Localization choice and depicting physical structure of Shapurkhast ancient ‎city based on the Sassanid city patterns using GIS‏ ‏

Historical sources show that the first Sassanid kings were the founders of the great ‎cities. Ardeshir and Shapur I began to develop ancient cities and build new towns. At ‎that time, the ancient cities of western Iran were centers for industrial production and ‎trade, as well as for the establishment of security in the routes of the kingdom. One of ‎these cities is called Shapur-khast, which was founded on the orders of Shapur I. The ‎location of this city is considered to be one of the most important cities in the west of ‎the east (Kermanshah to Isfahan) and north-south (Shush in Hamadan), both in terms of ‎military strategy and exploitation of natural and geographical complications and in ‎terms of communication status. The question we will address in this article is how to ‎select the Shapur-khast Template for Sassanian designers? The research method of this ‎study in first step is interpretative historical method. Therefore the historic and physical ‎characteristics of city, monuments and urban archaeological properties of the city ‎analyzed. In the second step the location characteristics and geomorphological ‎properties of the three cities which founded by Shapur I.The variables that are ‎considered for locating the cities include: 1. General slope of the earth 2. Distance from ‎the river 3. Distance from the kingdom roads.The results shows that in all three case ‎studies the location of the city is depended on the minimum distance of the cities and ‎riverside. Also the main inclination of the urban lands and surroundings is gentle.. In ‎step 4 of research method, with the aim of the ArcGIS software and considering the ‎information of archaeological excavations in the region, library studies and ‎mounumental building restorerd form Sassanid era in Khoram abad, the probable ‎location of the city of Shapur-khast located in south of khoram abad city in the Qazi ‎abad, Hoseyn abad and hillside Madbeh to Kheyr abad hills.‎