Takht-i Sulaiman

Takht-i Sulaiman (literally, “Throne of Solomon”) is the site of the sole surviving palace of the Ilkhanid period and the only well-preserved example of Ilkhanid secular architecture. Located on a mountainside in northwestern Iran, the palace was built as a summer residence for the second Ilkhanid ruler Abaqa (reigned 1265–81). The palace was built over the ruins of a sanctuary where the Sasanian emperors (the last pre-Islamic rulers of Iran) were believed to have been crowned, indicating that the site was likely chosen not only for its climate and location but also for its associations with ancient Iranian kingship.

The Ilkhanid phase at Takht-i Sulaiman, which was excavated between 1959 and 1978, includes a huge courtyard that encompasses an artificial lake. Porticoes surround the courtyard on its four sides, each with a vaulted chamber marking the center and leading to other sections of the palace. The excavations revealed thousands of tile fragments, indicating that vividly painted gilt and lustered tiles were the primary means of ornamentation, serving as a kind of brilliant decorative skin for the interiors. The luxury tiles that decorated the palace were probably produced at the kiln and potter’s workshop excavated onsite.

In one of the palace’s chambers, interlocking star-and-cross shaped tiles covered the walls up to a height of six feet. Each star tile was decorated with a gilt dragon or a phoenix on a deep blue or a turquoise background; these mythic beasts were imported Chinese motifs associated with royalty. This same section of the wall was likely surmounted by a band of square frieze tiles decorated in a colorful, glittery technique known as luster painting, and again bearing dragons and phoenixes as well as perhaps heroic figures and quotations from the Iranian national epic, the Shahnama (Book of Kings).

Both the location of the palace (with its ancient associations with Iranian kingship) and its tile decoration (with Chinese and Iranian symbols of royalty) were deliberately selected to enhance the legitimacy of the Ilkhanid ruler. Apart from its presumed use as a means of propaganda, the magnificent tile decoration from Takht-i Sulaiman gives a brief glimpse of how the Mongol sultans of Iran decorated their palaces as well as demonstrates the meeting and merging of cultural elements from eastern and western Asia.