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CAIS
NEWS © LATEST
ARCHAEOLOGICAL & CULTURAL NEWS OF IRAN & THE IRANIAN WORLD
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International Jiroft Confab Under Way
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18 April 2008 |
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LONDON,
(CAIS) -- Iran's Academy of Arts is slated to hold
the International Jiroft Confab in a bid to discuss the early Bronze Age
civilisation of the Greater Sistan, reported Iran's Fars News agency on
Thursday.
Researchers
from Iran and other countries will present their historical and archeological
findings about the Mesopotamia and Jiroft civilisations during the four-day
event.
They will also discuss the latest findings about the Halil Roud area, which has
yielded vital information about the ancient site.
Archaeological artifacts discovered in Iran's Sistan va Baluchestan and Kerman
Provinces suggest that Jiroft civilisation may date back to the 26th
century BCE.
Archaeologists believe the importance of understanding the civilisation could be
as much as that of Mesopotamia.
The international confab will be held on May 5, 2008 in the Iranian cities of Tehran and Jiroft.
Historical Background
The ancient Jiroft site situated between the Elamite civilisation to the west and the Indus Valley civilisation to the east.
Research into Jiroft civilisation is a relatively recent and ongoing multinational archaeological project that is uncovering a previously unknown “culture” in a series of newly discovered sites in Iran's Sistan and Kerman Provinces, notably Konar Sandal near Jiroft in the Halil River area.
At
least twelve sites are now under excavation in the area, the oldest thought to
be more than 7,000 years old. The most significant of these sites are Shahr-e
Sokhta (Burnt City), Tappeh Bampur, Espiedej, Shahdad, Iblis, and Tappeh Yahya.
Some are in the neighbouring Sistan va Baluchestan province, once part of the
Greater Sistan.
Many archaeologists believe that the Jiroft civilisation was as important as
Sumer, while Majidzadeh believes the findings show that the Jiroft civilisation
predates Sumerian civilisation, which is the world’s oldest known
civilisation.
The recent accidental discoveries have led to a surge in illegal excavations and
looting, mainly of ancient tombs. The number of smuggled artefacts discovered
became so noticeable that police forces had to be dispatched to try stop the
looting. Interpol has also been cooperating on stopping the trade sourcing from
the area.
The recent findings that have uncovered an "independent, Bronze Age,
civilisation with its own architecture and language" have led professor
Yousef Majidzadeh, head of the archaeological excavation team in Jiroft, to
speculate them to be the remains of the lost Aratta Kingdom, though others
disagree.
Other conjectures eg. Daniel Potts, Piotr Steinkeller have connected the site with the obscure city-state of Marhashi, that apparently lay to the east of the Elam proper. But what is certain is that this kingdom had a large pottery industry, was a transit hub for trade merchants, and had active interactions with the Elamites and Mesopotamia.
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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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