TEHRAN –Pieces of historical tiles and an astrolabe have recently been discovered in an archaeological survey in Lambsar Castle in Alamut, Qazvin province, ILNA reported on Tuesday.

Tiles with single colors of turquoise, light blue, white, and black are estimated to date back to the middle Islamic period, said Iranian archaeologist Kambiz Kabiri, who presides over the project.

An adobe wall with a stone foundation behind a round tower was also identified during the excavation, he added.

The castle, which was the winter shelter of the followers of Hassan-e Sabbah, who was the spiritual leader of a heretical Ismaili sect, known as ‘Assassins’, has undergone an archaeological survey to receive better preservation and protection, he explained.

In the 1930s, British-Italian explorer and travel writer Freya Stark described her exploration of the place in her book “The Valleys of the Assassins.”

Alamut is famed for a well-fortified castle nested on top of a hill, once sheltering the followers of Sabbah. Narratives say Sabbah led a bizarre, much-feared mercenary organization whose members were dispatched to murder or kidnap leading political and religious figures of the day.

Narratives say that the name Alamut, which means “eagle’s nest”, is associated with a regional 8th-century king who spied an eagle landing amid its rugged lofty crags and was inspired to build an impregnable fortress.

The ruined structure, better known as Alamut Castle, is now a top travel destination for both domestic and international sightseers. The castle is situated on the northeastern side of Gazor Khan village in the environs of Mo’alem Kalayeh.

Sandwiched between the dry and barren plain of Qazvin in the south and the densely forested slopes of the Mazandaran province in the north, the site, also known as Alamut, draws many travelers with particular objectives in mind: to find the past in the present, to learn about other cultures, to have a breath of fresh air, or simply to get some distance from work, to cite a few.

Assassins believed their actions would transport them to paradise. Supposedly, Sabbah cunningly cultivated such beliefs by getting his followers stoned on hashish (unbeknown to them) and then showing them beautiful secret gardens.

This notion, however, gave the sect its popular name ‘Hashish-iyun’, the root of the modern English term ‘assassin.’Or so the story goes. Peter Willey’s book, Eagle’s Nest, gives an altogether more sympathetic version, portraying Sabbah as a champion of the free-thinking, pro-science, Islamic tradition and suggesting that the hashish tales were exaggerations designed to denigrate Ismaili Islam.

The castle was captured by Mongol ruler Hulagu Khan in 1256 using diplomatic trickery, having earlier forced the surrender of the Ismailis’ spiritual leader (Sabbah’s successor).

Sabbah’s rule from Alamut (which he renamed the City of Good Fortune) is shrouded in mystery and enigma. This is partly because most Ismaili records of the era were destroyed by the invading Mongols while the writings of their detractors survived.

For centuries, Alamut Castle was almost forgotten and only returned to public consciousness with the publication of Stark’s 1930s travel diary, Valleys of the Assassins. A copy of that recently reprinted volume makes a great companion for the trip.

ABU/AM