The Square Room poses some of the same problems as the Round Room, due to the discovery of monumental raw clay statues, which are more numerous here. Several very well-preserved heads, the work of model-makers trained in the best Greek traditions, were found in an adjoining room where they had been deposited, perhaps after an earthquake. Men and women stood side by side, as did Greek and Parthian costumes, both military and civilian. The types are not linked to any particular Greek god, and consequently not to the gods of the Iranian pantheon, which could only be represented by translating them into the iconographic language of the Greek pantheon. The type that seems to have inspired the male portraits is rather that of the hero, in its two variants, with flowing hair and in armor. The suggestion that these are conventional portraits of royal ancestors is worth considering [1]. As far as the function of the hall is concerned, it should be borne in mind that, at least in its first three-bay state, it was the most open of all to the esplanade, suggesting a public audience hall, or even a basilica (in the secular sense of the term).
The tower-building adjoining it to the south has generally been regarded as a temple, even by P. Bernard, as it stands on a 7.5 m-high mud-brick platform with a double belt of peripheral corridors. However, the north-facing orientation is not found in any Iranian temple. V. Pilipko and H.-P. Francfort have drawn attention to the similarities with the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus: in addition to the platform, the upper floor features column veneer and battle scenes, here painted. Perhaps it's not a bad idea to go further. These scenes seem to oppose Parthians and other archers on horseback - Saces? Phraate II, successor to Mithridates I, perished in a battle against the Saces in 128, and one of the two āyazan (sacred establishments) mentioned in the ostraca is the "āyazan of Phraate". The idea of a heron where the memory of this sovereign (or, if we follow Mary Boyce, his Fravashi) was venerated is therefore a hypothesis worth considering.
