the great wall of gorgan
From all the wonders created by humans throughout our history, one of the most iconic must be the great walls. Quite a few were constructed all around the world, so more famous than most. Of course, the iconic two are the Hadrian's Wall – located in Northern England and built by the Roman Emperor Hadrian – and the legendary Great Wall of China. More modern one includes the Berlin Wall – the symbol of the Cold War between the US and the USSR – and the Belfast Peace Wall in Northern Ireland.
However, another great wall in the Middle East was built sometime between the Great Wall of China and the Hadrian's Wall. Guarding the borders of the Sassanian Empire between the Caspian Sea and the Alborz mountains, its name is the Great Wall of Gorgan. Although its date of construction is a subject of debate, many sources pinpoint it to the 5th-6th century AD. This would suggest that the great Khosrow I, one of the greatest Shah who led the Sassanian Empire, built it. We don't know why the wall was built in the first place, but many believe it was to protect the Empire's northern borders from the Hephthalites, more commonly known as the White Hun, with whom the Sassanids arbored mixed relationships. An example of this turmoiled relationship is The Hephthalites killing Shah Balash, Khosrow's grandfather, in battle. Then, they helped the nephew of the later, Shah Kavad, regain his throw on two different occasions, only to reignite hostilities with Khosrow after. This state of tensions between the two nations was reinforced when the wall was built on one of their shared borders.
The Great Wall of Gorgan was a marvel of military construction. Being 195 km long, it completely dwarfed any other such structure ever built, except for the Great Wall of China. To put it in comparison, if you put the Hadrian's Wall and Antonine's Wall (Hadrian's northern brother? side by side, they wouldn't even barely match the Gorgan's wall. But what made this wall impressive wasn't just its size; its structure itself was remarkable. If the Great Wall of China was longer, the Gorgan Wall was no doubt of a better build. A combination of clay, fired bricks, mortar and other strong building materials made it one of the most challenging structures to invade. It was supported by 30 forts spread across the wall, each provided with a sizeable garrison. Although the exact number of soldiers is unknown, they are estimated between 15 and 36 thousand. But of course, the Sassanians didn't just stop there; that would be too easy. The wall was conveniently placed on fertile lands, and after a sizable work on irrigation, as if the wall wasn't big enough already, the forts became self-sufficient in terms of food and water. Talking about efficiency, no wonder the Sassanians were such a torn in the Byzantium's side.
