Prophet Daniel
The prophet Daniel Popular and respected among the Jews and Christians people. Despite not being mentioned in the holly book of Qur’an, since he is accepted as a prophet among the Christians and mentioned in the holly books of Muslims and Christians. The prophet Daniel is a descendant of Judah, the fourth son of Jacob’s first wife, who was born in Jerusalem in the seventh century BC and as a prophet of the children of Israel, had a tough living. At the age of 17 when the Babylonian army attacked the Jerusalem, the prophet Daniel was taken to the court of Bakht al-Nasr, king of Babylon. Daniel and 3 of his friends were chosen to give service to the king. Daniel interpreted the dream of Bakht al-Nasr correctly. After that all his predictions and interpretations come true, so he reached great positions and degrees in his court. After the conquest of Babylon by Cyrus, Daniel immigrated to Susa with a group of Jews. He passed away at the age of 83 and after being embalmed, his body was buried at the eastern bank of the Shavor (Shah Hoor / Shahoor) River.
There are several beliefs about his exact burial place. Some historians believe that he was buried in other places such as Iraq, Babylon, Egypt and Samarkand. Some believe that Timur Lang took the body of Daniel to Samarkand with himself. The inhabitants of Samarkand believe that after he returned to Susa, he brought a half of Daniel’s body with him to protect his people against the natural disasters and other difficulties. His book entitled as “The Book of Daniel” including his memories, dreams, and visions written in the Hebrew language in 12 seasons. In the 7th season of the book, there’s a dream telling bout the great empires of the time, including the Empire of Persia. Dreams that announce the events that will take place until the savior of the apocalypse comes to power.
Architecture of Tomb of Daniel
The magnificent Tomb of Daniel with its incredible architecture includes two yards. There are several rooms around and a pond in the middle of the main courtyard to rest the pilgrims. To get into the tomb, you must cross through the eastern gate including two minarets. Each minaret is 10 miter height and according to the inscription above one of them, the date of construction goes back to 1330 AH by Haj Mullah Hossein Memarbashi. The western part of the tomb is covered by Persian and Islamic tiles. The shrine of this tomb is covered with mirrors and tiles that give such a heavenly sense to people. The tomb of Daniel is one of the religious tombs with Orchin dome with two shells in Persia. Some of the characteristics of this type of architecture are:
Populism and the scale of humanity in its inner or parietal shell, as well as the division of forces by the parish, which ultimately leads to increase the life of the building. The outer shell that has a symbolic function and can be seen from outside the city. Maybe for religious reasons, it was beautiful or based on the climatic needs of the region, which was built in a stepped manner. Nevertheless, this tomb is architecturally very similar to Tchogha zanbil ziggurat. The design of the domes is inspired by the trunk of a palm tree, which is one of the most abundant trees in the southern region of the country. This dome was built in the Seljuk period, but the idea of Tchogha zanbil architectural style was in the minds of its architects, while the Tchogha zanbil ziggurat was underground at that time.