MARAGHA

This article appears in Volume V17, Page 668 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: MAL-MAR

MARAGHA , a town of Persia in the province of Azerbaijan, on the Safi River, in 370 23' N., 46 16' E., 8o m. from Tabriz. Pop. about 16,000. It is pleasantly situated in a narrow valley running nearly north and

south

SOUTH
SOUTH, ROBERT (1634–1716)

at the eastern extremity of a well-cultivated plain opening towards Lake Urmia, which lies 18 m. to the west. The town is encompassed by a high

wall

WALL (O. Eng. weal, weall, Mid. Eng. wal, wane, adapted from Lat. vallum, rampart; the
original
- ORIGINAL
O. Eng. word for a wall was wag or tenth)
WALL, RICHARD (1694-1778)

ruined in many places, and has four gates. Two stone bridges in good

condition

CONDITION (Lat. condicio, from condicere, to agree upon, arrange; not connected with conditio, from condere, conditum, to put together)

, said to have been constructed during the reign of Hulaku Khan (1256-1265), and since then several times repaired, lead over the Safi River on the western side of the town. The place is surrounded by extensive vineyards and orchards, all well watered by canals led from the river, and producing

great

GREAT

quantities of fruit for exportation to Russia. On a hill west of the town are the remains of a famous

observatory

OBSERVATORY

(rasad) constructed under the direction of the

great

GREAT

astronomer Nasr-uddin of Tus. The hills west of the town consist of

horizontal

HORIZONTAL

strata of sandstone covered with irregular pieces of basalt and the top of the hill on which the

observatory

OBSERVATORY

stood was made level by taking away the basalt. The building, which no doubt served as a citadel as well, enclosed a space of 380 yds. by 150, and the foundations of the walls were 41 to 5 ft. in thickness. The marble, which is known throughout Persia as Maragha marble, is a travertine obtained at the

village

VILLAGE

of Dashkesen (Turkish for
" stone-breakers " (about 30 M. north-west from Maragha. It is deposited from water, which bubbles up from a number of springs in the form of

horizontal

HORIZONTAL

layers, which at first are thin crusts and can easily be broken, but gradually solidify and harden into blocks with a thickness of 7 to 8 in. It is a singularly beautiful substance, being of

pink

PINK

, greenish, or milk-white colour, streaked with reddish, copper-coloured veins. An

analysis

ANALYSIS (Gr. avci and Meta, to break up into parts)

of the marble gave the following result: calcium carbonate, 9o93; magnesium, 75; iron, 1.37; manganese, 4.34; calcium sulphate, 2.3o; calcium phosphate, 24 (R. T. Gunther, Geog. Journ. xiv. 517).

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