LONDON,
(CAIS) -- Preliminary
archaeological research in one of the seven sub-basins of Zayandeh Rud
known as Gaw-Khuni swamp (Gāw-Khuni, Gāvkhāneh - Kāvkhuni)
in
the Esfahan Province has
indicated there is an ancient buried city in the vicinity
of the village of Varzaneh.
A
team of archaeologists are planning to begin excavations
as early as next year (Iranian year - March 21st),
Hossein-Ali
Vakil
the director of Esfahan'
Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organisation
announced on Thursday 16th.
“At
the moment we have taken necessary security measures to
protect the site from illegal excavators, to give us
enough time to prepare and assemble an archaeological team
to be deployed to the area”, said Vakil.
“We
have already identified over 70 archaeological sites which
date back to 4,000 BCE near Gāw-Khuni sub-basin, in which
the buried city is the largest of all”, Vakil added.
According
to local folklore, there was an ancient and prosperous
city near Varzeneh by the name of Kāvkhāneh or by some
traditions as Sabā,
which was destroyed by war and famine.
The
Zayandeh Rud (Zāyandé Rūd)
basin is located in the central part of Iran. The area of
the basin is about 42,000 km2. Esfahan province
constitutes 87.7% of the Zayandeh Rud basin. In addition,
rest of the basin is placed in Bakhtiyari and Yazd
provinces. Esfahan is the capital of Esfahan province,
which is one of the oldest world cities.
Esfahan
(historically also rendered as Isphahan,
Elamite/Old-Persian Aspadana, Pahlavi Spahan, New-Persian
Esfahân) was
part of the Elamite Empire, and later in 7th
century BCE became one of the principal towns of the
Median dynasty, when Iranian Medes settled there. After
the rise of Achaemenid dynasty the province became part of
the Empire; -after the liberation of Iran from
Macedonian occupation by the Arsacid dynasty, it became
part of the Parthian Empire.
The
city lost its glory after invasion of Iran by Arabs, and
did not regain its importance until 11th
century when Persianized-Saljuq dynasty chose the ancient city as
their capital.
Top
of Page
Related
News:
