The Pahneh Bath (Pahne and Hazrat) – Semnan, Iran
Photo by Hessam Mirrahimi

The Pahneh Bath or the Hazrat Bath is a historical structure in Semnan that was founded 600 years ago. The Pahneh Bath is 1000 square meters and is located in the northwestern flank of the Pahneh religious center. The bath has two separate entrances for men and women. There are two stone benches in the bath of men; the door is decorated with tiles on its three sides. There’s a big inscription made up of white tiles on an azure background placed above the door. The sign of Lion and Sun can be seen in yellow tiles, and in two spandrels in the shape of a semicircle. Two Qajar soldiers can be seen in the tiles with a sentence saying made by Zeynolabedin, Semnan, 1951.

The Pahneh Bath (Pahne and Hazrat) Skeleton – Semnan, Iran
Photo by Hessam Mirrahimi

The Pahneh Bath turned into a local archeology and ethnography museum in 1994 after a series of reconstructions and renovations. The most outstanding relic in the Semnan Museum is a skeleton that dates back to 4000 years ago. It was found in an area called Tappeh Hesar in the city of Damghan. The skeleton belongs to a pregnant woman. It’s been relocated intact to the museum from the excavation site in Tappeh Hesar. A series of objects and tools can be seen around the woman that was buried with her. The main reason for showcasing the skeleton is to understand the burial rituals in the second century B.C. in the central Plateau of Iran.

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Most of its residents are of Fars race speaking Farsi language with a Daylami dialect that is also called Semnani. Although in the higher mountainous regions the weather is cold, in the lower altitude regions the temperature increases such that the hottest and driest section of the province refers to the Kavir desert.

Damghan is an ancient city of the province situated near the desert, where one of the oldest and earliest settlements in the Iranian plateau was established. For example, the mound of Hesar is one of the historical treasures of the country embracing archaeological founding from the Median (678-549 B.C.), Achaemenid (550-330 B.C.), Parthians (247 B.C.-224 A.D.), and Seleucid (312-63 B.C.) Empires. The Hecatompylos city (City of Hundred Gates) was one of the first capitals of the Parthian government, which its ruins were found around the present Damghan city.

There are plenty of tourist attractions in Semnan e.g., cobblestones of Shah Abbasi, serval caravanserais in the ancient Silk Road, national parks, waterfalls, caves, Bastam historical complex, the Arg (Gate) of Semnan, Soltani Mosque, Jam-e Mosque, Semnan market, Pahneh Bath Museum, Damghan Hesar Mound, Tarikhaneh Mosque, Pir Alamdar, Cheshmeh Ali, Zangule Dome, Bahar Palace, Qasr-e Bahram Caravanserai, and Abr (cloud) Jungle, and tombs of great mystics (such as Bayazid Bastami and Abu al-Hassan al-Kharaqani). Besides, a pleasant weather condition in summer is another factor attracting tourists.

The handicrafts of the province include different forms of printing on fabric, kilim, mosaic, wooden objects, and embroidered shoes. In addition to the handicrafts, the city presents a lot of eatable souvenirs including pistachio, traditional bread, melon, grape, pomegranate, sweets, walnut, and figs.

The most prevailing cuisine of the province is meat stew, vegetable rice, Tahchin (Persian baked rice cake) of raisin and yellow-split-peas, carrot and pistachio stew, and Kachi (a kind of sweet paste made of wheat powder and oil). The celebrities of this province include Manuchehri Damghani (poet) and two mystics i.e., Bayazid Bastami and Abu al-Hassan al-Kharaqani.

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