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The Ribat-i Sharaf is a caravanserai, or rest place for travellers, that is located in northern Iran between Merv and Nishapur. Built in the 12th century (circa 1114), the building looks like a fortified rectangle from the exterior. The courtyard and four Iwan floorplan is that of the traditional Standard Iranian Mosque. The walls and the pishtaq, the entrance way inside an iwan, are decorated with vegetal and geometric patterning that function to provide a good example of the "Textile Metaphor" seen in Middle Eastern architecture of this era.
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