The
inscriptions are expected to shed light on unknown
aspects of the history of Haft-Tappeh, Behzad
Mofidi added.
About
2400 B.C., Akkadian was first written down in the
cuneiform script borrowed from the Sumerians, but
this script was not well adapted to writing the
Akkadian (Semitic) sounds.
The
ruins of the ancient city of Haft-Tappeh lie on
the plain of Khuzestan close to the ruins of
ancient Susa and two kilometers from the Chogha
Zanbil Ziggurat. This large Elamite site contains
fourteen major visible mounds, the largest rising
about 17 meters above the surrounding plain which,
with its related extensions, covers an area about
1500 meters long and 800 meters wide.
The
excavations were carried out on the eastern side
of Haft-Tappeh by Iranian experts and
archaeologists from Mainz University in Germany
over a three-week period.
“The
inscriptions, which are the size of a hand, should
be cleaned and restored in some parts in order to
be studied by experts on ancient scripts,” said
Hamid Fadaii, the director of the workshop for the
restoration of Elamite artworks of Haft-Tappeh and
Chogha Zanbil.
“Inscriptions
are the most significant findings of an
archaeological team during excavations, and this
happened at Haft-Tappeh. We are sure that some
aspects of the history of the region will be
clarified through the study of the
inscriptions,” he added.
Before
the Islamic Revolution in 1979, Iranian
archaeologist Ezzatollah Negahban had discovered
some other inscriptions at Haft-Tappeh which form
the basis of the current knowledge on the region
in ancient times, Fadaii said in conclusion.
The
ancient name of the site is still being debated.
Some scholars have suggested that it may have been
called Tikni, which is described in early
documents as a religious center located between
Susa and Chogha Zanbil, but no evidence has yet
been found in the Haft-Tappeh excavations to
support this theory. However, several seal
impressions and clay inscriptions found at Haft-Tappeh
contain the name Kabnak, and it is possible that
this was the original name of the city.
