It is one of several Caspian Gates at the eastern part of a region known in antiquity as Hyrcania, on the nomadic route from the northern steppes to the Iranian heartland.

The wall is believed to have protected the Sasanian Empire to the south from the peoples to the north,[2] probably the White Huns.

[6] This wall starts from the Caspian coast, circles north of Gonbad-e Kavus (ancient Gorgan, or Jorjan in Arabic), continues towards the northeast, and vanishes in the Pishkamar Mountains.

[2] Due to many difficulties in development and agricultural projects, archaeologists have been assigned to mark the boundary of the historical find by laying cement blocks.

Models, taking into account the size and room number of the barrack blocks in the Gorgan Wall forts and likely occupation density, produce figures between 15,000 and 36,000 soldiers.

Even the lowest estimate suggests a strong and powerful army, all the more remarkable as our investigations focused just on 200km of vulnerable frontier, a small fraction of the thousands of kilometres of borders of one of the ancient world's largest empires.

[2] A similar Sasanian defence wall and fortification lies on the opposite, western, side of the Caspian Sea at the port of Derbent, in the Republic of Dagestan, Russia.

There the remains of a line of fortifications run inland for some 3 km (1.9 mi) from the shore of the Caspian Sea (42°03′46″N 48°18′26″E / 42.062643°N 48.307185°E / 42.062643; 48.307185) to what is today an extraordinarily well preserved Sassanian fort (42°03′10″N 48°16′27″E / 42.052840°N 48.274230°E / 42.052840; 48.274230) on the first foothills of the Caucasus Mountains.