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Medieval Observatory Unearthed in Northern Iran

Archeologist noticed three large windows facing southeast where stars rise after sunset, precisely matching the ones in Maragheh.

October 17, 2010 (Hamsayeh.Net) - Iranian archeologist have discovered an ancient observatory located atop Mount Alamut about 100 km northwest of Tehran.

‘During our excavations in the Alamut Castle we found some windows which we realized had not been used for scouting to protect anything. These windows open to the Southeast, that is the direction that stars first come into sight,’ said manager of the historic site Hamideh Chobak in a report by FNA.

According to Chobak the site resembles a well-known ancient observatory in Maragheh, which was used by many famous Persian astronomers in the past centuries. One the best known Middle Ages Astronomers was Khajeh Nasir Toosi (1201-1274) who was a Persian polymath and prolific writer as well as an astronomer, biologist, chemist, mathematician, philosopher, physician, physicist, scientist, theologian and Marja Taqleed, also frequented the said observatory. 

Archeologist noticed three large windows facing southeast where stars rise after sunset, precisely matching the ones in Maragheh.

‘A comparison of the Alamut Castle with Maragheh observatory discloses that Khajeh Nasireddin Tousi had constructed and modeled the famous Maragheh observatory after the Alamut observatory,’ she added.

Alamut literally means ‘Eagle’s Nest’ in Persian.  

A manual of Astronomy written by Khajeh Nasir Tusi is on display at Tehran Museum

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