Prison of Solomon : Zendan-e Soleyman, a photo from Azarbayjan-e Gharbi, West

Photographer's Note

The hollow mountain known as Zendan-e Soleyman ( Prison of Solomon ) is situated 3 kilometers to the west of Takht-e Soleyman in west Azarbaijan ( Takht-e Soleyman was recognized as a World Heritage Site in July 2003 ).The height of this conical mountain above neighboring lands is 97 to 107 meters and a hole approx 80 meters deep can be seen above it with its opening diameter being approx. 65m.

Drying of the mountain hole water was not sudden. Rather, the water level gradually decreased over a long time and the reason for this was the wet sediments of the lower layers where the sediments have been compacted more.

Around the cone-shaped opening of the prison mountain, there are the ruins of the holy temple from the first millennium B.C. which was studied and investigated by a board of German archeologists during the decade of 40. The remains of this architectural temple and discovered things show that they belong to Mana period. They ruled this part of Iran in 660 to 830 B.C.. After flourishing of the Azargoshnasb fire temple in Sassanian period, this historical place and some of its architectural parts used as a guardianship castle.

Another point to be noted about the prison is the existing gas and springs in this well, still active with the subsided walls of a gas spring in the hole inside the mountain and this powerful gas-bearing spring has with all its force thrown out the unwanted stones and kept its highly placed mouth open flowing with water inside it. Indeed, we cannot yet distinguish the spring inside the opening from the height of 80 m because the ruins and sedimentary layers collapsed into the hole do not let it be seen.

Lots of warm water springs are seen in this site; some of them are used for hydrotherapy and there are few constructions built for this purpose.
I myself prefer to see the natural form of these springs and the one in the FG is one of them.
*
There is a shot from the top of the prison mountain in the WS.

dareco, albertz, Janice, Sne011, Clementi, siolaw, AiresSantos, adores, kiwi_explorer, cfreire, skippy007, jusninasirun, stego, capthaddock, sayat, daddo, ElAprendiz, mafegan, axiotea, AlvaroGuijarro, Jardim, BWJ, lucasgalodoido, zmey, gracious, SAMANDI, Matthew-Watt, plimrn heeft deze opmerking als nuttig gemarkeerd

Critiques | Translate

dareco (17136) 2008-08-19 20:30

A fantastic picture and an extremely interesting note. Beautiful colors and detail. TFS and have a happy day!

albertz (2468) 2008-08-19 21:15

Interesting to see water in a deserted place. I wonder how hot it is, it seems to boil and i can feel the heat from here. Very good note too.

Janice (4403) 2008-08-19 21:36

This is very interesting to see Atousa. The colours stand out, especially the red earth and the turquoise water. And also the blue sky and clouds. And your notes are very interesting too - thank you'
Janice

izmirli (3989) 2008-08-19 23:25

salam dear atousa
excellent blue sky and naturel colours.wonderful picture and composition.well done.
best regards.
gürkan akçakır.

aadilj (18102) 2008-08-19 23:44

Thats wellc aptured with a lovely colour scheme and a wide panoramic view. the landscape is vivid and beautiful

Sne011 (3084) 2008-08-20 0:18

Hello Atousa,
Beutiful landscape. Nature is amazing and colors are great. Good info too!
Have a nice day!
Sneza

Clementi (52514) 2008-08-20 3:52

Ciao Atousa,
fantastic landscape,it is strange to see some water spout so in the desert. perfect the colours in particular I like the sky with his clouds. interesting also the note .
nice work
Giorgio

syrus_persia (2270) 2008-08-20 9:49

Salam Atousa
Jaye jalebi bayad bashe.Halate abrha kheyli ghashangand va ba vojode kooh zibayishon bishtar namayan mishe
Mersi
syrus

Scharan (14144) 2008-08-20 14:57

Olá Atousa

Bela foto...uma linda paisagem e cores maravilhosas.
GA
Vera

saxo042 (38078) 2008-08-21 4:41

Hi Atousa,
Beautiful colours and a good composition! An interesting note as well as a good WS makes this an excellent TE contribution!
Greetings from Gothenburg
Gunnar

siolaw (38294) 2008-08-22 21:46

Hello Atousa,
A good use of the water hole for a strong FG, with the water surgeing out ... The overall quality of color and sharpness is good. An interesting nature shot with a good note!
Greetings
Laurent

AiresSantos (56155) 2008-08-23 0:45

Hi Atousa
Wonderful POV and colours in this excellent composition. Very well framed with the lake in foregrand and lovely sky with nice clouds
TFS and have a nice weekend
Aires

adores (46979) 2008-08-23 16:15

Hi Atousa!
Great scenery! I like the water in foreground and colours are excellent! Good work!

kiwi_explorer (12209) 2008-08-24 1:43

Hi Atousa,
The contrast between the pool of water and barren landscape is amazing. Color contrast and image sharpness are excellent. A very good photo with fine details. Well captured and composed! tfs
Cheers,
Renier

cfreire (11741) 2008-08-24 11:35

Salam Atousa,
Beautiful and impressive shot of this scenery very well captured with excellents depth, color and contrasts. The clouds on the beautiful sky add a great attractive for the picture. Well done. Best regards, Consuelo

skippy007 (12510) 2008-08-25 23:26

Hello Atousa, Both excellent images of this amazing & historical site. I prefer this view showing us the Hollow Mountain & springs. I like you prefer the natural look but unfortunately we can not stand in the way of what we call progress. Colour & detail are excellent as always. A very interesting & informative note.
Thank you
Regards
Santo

marietom (34611) 2008-08-26 2:36

hello Atousa,

Joli paysage, et belle composition, qui donne envie de repartir en vacances !
Bonne journée
Marie

testmaniac (13508) 2008-08-26 10:44

Hello Atousa, attractive landscape with good photo quality,colors and composition!

TFS and regards,

Phil

jusninasirun (17529) 2008-08-27 6:50

Hello Atousa. I like the warmth of this image. The water hole in the foreground with warm water springs looks really good against the rough texture of the prison. The sky is just perfect for the composition. Well done and best regards. Jusni

stego (24132) 2008-08-28 3:40

Salam Atousa,
A natural thermal station in the middle of the desert. I don't know if it is allowed, but I wonder that having a bath in that pool must be quite a pleasant experience. I like the balance between the blue lagoon and the dead volcano on the BG. The colours match very nicely and it looks to me like the crater moved downhill and began expelling water instead of lava.
Regards, José.

capthaddock (28790) 2008-08-29 20:37

Super sky and interesting to see such a water pool in an arid environment, grat note and an interesting workshop as well.

sayat (2949) 2008-09-03 2:31

A very beautiful informative shot Dear Atousa! Thanks to your shots, I think a journey to this beautiful land of yours has become unavoidable for me!

Thanks for sharing.

daddo (28748) 2008-09-05 3:49

Salam Atousa.A hollow mountain! What was it originally? Did it result from some geothermal explosion? Anyway, it is a marvel and your POV that incorporates the soft blue of the water and the red of the desert like landscape is most effective. regards. Klaudio.

Angshu (56760) 2008-09-11 21:08

Salam Atousa
Not only is the picture excellent, but the note is very informative & with the Ws picture, you have given us an excellent package! Like the turquoise water of the pool in the FG & the shadow of the clouds on the mountain slope. Fine work indeed Atousa..well done!
Best Regards
Angshu

fserajian (2299) 2008-09-18 3:19

Salam Atousa,

Another nice one, I like the way the water is bubbling in the lake with an excellent background. TFS

Faramarz

ElAprendiz (30) 2008-09-22 18:43

Hello Atousa:

An image and a scene simply spectacular.

The reddish hues, highly stressed in the composition and contrast of various colors. Good frame, a heaven with its beautiful set of clouds, and a very appreciative note. Thank you for sharing and also for visiting my gallery.

John

barrufeto_77 (28888) 2008-10-06 14:50

Hi Atousa.

For sure...an excellent view! The colours and the contrasts are lovely!

Rgs, Oscar

axiotea (21651) 2008-10-12 7:02

Salam Atousa
A very interesting and informative note concerning the "prison of Solomon" which is well illustrated by your picture.The clear water spring with the bubbles coming out of it, makes for a good starting point and leads nicely the eye to the mountains under beautiful clouds...I found the photo in ws very special ;)
Greetings from Thailand.
Marilyn

AlvaroGuijarro (288) 2008-10-18 9:21

Una foto dividida en tres secciones: el cielo, la tierra y el agua termal. Y la tierra, sugiriendo el fuego al ser un territorio semi-volcánico.
3 elementos en la foto totalmente contrastados en todo: luz, color, textura...
Y el cuarto, el fuego, sugerido.

Absolutamente genial. Felicidades

Saludos
Álvaro

Jardim (3243) 2008-11-02 12:35

Olá Atousa,

Impressive the colour of the ground and contrast between the sky. A beautiful landscape.

JJ

BWJ (3094) 2008-11-30 19:01

Salam Atousa,
There is excellent contrast of color and beautiful depth and detail in this landscape. The sky is fabulous! Your note is very interesting and informative. My compliments to you!
Kind regards,
Betty

lucasgalodoido (27698) 2008-12-01 12:41

Hi Atousa,
interesting scene, with perfect and satured colors capture and beautiful landscape. Great job.
Regards,
Lucas

zmey (7335) 2008-12-17 9:14

hi Atousa
a very interesting place, it seems. would love to see it with my own eyes one day. would have preferred the scene in more expressive early morning/evening light though.

regards
kristaps

gracious (20025) 2009-01-13 1:01

Selamlah Atousa,
I thank you for sharing your beautiful gallery with so many quality images from Iran!
this is the most beautiful landscape of nature at it's best!
the pov is just great with good depth, awesome colouration and details
well done
greeting from NZ
Tony

lorenzetti (1584) 2010-05-13 12:32

Hello Atousa,

Wonderful colors and good repartition water - montain - sky.

Regards - Franco

mafegan (8626) 2010-05-19 3:54

Hello Atousa
Informative notes and informative photo. Natural colours and good pov with the spring forming the base of the photo. Great sky to compliment the scene. Tfs, Marlene

Matthew-Watt (5934) 2010-10-27 18:25

Hello Atousa,

A very interesing part of our Earth in this photo. I love the two types of blues here, contrasting against the harshness of the arid landscape. It's a beautiful combination. The movement of the bubbling spring and the radial ripples looks great, as does the softness of the clouds. Great saturation, and complimenting tones. A special place.

Matt

plimrn (21344) 2011-08-13 9:16

Salam Atousa,
Your thoughtful framing makes this composition a real treat. The bubbling spring and turquoise pool in the FG contrast well with the warm tones of the earth and mountain. then another change back to cool with the sky and excellent detail of clouds in the top third.

Your note is interesting.
HLJ, Pat