| Abstract
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The fall of the Sassanian Empire in the seventh century raises several questions on the reasons leading to the collapse of the greatest empire of the antique world in that century. In order to find the reasons for the downturn, we need to investigate different aspects of the society, among which are the environmental reasons. The dependency of the strength of the society's backbone on natural resources and the environment made environment the most influential factor, in that its quality determined the power or weakness of the empire. The decline of the environment, particularly in Mesopotamia and Khuzistan, as the heart of the empire and centers for expansion led to the weakness of the backbone of the empire. After the fifth and sixth centuries, which were eras of development through constructing huge irrigation systems, new towns, roads, and colonization, the Sassanians went through a series of environmental disasters that if not the reasons for the collapse at least increased the speed of the downturns. War, including civil and foreign campaigns, over taxation that put pressure on the landowners, lethal pandemics, flood, drought, salinazation, siltation, and soil erosion were among the most important environmental factors leading to the fail of Sassanians in the seventh century.
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