The Ancient Cave of Chehelkhaneh

The manmade Chehelkhaneh Cave, which is located in the village of Zirah, near the city of Sa’dabad (Bushehr Province), consists of a number of rooms (crypts) with a trapezoidal entrance, which were created in the mountain range overlooking the Shapur River.

The internal size of the caves varies and this difference is due to the resistance of mountain rock material against natural erosion factors such as floods. These crypts are interconnected from the inside, and niches and streams have been created in each of them. Some crypts have been destroyed over time and by natural phenomena.

There is a passage and sitting place on the front porch of the rooms that may have been erected as a place for protecting the residents. Also, the remains of some stairs made of stone and mud can be seen that may have been used for getting access to the lower part and the river.

Above the third row of chambers, the remains of a carving axe that was used to decorate granites can be seen. Similarly, the place of a rectangular stone inscription carved on the forehead of the outer entrance of the cave is also evident. Some individual columns are also placed inside the larger crypts, which are made of the mountain rock in a single piece; probably to decorate the space or make it look different.

It is due to the existence of many crypts that the cave has come to be known as “Chehelkhaneh” (lit. forty houses). However, only 23 crypts of the cave are presently there.

According to some researches, this collection was a Buddhist religious center in the past where the Buddhist monks lived and engaged in their ascetic practices. However, since non-national religions such as Buddhism were not as such practiced in Iran, the probability of this theory is very unlikely. In all probability, this place was used as one of the centers of official and national religions of Iran in the Sassanid era or was a “tower of silence” where the Zoroastrians placed their dead or was a sanatorium or place for the detention of criminals.