Tehran, 1 October 2006 (CHN Foreign Desk) -- A team consisted of Iranian and foreign archeologists will start the fifth season of excavations in Halil Rud region in Jiroft, Kerman province, from October/November under the supervision of Yousof Majidzadeh, Iranian archeologists.

 

“Some professional domestic and foreign archeologists from famous archeology research centers of the world will come to the area to start the fifth season of archeological excavations in northern and southern parts of Konar Sandal and the small fortress discovered in the area,” noted Nader Soleimani, archeologist from Iran’s Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization (ICHTO).

 

Discovery of the second and most complete royal inscription in Jiroft’s Konar Sandal ziggurat during the previous season of excavation revealed the existence of civilizations in Jiroft as far back as the third millennium BC.

 

According to Soleimani, discovery of an inscription dating back to the third millennium BC, evidence of urbanization, as well as architectural remains of a fortress and a massive religious monument during the fourth season of archeological excavations in Jiroft historical site are among the most outstanding achievements of the previous excavation season which provide archeologists some valuable information about this important historical site. 

 

 

This inscription was found in the discovered ziggurat in the northern part of Konar Sandal historical site and belongs to the first half of the third millennium BC. The discovery made archeologists believe that Jiroft was the origin of Elamite written language in which the writing system developed first and was then spread across the country and reached Susa.

 

This ziggurat in which the inscription was found is one to three centuries older than the most ancient ziggurat in Mesopotamia. Considering all the historical evidence, it became evident that stone art was more developed in Iran compared to Mesopotamia.

 

Archeological studies on the coals gathered during excavations in Jiroft revealed that the surface layer of this historical site dates back to 2800 BC. Besides, the geophysical studies by French experts in this historical site show the existence of 11 architectural layers beneath Konar Sandal ziggurat. Therefore, archeologists believe that Konar Sandal enjoys a history of more than 6000 years, and the discovered evidence shows the settlements of human beings in a region as vast as the Sumerian civilization in Mesopotamia.

 

The city of Jiroft in Kerman province is situated close to Halil Rud historical site on the basin of Halil Rood River. Historical evidence indicates that Jiroft enjoyed a rich civilization some 5000 years ago. Many stone and clay objects as well as other historical relics belonging to the third millennium BC have been discovered during the excavations by archeologists. Numerous invaluable objects smuggled out by illegal diggers have also been found and confiscated while there are still more ancient artifacts left to be discovered in Jiroft. Some 120 historical sites have been identified so far in the 400 kilometer basin of Halil Rud River.  

 

The historic evidence collected from Jiroft suggest that Jiroft’s civilization is more ancient than that of Mesopotamia which is commonly believed to have been home to the most ancient civilization of the world. With continuation of archeological studies in Konar Sandal ziggurat, archeologists are looking to find more evidence to prove this claim which would revolutionize the history of civilization.  

 

 

Soudabeh Sadigh

foreigndesk@chn.ir