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malagasy bahasa melayu malti مازِرونی नेपाली nederlands ирон polski پنجابی پښتو português русский srpskohrvatski српскохрватски slovenščina svenska türkçe українська اردو tiếng việt 中文 edit links article talk english read edit view history tools tools move to sidebar hide actions read edit view history general what links here related changes upload file permanent link page information cite this page get shortened url switch to legacy parser print export download as pdf printable version in other projects wikimedia commons wikidata item appearance move to sidebar hide coordinates 30 35 43 n 61 19 35 e 30 59528 n 61 32639 e 30 59528 61 32639 from wikipedia the free encyclopedia archaeological site in sistan and baluchistan province iran shahr e sukhteh شهر سوخته persian the site in 2016 location in iran show map of iran shahr e sukhteh west and central asia show map of west and central asia 30 35 43 n 61 19 35 e 30 59528 n 61 32639 e 30 59528 61 32639 type settlement periods late chalcolithic bronze age cultures helmand culture location sistan and baluchestan province iran history built c 3550 bc abandoned c 2300 bc site notes condition in ruins public access yes 08 00 19 00 unesco world heritage site official name shahr i sokhta type cultural criteria ii iii iv designated 2014 38th session reference no 1456 region asia pacific shahr e sukhteh persian شهر سوخته lit burnt city c 3550 2300 bc 1 also spelled shahr e sūkhté and shahr i sōkhta is an archaeological site of a sizable bronze age urban settlement associated with the helmand culture it is located in sistan and baluchistan province the southeastern part of iran on the bank of the helmand river near the zahedan zabol road it was placed on the unesco world heritage list in june 2014 2 3 plaque identifying shahr e sukhteh registered as a unesco world heritage site the reasons for the unexpected rise and fall of the city are still wrapped in mystery artifacts recovered from the city demonstrate a peculiar incongruity with nearby civilizations of the time and it has been speculated that shahr e sukhteh might ultimately provide concrete evidence of a civilization east of prehistoric iran that was independent of ancient mesopotamia proto elamite tablets from shahr i sokhta archaeology edit the site was discovered and investigated by aurel stein in the early 1900s 4 5 beginning in 1967 the site was excavated by the istituto italiano per l africa e l oriente isiao team led by maurizio tosi it that work continued until 1978 6 7 8 after a gap in 1997 work at the site was resumed by the iranian cultural heritage and tourism organization team led by s m s sajjadi 9 10 new discoveries are reported from time to time 11 the site was thought to cover an area of 151 ha 370 acres but now the size is established at 200 ha 490 acres 12 the maximum built area was ca 120 hectares 13 shahr e sukhteh was one of the world s largest cities at the dawn of the urban era it is located close to the eastern edge of what is now the lut desert one of the hottest places on earth the climate was far more welcoming in ancient times when the hamun lake near which the city was located was much greater in size and there was a lot of marshland in the area also dahan e gholaman 550 bc 330 bc a major achaemenid center and archaeological site is located only 50 km to the northeast 14 in the southwestern part of shahr e sukhteh 15 there is a vast graveyard measuring 25 ha 62 acres it contains between 25 000 and 40 000 ancient graves 16 entrance to the burnt city the settlement appeared around 3550 bc 17 as per massimo vidale s 2021 lecture the city would have had four stages of civilization and would have been burnt down three times before being abandoned this abandonment was thought previously to have taken place around 1800 bc by the italian archaeological mission there but research based on calibrated radiocarbon samples in nearby site tappeh graziani by a mission of italian and iranian archaeologists led by barbara helwing and hassan fazeli nashli showed that the site was abandoned around 2350 bc 18 this abandonment is now considered to be around 2300 bc and new chronological and stratigraphical sequence in the later excavations at shahr i sokhta 2018 2019 published in 2022 based on areas 26 33 35 and 36 are as follows 19 period dating settlement size phase ia 3550 3350 bc 10 9 ib 3350 3100 bc 10 5 15 5 ha 20 882 8 ic 3100 3000 bc 7 iia 3000 2850 bc 6a b iib 2850 2620 bc 80 ha 15 21 5a b iic 2620 2600 bc 4 iiia 2600 2450 bc 80 ha 3 iiib 2450 2400 bc 2 iv 2400 2300 bc 1 gap 2300 2100 bc v 2100 2000 bc 0 period i edit during period i ca 3550 3000 bc 1 shahr e sukhteh already shows close connections with the sites in southern turkmenistan with the kandahar region of afghanistan the quetta valley and the bampur valley in iran also there are connections with the proto elamite cities of ḵuzestān and fārs 21 pottery during this period in phases 10 9 and 8 typically exhibits light paste colors for the body and rich decorations very similar to those found on ceramics from mundigak iii and eastern baluchistan particularly to quetta valley 22 and decorative features similar to namazga iii ceramic 1 also in this period grey streak burnished ware appeared the same as in tepe yahya ivc c 3400 3000 bc and in tepe yahya ivb6 and fragments of polychromatic nal pottery were present 1 around 3000 bc potters in shahr e sokhteh reproduced ceramic styles from distant turkmenistan located 750 km to the north and other ceramics were imported from the pakistani kech makran iranian balochistan area located around 400 500 km to the south and ceramics from the mundigak kandahar region in afghanistan around 400 km to the east were also imported 20 at the end of phase 7 ca 3000 bc most of the city was destroyed by a fire particularly the eastern residential area and the central quarters showed rooms with burnt plaster filled with ash and burnt remains of roof beams 21 period ii edit during period ii ca 3000 2600 bc 1 shahr e sukhteh was also in contact with the pre harappan centers of the indus valley and the contacts with the bampur valley continued 21 during phase 6 of this period the settlement was reconstructed although some houses which were destroyed were not rebuilt 21 recent excavations by enrico ascalone in area 33 of shahr i sokhta show that the so called house of the architect and the eastern building belong to a layer radiocarbon dated from 3000 to 2850 bc 23 the ruins of the building called house of the courts were radiocarbon dated by archaeologist ascalone to 2850 2620 bc and the next layer 2 was considered by him as a squatter occupation in area 33 which he radiocarbon dated to 2620 2600 bc 23 but per archaeologist sajjadi the whole site of shahr i sokhta reached in this period almost 80 ha 200 acres 15 21 it seems likely that contacts with mundigak were close in this period and that lapis lazuli arrived in shahr i sokhta from mines of badakshan moving through mundigak and the relations of both settlements made it possible for scholars to speak of a helmand civilization 21 this period in phases 6 and 5 represented a time of significant development in both the size of the city and ceramic technology as finer raw materials and advanced firing techniques used during this period resulted in ceramics with denser body paste and pottery that were similar to those found in bampur iii iv but most of the ceramics that were produced and or imported during this period were buff and gray wares with brown and black decorations 22 in phase 4 there was a change in the city with large buildings constructed with massive encircling walls pottery lost the painted ornamentation and became standardized and burials showed socio economic differences among the population but the goods previously imported from mesopotamia and western iran disappear at the end of this phase 21 period iii edit bronze age ceramic vase c 2600 2400 bc provenance shahr i sokhta iran it is part of the exhibit irán cuna de civilizaciones in the marq bronze age polychrome jar c 2600 2400 bc provenance shahr i sokhta iran it is part of the exhibit irán cuna de civilizaciones in the marq in phases 3 and 2 of period iii c 2600 2400 bc 1 large buildings continued to be constructed with massive encircling walls pottery lost the painted ornamentation of period ii and became standardized and burials continued showing socio economic differences among the population 21 the contacts and trade with mundigak bampur and the cities of indus civilization continue 21 the building 33 also belonging to area 33 of shahr i sokhta located between the central quarters and the monumental area was radiocarbon dated by the team of enrico ascalone to 2600 2450 bc 23 on the other hand archaeologists jarrige didier and quivron considered that periods i ii and iii in shahr i sokhta have archaeological links with periods iii and iv in mundigak 24 pottery production during period iii in phase 3 had forms and depicted motifs that differed significantly from those featured by ceramics of the former periods and at the beginning of this period simple decorative motifs originally found on ceramics became more elaborated and gray paste pottery with black decoration similar to those found during bampur iv and tepe yahya iv became more present and small undecorated bowls with thin bodies also appeared at the end of this period 22 abundant polychrome ceramics were found in graveyards apparently used in religious rituals and similar pottery was found at nal in baluchistan pakistan based on this fact some scholars concluded that polychrome ceramics in shahr i sokhta were imported but others such as mugavero 2008 suggested that this pottery is local as production of this type can be found at shahr i sokhta s nearby sites of tepe dash and tepe rud e biyaban located 3 km and 30 km south of shahr i sokhta respectively 22 period iv edit 5 000 year old sudarshan chakra discovered from shahr e sukhteh period iv ca 2400 2300 bc 1 was known by excavations in the burnt palace or burnt building and archaeologists consider that during this period shahr i sokhta had contacts with bampur valley and kandahar area almost exclusively this is attested in typical bampur v and vi pottery processing workshops were discovered in 1972 in the western quarters of the city with large concentrations of flint lapis lazuli and turquoise these sites are considered unique in the region 21 on the other hand enrico ascalone in his recent excavations discovered a phase of abandonment in area 33 of shahr i sokhta radiocarbon dated to 2450 2350 bc 23 this phase however was considered recently by archaeologist massimo vidale as the last period of profusely developed urban occupation for the whole settlement of shahr i sokhta 18 iranian archaeologists s m s sajjadi and hossein moradi during excavation season 2014 15 found a system of semi columns in a long passage between two buildings in area 26 of shahr i sokhta s period iv and massimo vidale considers it is part of a fully palatial compound with very similar semi columns to those in mehrgarh found years ago by the french mission that dated them around 2500 bc 18 min 12 10 period v edit on the other hand ascalone in his lecture admits in a chronological graphic that after abandonment between 2350 and 2200 bc the burnt building in shahr i sokhta was inhabited in period v ca 2100 2000 bc 1 based on calibrated radiocarbon datings presented by archaeologist raffaele biscione in 1979 25 but this can be a unique survival of previous urban occupation as massimo vidale comments that the urban system did not go beyond 2350 bc 18 min 11 34 m tosi and r biscione who excavated many years ago this burnt building considered it was destroyed in a ruinous firing around 2000 bc 18 min 12 06 sectors of the city edit eastern residential area of shahr e sukhteh cemetery shahr e sukhteh the area of shahr e sukhteh is divided into five main sectors as mentioned by archaeologist s m s sajjadi 15 21 1 the eastern residential area located in the highest point of the site some pottery belonging to period i was found in excavations within this eastern residential area to the north of the burnt building 8 2 the great central area or central quarters separated from the western southern and eastern areas by deep depressions within these central quarters there is a place known as house of the jars where among other pottery a kot dijian jar was found 26 3 the craftsman quarters found in the north western part of the site 27 4 the monumental area located east of the craftsman quarters with several high hills representing different architectural buildings some pottery kilns were found in the north western part of the site near and around the monumental area but most vessels were produced out of the town 15 45 5 the graveyard area also called the cemetery of shahr e sokhteh which occupies the southwestern part of the site covering almost 25 ha 62 acres the estimated number of graves ranges between 25 000 and 40 000 and most of the burials are dated to period i and period ii although some other few burials are from next two periods 15 75 finds edit reproduction of the images on a pottery goblet found in shahr e sookhteh c 3178 bc now in the national museum of iran animation created with the images on a pottery goblet c 3178 bce found in shahr e sookhteh the complete set of the shahr i sokhta board game with 27 pieces and 4 dice in its current condition c 2700 bc national museum of iran the first ever scholarly reconstructed copy of the shahr i sokhta board game by sam jelveh an earthen goblet found at the site and dated to c 3178 bc depicts what some archaeologists consider to be the earliest known animation and the date places the artifact in period i the earliest period in the development and flourishing of the shahr e sookhteh culture 28 29 the earliest known artificial eyeball was discovered in the burial of a woman at the site by archaeologists in december 2006 30 it has a hemispherical form and a diameter of just more than 2 5 cm 1 inch it consists of very light material probably bitumen paste the surface of the artificial eye is covered with a thin layer of gold engraved with a central circle representing the iris and gold lines patterned like sun rays the woman whose remains were found with the artificial eye was 1 82 m tall 6 feet much taller than typical women of her time tiny holes are drilled on both sides of the eye through which a golden thread would have been drawn in order to hold the eyeball in place since microscopic research has shown that the eye socket showed clear imprints of the golden thread the eyeball must have been worn throughout her lifetime the woman s skeleton has been dated to between 2900 and 2800 bc 31 the oldest complete board game ever discovered with 4 different dice and 27 geometric pieces are among the finds which have been unearthed by archaeological excavations from this site what ma...