Prison of Solomon explained

Prison of Solomon
Location:	West Azerbaijan, Iran
Prominence:	97–107 meters

The Prison of Solomon is a hollow cone shaped hill in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran. There is an 80 meters deep pit in the middle of the hill, and the entrance to the pit is roughly 65 meters in diameter.^{[1] [2]}

Name

Its current name "Prison of Solomon" was given to it by locals who think it is the place Solomon kept demons prisoner.^[3]

History

The hill is the result of an Artesian spring first creating a small pond. Lime and other minerals then slowly sedimented around the pond and created a wall. Over ages, this wall became taller and taller as the water overflew from the existing wall and sedimented even more which led to the structure we have today. The spring then dried, leaving a hollow hill behind.^[4] Located 3 kilometers west of Takht-e Soleymān, the place has been subject to many religious and cultural practices through ages. It used to be surrounded by walls and hosted a Mannaean temple in 880–660 BCE.^[5] However it did not reach its greatest religious importance until early 5th century CE when Takht-e Soleyman was established nearby as an important Zoroastrian temple.

National heritage site

It was listed among the national heritage sites of Iran in 15 March 2001 with the number 3257.^[6]

See also

• Takht-e Soleyman
• Tangeh Soleyman
• Danial Cave (Persian Wikipedia)

References

1. Web site: 2014-03-15. کوه میان تهی"زندان سلیمان" جاذبه‌ای شگفت‌انگیز در تکاب. 2021-11-24. ایسنا. fa.
2. Web site: Foundation. Encyclopaedia Iranica. TAḴT-E SOLAYMĀN. 2021-11-24. iranicaonline.org. en-US.
3. Web site: گزارش ماجرای هولناک زندان سلیمان / سرنوشت ارتباط بین زندان دیو و حضرت سلیمان چیست؟- اخبار آذربایجان غربی - اخبار استانها تسنیم Tasnim. 2021-11-24. خبرگزاری تسنیم Tasnim. fa.
4. Web site: 2012-12-28. آشنایی با محوطه تاریخی زندان سلیمان - آذربایجان‌غربی. 2021-11-24. همشهری آنلاین. fa.
5. Web site: 2021-06-26. Soleyman Prison: a conical peak with fascinating history. 2021-11-24. Tehran Times. en.
6. Web site: 2019-10-06. «دانشنامهٔ تاریخ معماری و شهرسازی ایران‌شهر». وزارت راه و شهرسازی. بایگانی‌شده از روی نسخه اصلی در ۶ اکتبر ۲۰۱۹. دریافت‌شده در ۱۰ اکتبر ۲۰۱۹.. live. 2021-11-24. https://web.archive.org/web/20191006234339/http://iranshahrpedia.com/docs/Asar-e%20Sabti%20(Up%20to%2026666)%20(Version%2090%2008%2029).zip. 2019-10-06.

Further reading

• Damm, Bernhard (1968). Geologie des Zendan-i Suleiman und seiner Umgebung. Südöstliches Balqash-Gebirge Nordwest-Iran. Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner (on the geology).
• Kleiss, Wolfram (1971). Zendani-I-Suleiman. Die Bauwerke. Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner (on the archaeological remains).

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