The Bam Citadel, or Arg-e Bam, is a huge fortified settlement built of mud brick in the city of Bam, in the Kerman province of southeastern Iran, on a former Silk Road route. Its origins reach back to the Achaemenid period, but most of the surviving structures date from the Safavid era. The citadel contained a governor's quarters, barracks, stables, towers and a bazaar, all built of mud, clay, straw and palm trunks. It was gradually abandoned in the 19th century. A powerful earthquake in December 2003 destroyed most of the citadel and killed around twenty-six thousand people in the city. UNESCO inscribed the site in 2004, and after extensive restoration it was removed from the endangered list in 2013.
Before and after
- c. 509 BCECleisthenes lays the foundations of Athenian democracy
- 6th century BCEConstruction of Parthenon
- c. 500s BCEOrigins of Delhi
- 6th century BCEConstruction of Royal Road
- 6th century BCEConstruction of Bam Citadel
- 6th century BCEOrigins of Judaism
- from 499 BCE to 493 BCEIonian Revolt
- from 499 BCE to 449 BCEGreco-Persian Wars
- 496 BCEOrigins of Temple of Castor and Pollux
More in Civilizations & archaeology
- c. 1,200 BCEIron Age
- c. 700s BCEConstruction of Great Wall of China
- from 206 BCE to 220 CEHan dynasty
- 81 CEConstruction of Colosseum
- 11 May 330 CEConstantine dedicates Constantinople
- from 476 CE to 1492Middle Ages
The era
This moment belongs to the Ancient civilizations (3,200 BCE to 500 CE), writing, cities and empires.