The Sabael Castle
In 1235 Shirvanshah Fariburz III had a fortification built on one of the
rocky islands of the Baku bay which was
subsequently called the Sabael Castle, Shahri Saba, Shahri Nau, the city under
water, the caravanserai, the Bail rocks, etc. Wrapped in legends, the castle is
completely under water at present and is about 350 meters distant from the
shore.
The castle was constructed by the project of the architect Zeynaddin Ibn Abu
Rashid Shirvani. The plan of the building has a view of an irregular shaped
rectangular of 180 m in length and 40 m in width sharply stretched from the
north to the south. This shape coincided with the outlines of the island rising
above the sea water on which the foundation of the building is entirely located.
The castle was surrounded with the fortress walls of 1,5-2 m in thickness and
had 15 towers, three of which were round and 12 - semicircular.
The entire fortress in the upper part is set in a frame with an inscription
made of Arabic type. The greater part of the inscription was made in the Persian
language – the official language of the period. The general length of the
inscription is 400 metres.
Each of the stones with an inscription was 70 cm lengthwise and 25-50 cm wide,
the thickness reached 15-25 cm. These inscriptions do not have analogues in the
entire Near East of the feudal period for their decorative design, the pictures
of living creatures, first discovered in the Islamic monuments of the world. The
text of the inscription gives the genealogy of the Shirvanshahs’ dynasty
Mazyadids. The inscriptions on the stones have not been deciphered up to now.
The pictures of different animals perhaps show the years of one or another
Shirvanshah. As is generally known, in the medieval period in the Near Eastern
countries the years were marked by the names of animals. The pictures of human
heads with a crown seem to refer to individual representatives of the
Shirvanshahs’ dynasty. Among the proper names one can see on the inscriptions
are Mahammad Ibn Yazid, Khalid, Ali, Manuchuhr, Fariburz Afrasiyab, Jamaladdin,
etc. One can also see the titles “shah”, “soltan”, the names of cities are also
encountered. On one stone one can read Benderi-Baku, that is, the port of Baku.
The name of Rashid an-Naggash, that is artist Rashid who had cut out human and
animal pictures is also mentioned.

There are different versions about the purpose of the
castle. The small width of the exit doors (1,25m) refutes the version that it
was a caravanserai, as loaded camels and horses could not pass through them. The
researches show that this was a defence sea fortress being at the same time a
residence of the Shirvanshahs. The sea fortress on the approaches to Baku was
necessary in case of an attack from the seaside. At the end of the XII century
the Shirvanshahs had a marine which stood round the fortress. From outside round
the walls one can see the stones with an opening to tie the ships.
In the XIII century the Mongols who did not have any fleet, laid siege to the
fortress for a long time. Although they did destroy the upper part of the
fortress with siege-guns, they could not occupy it.
In 1306 as a result of a strong earthquake in the south of the Caspian and the
rise of the sea level the fortress sank into the water. From the beginning of
the XIV century and to the beginning of the XVIII century the building was
flooded with the Caspian waters. In 1723 in connection with the abatement of the
water level in the Caspian the top of the tower appeared from beneath the water.
The upper part of the building is completely destroyed, only the lower part of
the walls and the towers reaching in some places about 1,5-2 m high is
surviving.
The archaeological investigations of the castle were carried out in 1939,
1940, 1946, 1962 and 1969. In the course of the excavations the foundations of 9
habitual premises were discovered, two of them had a hearth. About 700 stones
with inscriptions, fragments of earthenware crockery of black and red baking,
intact vessels, copper coins of Shirvanshah Kershasb (1203/4-24) and others were
lifted from the bottom of the sea. Also were found the fragments of potter’s
pipes of different diameters which seemed to be water-pipes. At present part of
the stones lifted from the bottom of the sea are displayed in the museum of the
Shirvanshahs’ Palace.
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