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Tomb of Habakkuk, Tuyserkan, Iran

Description

History

Estimated to have lived in 700 BC, Habaquq was a minor Biblical prophet who served in the Temple of Solomon. It is likely that he was exiled to Babylon.³ 

He was a prophet whose oracles and prayer are recorded in the Book of Habakkuk, the eighth of the collected twelve minor prophets in the Hebrew Bible.⁴ He is revered by Jews, Christians, and Muslims.⁵ Sources quite unanimously assert that almost nothing is known about Habakkuk, aside from what is stated within the book of the Bible bearing his name, or those inferences that may be drawn from that book.⁶ For almost every other prophet, more information is given, such as the name of the prophet's hometown, his occupation, or information concerning his parentage or tribe. For Habakkuk, however, there is no reliable account of any of these.⁷ 

The legend of “Bel and the Dragon” in the Septuagint states: “Daniel was cast into a lion’s den: on the sixth day of his imprisonment, Habakkuk was taking food to the reapers in the field in Judea, when he was seized by the hair and miraculously transferred to Babylon, where he gave the food to Daniel.”⁸

Features:

This brick monument’s overall shape consists essentially of an octagonal tower topped by a conical roof.⁹ Each of the eight sides of the roughly 7 meter high tower is embellished with the design of an inset arch.¹⁰ The conical roof has been formed out of 16 columns arranged in a circle and leaning towards its center, where they converge, about 5 meters above, to create its peak.¹¹ It is thought to be at least 2,500 years old, but has been rebuilt several times and thus cannot be dated accurately.¹² The current building is in the style of the Seljuq period (1038–1194) and is assumed to date from that time.¹³ The structure is lavishly decorated by the means of tile and brick works painted by the famous Jewish star.¹⁴ Each side has a blind niche with spandrels of black, blue, and white glazed tiles of geometric design in the shape of Stars of David. At the base of the cone there is a crown-like band of decorative geometrical brick designs.¹⁵  The building has one entrance, with a modern door of metal and colored glass, and a neon sign above the entrance. The original door, a stone slab, was difficult to move and is no longer there.¹⁶ The grave is in the center of the building, marked by a gravestone with an inscription in Persian and Hebrew.¹⁷

On either side above the gravestone there is a menorah, with a Star of David placed between the pair. Beneath these religious symbols, are inscribed verses in Hebrew and Persian.¹⁸ The grave was formerly covered by a large wooden box, which itself was covered by a cloth and had a short biography of Habakkuk on one side.¹⁹  Recent pictures indicate that the cloth has been removed and the original box replaced with a new “westernized” box of dark wood and gold, with writings in Persian and English.²⁰

Due to its isolated location, few travelers have visited the site.²¹ David d’Beth Hillel, who visited Persia during the reign of Fatḥ-ʿAli Shah around 1824, gives a favorable account of Tuyserkān and its surroundings as a fertile and prosperous region.²² He devotes a short passage to the tomb: “About half an hour’s distance from the town is a little circular tower. The Israelites say that there is buried the prophet Habakkuk.” He was told many stories about it by the local Jewish population, but he did not believe them.²³ Neither did he find any sepulcher inside the monument.²⁴

The famous court physician, Jean-Baptiste Feuvrier (1842-1926), visited the site in July 1892.²⁵ He includes a photograph of it in his famous travelog, Trois ans à la cour de Perse.²⁶ In contrast to Hillel’s account some sixty years earlier, Feuvrier found the area depopulated and in ruins apart from the tomb itself, which he compared in appearance to a cone-shaped Savoyard cake.²⁷ 

Current Status:

The interior is now decorated with European-style plasterwork.²⁸  Framed verses and prayers in Arabic and a picture of the statue of Habakkuk from the mid-15th century by the Italian Renaissance sculptor Donatello the walls.²⁹  There are no visible Jewish religious artifacts in the shrine, and banners with Arabic verses, probably  from the Qurʼān, have recently been placed around the interior.³⁰

The monument is found today in a built-up area, as the focus of a public square.³¹ The tomb of Ḥabaquq is sacred to both Jews and Muslims and many stories are told by locals about the miracles performed by this prophet for members of both communities.³²

The shrine has been restored several times, most recently in 1961.³³  During recent restorations, a three-story cellar, which had remained untouched, was discovered, and a number of tablets and artifacts were also found.³⁴  In 1993, a body was recovered in an unauthorized excavation by antiquities smugglers.³⁵ At the same time, the main tomb was found located in the basement.³⁶ According to those in observation of the body of the Prophet, his body was healthy and his skin was palpable.³⁷ A video of the excavation is located in the Free (Āzād) Islamic University of  Tuyserkan.³⁸ 

In 2012, the Iranian government began a major renovation of the shrine, to mitigate damage from humidity and in effort to promote the area as a religious tourist site.³⁹ Between 2012-2013 it had 35,000 visitors.⁴⁰

Tuyserkan, Iran

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