of northeastern Iran. It consists of a 155 kilometre long, and 6 to10 metre wide wall, along the length of which are located a number of fortresses, spaced at intervals of between 10 and 50 kilometres. The wall was built during the Parthian Dynasty to protect Iran from the invasions of the northern (mostly Turkic) tribes. It was restored during the Sassanid era (3-7th centuries AD). Its construction is contemporaneous with that of the Great Wall of China, and it is second only to that edifice as the largest defensive wall in existence. Despite its scale and significance the Gorgan Wall remains virtually unknown outside Iran. Gorgan (گرگان); Hyrcania ; Hyrcana (Old Persian Varkâna, land of wolves; modern Persian Gorgan): part of the ancient Persian empire, on the southern shores of the Caspian Sea (present day Golestan, Mazandaran, Gilan and parts of Turkmenistan). ... Reproduction of a Parthian warrior as depicted on Trajans Column The Parthian Empire was the dominating force on the Iranian plateau beginning in the late 3rd century BCE, and intermittently controlled Mesopotamia between ca 190 BCE and 224 CE. Origins Bust of Parthian soldier, Esgh-abad Museum, Turkmenia. ... Sassanid Empire at its greatest extent The Sassanid dynasty (also Sassanian) was the name given to the kings of Persia during the era of the second Persian Empire, from 224 until 651, when the last Sassanid shah, Yazdegerd III, lost a 14-year struggle to drive out the Umayyad Caliphate...

External link

• Gorgan homepage (http://medlem.spray.se/davidgorgan/History.html)