Shapur cave
Introduction


**Shapur cave** () is located in the [Zagros Mountains](/wiki/Zagros_Mountains "Zagros Mountains"), in southern [Iran](/wiki/Iran "Iran"). This cave is near [Kazerun](/wiki/Kazerun "Kazerun") in the Chogan valley.

In the cave, on the fourth of five terraces, stands the [statue of Shapur I](/wiki/Colossal_Statue_of_Shapur_I "Colossal Statue of Shapur I"), the second ruler of the [Sasanid Empire](/wiki/Sasanid_Empire "Sasanid Empire"). The statue was carved from one [stalagmite](/wiki/Stalagmite "Stalagmite"). The height of statue is 7 metres and its shoulders are 2 meters wide, and its arms are 3 meters long.

About 1400 years ago, after the [Muslim conquest of Persia](/wiki/Muslim_conquest_of_Persia "Muslim conquest of Persia") and collapse of the Sasanian Empire, the statue was pulled down and a part of one of its legs was broken. About 70 years ago, again, parts of his arms were also broken in an earthquake. The statue had been lying on the ground for about 14 centuries until 1957 when [Mohammad Reza Pahlavi](/wiki/Mohammad_Reza_Pahlavi "Mohammad Reza Pahlavi"), the last [Shah](/wiki/Shah "Shah") of Iran, had a group of Iranian military to raise it again on its feet and repair the broken foot with iron and cement.

There are two inscriptions in the cave, one translates Shapur's own inscription on the [Naqsh\-e Rajab](/wiki/Naqsh-e_Rajab "Naqsh-e Rajab"). The other is about the restoration of the statue by the Royal Iranian army under the Shah.


Who was the ruler of the Sasanid Empire that the statue of Shapur I represents?