The Parthi­an Fortress­es of Nisa con­sist of two tells of Old and New Nisa, indi­cat­ing the site of one of the ear­li­est and most impor­tant cities of the Parthi­an Empire, a major pow­er from the mid 3rd cen­tu­ry BC to the 3rd cen­tu­ry AD. They con­serve the unex­ca­vat­ed remains of an ancient civ­i­liza­tion which skil­ful­ly com­bined its own tra­di­tion­al cul­tur­al ele­ments with those of the Hel­lenis­tic and Roman west. Archae­o­log­i­cal exca­va­tions in two parts of the site have revealed rich­ly dec­o­rat­ed archi­tec­ture, illus­tra­tive of domes­tic, state and reli­gious func­tions. Sit­u­at­ed at the cross­roads of impor­tant com­mer­cial and strate­gic axes, this pow­er­ful empire formed a bar­ri­er to Roman expan­sion while serv­ing as an impor­tant com­mu­ni­ca­tion and trad­ing cen­tre between east and west, north and south.