Gonbad-e Qabus
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How it came to be
Gonbad-e Qabus is a tomb tower near the ruins of the ancient city of Jorjan in north-eastern Iran. Qabus ibn Voshmgir, a Ziyarid ruler and man of letters, had it built in 1006, during his own lifetime. Jorjan, once a centre of arts and sciences, was destroyed in the Mongol invasions, and the tower is all that remains of it.
The tower is built entirely of unglazed fired brick, a hollow cylinder with a ten-pointed star plan under a conical brick roof. Its only decoration is two bands of Kufic inscription, which name Qabus as founder and give the foundation date in both the Iranian solar and the Islamic lunar calendars. The entrance holds some of the earliest evidence of muqarnas vaulting in Iran.
Although it is a tomb, no body has been found inside. Legend says Qabus was placed in a glass coffin hung by chains from the roof. Its conical-roofed form became a prototype for tomb towers across Iran, Anatolia and Central Asia. The town around it is named after the tower, which was inscribed in 2012.
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