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CAIS ARCHAEOLOGICAL & CULTURAL NEWS OF IRANIAN WORLD© |
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UPDATE: Excavation at Bukan's Ancient Mannai Site
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20 August 2006 |
LONDON, (CAIS) -- Iranian archaeologists working at the ancient mound of Qalaichi near Bukan in West Azarbaijan Province recently unearthed some platforms which they believe were used as altars for sacrifices and religious rites during the Mannai era (early 1st millennium BCE).
Many
bones of sheep and goats as well as small canals have been found near the
platforms built of glazed bricks, thus the archaeologists surmise that the
structures may have been sacrificial altars of the ancient Manneans.
“We
found the glazed bricks as well as some pottery works and cobblestones in the
central section of the mound. Our team had also discovered such platforms during
the previous excavations,” team director Reza Heidari told the Persian service
of CHN on Saturday.
“The
glazed bricks have been placed precisely in a modern style, and this indicates
that their architects were well-informed and familiar with brickwork,” he
added.
The
platforms measure 2x2 meters and the bricks have azure, white, and yellow
glazes.
Mannai
was an ancient country in northwestern Iran, south of Lake Urmia. During the
period of its existence in the early 1st millennium BCE, Mannai was surrounded
by three major powers: Assyria, Urartu, and Media.
With
the intrusion of the Scythians and the rise of the Iranian Medes in the 8th
century BCE, the Manneans lost their identity and were subsumed under the term
Medes. Place names and personal names in Mannai are thought to be in a dialect
related to the Hurrian language of the Hittite empire.
The
Manneans worshiped Haldi, the god of the ancient kingdom of Urartu.
For more information please on archaeological research at Qalaichi Site [ click here ]
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"History is the Light on the Path to Future" |
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Encyclopaedia Iranica
The British Institute of Persian Studies "Persepolis Reconstructed"
The British Museum
The Royal Asiatic Society
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