New Findings regarding the Portal of the Jami‘ Mosque of Bam after the 2003 Earthquake

The Jami‘ Mosque of Bam has gone through a long process of transformations including restoration, reconstruction, and renovation.  Much of these works were hidden inside the physical form until the earthquake of 2003 uncovered important structures, among them, the original portal and the flanking twin minarets. These findings question the previously accepted timeline for the mosque and pose new questions that had not been discussed previously. The objective of this paper is to introduce the original form of the portal and locating its modifications on the timeline of the mosque according to a descriptive-analytical method. On the basis of remaining evidence such as architectural remnants, mudbrick sizes, the height of imposts, the thickness of the flanking pillars, and the diameter of the minarets’ shafts, the entrance portal is dated to the fourteenth century AD, very similar to other Muzaffarid and Timurid portals that are high and lofty.