The king feared that after his death, people would destroy his image which was
carved into his grave stone, or the kings after him would replace his image with
their own; so he decided to curse all the people who had such intentions. The
king ordered the following phrase to be written on the stone:” Should anyone
erase my image or replace my name with his own, God will erase his signs from
the earth in the sunlight.” If you ever traveled to Izeh city in Iran (aka
Ayapir in ancient times) and visited the powerful king Hani Shah’s inscription,
avoid harming this cultural heritage site so that you will not incur the king’s
curse.
To get a better understanding of where Ayapir is, you’d better visit the National
Museum of Iran first. One of the symbols of this Museum in Tehran is the bronze
standing man statue. This man is called the Parthian General or the Shami Man.
Shami is a village near the town of Izeh. 2700 years before the Christ’s birth,
Izeh used to be called Ayapir. An area in the border of the Khuzestan and Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Provinces within which an important part of the Elam
Civilization was discovered and the findings indicate the independence of that
kingship.
Even though the Parthian General has been living in Tehran for years, the
history’s footsteps could clearly be seen in Izeh. A place whose kings have
strived to be a part of history through carving images of their court’s
ceremonies and rituals on epigraphs. Izeh has a fantastic collection of Elamite
inscriptions. These inscriptions are the heart of Izeh’s historical attractions.
From the Ashkaf Soleiman Cave to the Kol Farah Inscription, they all have a Hani
Kingdom feature to them. Hani was a family-loving king, and there are pictures
of him beside his wife and son on the discovered inscriptions. On top of the
Elamite Period inscriptions, Izeh has other items that date back to the
Achaemenid era (330-550 BC) and Parthian Dynasty (224-247 AD).
During the Sassanid Era (224-651 AD), Izeh was called “Anshan” and was
considered a civilized city and it has been said the name “Izeh” was introduced
at that time. The remnants of the Islamic era also are not few from which Dehdez
Caravanserai belonging to the Ilkhanate Period (14 and 15 centuries) and Nurabad
Kooshk which belongs to the Qajar Era (1789-1925) could be mentioned. During the
reign of the Lur Atabakan (1155-124), Izeh was known by the name of Malmir. A
name which could still be seen in a lot of Izeh’s local family names. In 1935,
the historical name Izeh was given back to this town. Izeh could be considered a
vast open museum.
The distance from Tehran to Izeh is approximately 700 kilometers. This town
could be accessed both from ground routes and also by plane. The ground route
starts from Isfahan and continues towards Shahrekord, Lordegan and ultimately
Izeh which could be a complete touring route on its own since other than the
town (Izeh) you can visit the Karun 3 Dam as well. Also, the Ahvaz-Izeh route is
a second ground option which will lead to Izeh after passing Bagh-e-Malek. The
ground route of Ahvaz-Izeh is currently around 180 kilometers.
