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.CAIS NEWS© ARCHAEOLOGICAL & CULTURAL NEWS OF THE IRANIAN WORLD |
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Jiroft is the Missing Link of Ancient Civilizations: Majidzadeh
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13 January 2007 |
LONDON, (CAIS) -- Iranian veteran archaeologist Professor Yusef Majidzadeh believes that Jiroft is the missing link of the chain of civilization and says it has such a significant civilization that he would be proud to be named an honorary citizen of the ancient site.
In
a seminar entitled “Jiroft, the Cradle of Oriental Civilization” held in
Kerman on Thursday, he said, “The history of civilization in Jiroft dates back
to 2700 BCE and the third millennium civilization is the missing link of the
chain of civilization which archaeologists have long sought.
“We
do not deny the Mesopotamian civilization, but we believe that the Jiroft
civilization is of equal importance to the Mesopotamian. The only difference is
that the Mesopotamian civilization had cultural continuity while the Jiroft
civilization suffered from ups and downs for natural reasons. Thus it emerged in
a certain period and was buried at a later time.”
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, five excavation seasons have been carried out at the Jiroft site under the
supervision of Professor 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 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 Jiroft.
During
the seminar, Majidzadeh elaborated on the latest theories about ancient Jiroft
while showing slides of a number of artifacts discovered in the region.
“The
artifacts show that the region had advanced industries and art. The bas-reliefs
and engravings on the artifacts show that the region had at least a 500-year
history of art before the objects were created,” Majidzadeh said.
He
has held regular programs to educate the local people on the importance of
ancient Jiroft in order to discourage illegal excavations and smuggling of
artifacts from the region.
“Almost
all of the people who once were the smugglers of these artifacts are now helping
teams of archaeologists working in the region,” Majidzadeh explained.
Last
December, he suggested that archaeologists use the term Proto-Iranian instead of
Proto-Elamite for the pre-cuneiform script in use at several sites.
He
argued that the inscriptions recently discovered at Konar-Sandal and at some
other ancient sites in Iran are older than the oldest inscriptions, like
Inshushinak, found at Elamite sites.
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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, transparent, 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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