Mil-i Gharb Radkan

Built at the summit of a hill, this tomb tower has a tall cylindrical chamber crowned with a steep conical roof that covers an inner hemispherical dome. It was built in 1016 for Abu Ja'far Mohammad bin Vandaryan Bavandi, identified as a military leader of the Tabaristan clan. It is among the earliest buildings to use a double-dome to crown a chamber.The exterior of the chamber is unadorned, except for terracotta bands below the dome. A band of tulips separated by miniature brackets sits above a Kufic epigraphic band that gives the name of the tomb's owner, and date of construction. Ahmad bin Omar is identified in the same inscription as the builder of the tomb. Between these two wide bands and below the epigraphic band, are two narrow bands composed of a chain pattern. An inscriptive plaque had originally marked the top of the arched entryway.Sources:Pope, Arthur Upham, ed., Phyllis Ackerman, assist. ed. A Survey of Persian Art from Prehistoric Times to the Present. Vol. 3, Architecture, Its Ornament, City Plans, Gardens, 3rd ed., ##-##. Tehran: Soroush Press, 1977. Uqabi, Muhammad Mahdi, ed. Dayirat al-ma arif-i binaha-yi tarikhi-i Iran dar dawrah-i Islami, 320-322, 380. Tehran: Awzah i-i Hunari-i Sazmani-i Tablighat-i Islami, 1997.