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.CAIS NEWS© ARCHAEOLOGICAL & CULTURAL NEWS OF THE IRANIAN WORLD |
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Archaeologists Returning to Their ‘Lost Heaven’ Jiroft
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19 October 2006 |
LONDON, (CAIS) -- Iranian archaeologists are scheduled to begin a new phase of excavations at the Jiroft ancient site in the Halil-Rud River cultural area next week.
“We
will excavate southern and northern Konar-Sandal as well as the cemetery of the
site near Matutabad. We also planned to work on the Qal’eh Kuchak site of
Jiroft, but it will have to be left for next time due to a funding shortfall,”
the director of the archaeological team working at the site told the Persian
service of CHN on Wednesday.
“Cultural
Heritage and Tourism Organization (CHTO) officials have promised to provide the
necessary funds for the excavations for the next three months, otherwise we will
only work for one month,” Professor Yusef Majidzadeh explained.
It
is estimated that the excavations will require 1.5 billion rials (about
$158,000), but the CHTO has only provided one third of the amount so far.
“Jiroft
has been given prominent coverage in the Iranian and foreign press. So far, no
ancient site has attracted such attention in the press,” Majidzadeh said.
Located
next to the Halil-Rud River in the southern province of Kerman, Jiroft came into
the spotlight nearly five years ago when reports of extensive illegal
excavations and plundering of the priceless historical items of the area by
local people surfaced.
Since
2002, four excavation seasons have been carried out at the Jiroft site under the
supervision of Majidzadeh, leading to the discovery of a ziggurat made of more
than four million mud bricks dating back to about 2200 BCE.
Many
ancient ruins and interesting artifacts have been excavated by archaeologists at
the Jiroft ancient site, which is known as the “archeologists’ lost
heaven”.
After
the numerous unique discoveries in the region, Majidzadeh declared Jiroft to be
the cradle of art. Many scholars questioned the theory due to the fact that no
writings or architectural structures had yet been discovered at the site, but
shortly afterwards his team discovered inscriptions at Konar Sandal Ziggurat,
which caused experts to reconsider their views on the site.
The
Konar Sandal inscriptions are older than the Inshushinak inscription, thus it
seems that the recently discovered inscriptions link Proto Elamite (first
appeared in about 2900 BC in Susa) and Old Elamite (used between about 2250 and
2220 BCE) scripts.
Many
Iranian and foreign experts see the findings in Jiroft as signs of a
civilization as great as Sumer and ancient Mesopotamia. Majidzadeh believes that
Jiroft is the ancient city of Aratta, which was described as a great
civilization in a Sumerian clay inscription.
A
group of international archaeologists is scheduled to gather in Tehran in
January 2007 to discuss the latest discoveries in the region at a seminar being
sponsored by the CHTO.
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Extracted From/Source: Mehr News Please
note
the above-news is NOT a "copy & paste" version from
the mentioned-source. The news/article above has been modified with
the following interventions by CAIS: Spelling corrections;
-Rectification and correction of the historical facts and data; -
Providing additional historical information within the text; -Removing any
unnecessary, irrelevant & repetitive information. All these measures have been taken in order to ensure that the published news provided by CAIS is coherent, accurate and suitable for academics and cultural enthusiasts who visit the CAIS website.
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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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