Wall of Alexander
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Wall of Alexander, known in Arabic as Sad-e Eskander or Sadd-i Iskender ("The wall of Alexander"), also known as the Kizil Yilan ("Red Serpent") was a wall established on the limit between the fertile lands and the nomadic steppes, at the frontier between modern Mazandaran in northeastern Iran and Turkmenistan.
A wall was initially erected by the Iranian, and Alexander erected a similar wall in the same area, as well as his succesor Seleucus I. Today the various archaeological remains are difficult to distinguish and to attribute to either.[1]
Remains of the wall are today visible near the city of Gonbad-e-Kavus. It extends from the former shore of the Caspian sea (about 5 kilometers inland today) to a northern spur of the Elburz mountains, over a distance of about 180 kilometers.[2]
[edit] Notes
[edit] References
- Jean Paul Roux, L'Asie Centrale, Histoire et Civilization, Fayard, 1997, ISBN 9782213598949
