Military Architecture of Mannaean Period

In the first half of the first millennium BC, the tribes inhabited in the northwest of Iran formed the Mannaean kingdom. The main reason for the formation of Mannaean government can be said to prevent the continuous attacks of Assyrian kingdom to this area. After the formation of this state, they attempted to build defensive fortifications around main places and to establish castles in mountainous impassable area. Mannaean castles were built most often from big blocks of stones without mortar. The use of semicircle solid towers and small rectangular rooms as a towers are noticeable characteristics in Mannaean tower building. In addition, in this era, the circle shape plans were preferred so that the cities could have more defensive potentials. In this paper, it is tried to explain the characteristic and important elements of military architecture of Mannaean era.