Archeologists in search of Hassan Sabah’s Tomb in Alamut fortress

According to the Public Relations Office of the Research Institute of Cultural Heritage and Tourism (RICHT), the myths about Alamut Castle are abundant, however historians and archeologists say something else and believe that in Alamut, in spite of all its beauty and grandeur, there is no news of paradise, and the image restored by the Columbia University is also imaginary.

Hamideh Chubak, an archeologist who has been working on Alamut since 14 years ago, stressed that the Mongol invasion on Alamut had occurred several years after the death of Hasan Sabah as he died in 518 Hegira, but the Mongol invasion on the area was in 554 Hegira.

The archeologist, based on historical evidence and the discovery of two pieces of golden tiles, further remarked that the Ishmailis returned to that place and resided there many years after the Mongol invasion and demolition of Alamut.

According to Chubak, new archeological findings in Alamut indicate that the Mongols were not the last to ruin this valuable castle, and possibly before or after the Timurid period the castle had been attacked and destroyed once again.

Now, archeologists are after finding the tomb of Hassan Sabah, the founder of the Ismaili Sect in Iran, the tomb which has been said in the texts that was the shrine of his followers and his successors had been buried close to him.

She noted that Mowla Sara is one of the places that was explored with the hypothesis that the discovery of Hasan Sabbah’s tomb, a place where Chubak refers to as one of the most important archeological findings in the last decade. 'This place is in fact is a dome-shaped building with the architecture similar to the dome-shaped buildings of the Seljuk period with full decorations.'

According to Chubak, Mowla Sara had been the command center of Hassan Sabah and his successors, as well as the center of government and mosque, and the term Mowla Sara means the place for the stationing of the religious leader of the Muslims.

Alamut Castle is located in the northeast of Gazorkhan Village on a cliff enclosed by the valleys. The military position of this castle is a sign of the intelligence and military knowledge of that time. This rock is a stronghold in the two parts of the ‘down castle’ and the ‘up castle’, the former constituting the roads and observation posts and protective walls, and the latter the center for governing and commanding.

Hassan Sabbah, after passing training courses in Isfahan and Egypt, came to Alamut to promote the Ismaili sect and bought the castle in the year 483 from Mahdi Alawi, its ruler, and constructed water reservoirs there. After him, for 175 years his successors lived in the castle until the time Hulagu Khan of the Mongol invaded there and Rukn al-Din Khorshah (the last Ismaili ruler in Alamut) upon the advice of his minister Khaje Nasir al-Din Tusi, surrendered in 654.

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