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“Shahr-e Sūkhté (Persian: شهر سوخته, meaning "[The] Burnt City"), also spelled as Shahr-e Sukhteh and Shahr-i Shōkhta, is an archaeological site of a sizable Bronze Age urban settlement, associated with the Jiroft 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. A proposal is submitted to include it in the World Heritage List of UNESCO…..The reasons for the unexpected rise and fall of the Burnt 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-Sookhteh might ultimately provide concrete evidence of a civilization east of prehistoric Persia that was independent of ancient Mesopotamia……Covering an area of 151 hectares, Shahr-e Sukhteh was one of the world’s largest cities at the dawn of the urban era. In the western part of the site is a vast graveyard, measuring 25 hk.s. It contains between 25,000 to 40,000 ancient graves……The settlement appeared around 3200 BC. The city had four stages of civilization and was burnt down three times before being abandoned in 2100 BC……The site was discovered and investigated by Aurel Stein in the early 1900s.”
Shahr-e-Sookhteh (Burnt City)……located in Zabol city……. a city of Sistan va Baloochestan province…..this ancient city is located at a distance of 60 km. from Zabol and 6 km. from the Rostam Castle, and is comprised of hillocks with a maximum elevation of 50 m. This vicinity was one of the vital centers of Asian civilization in the bronze age, and dates to the 4th and 3rd millennium BC. Archaeological and scientific discoveries, have revealed a rectangular structure, with square chambers, a corridor, staircase and walls to the thickness of 3 m. to the rear of this archaic structure, that show the signs of a vast fire…..Colored earthenware found in Shahr-e-Sookhteh are related to the 4th, 3rd and 2nd millennium BC…..
“…resulted in identifying 810 prehistoric and historic sites in the region. Discovery of such a large number of historical sites indicates the existence of a historical site in each 5 to 6 kilometres of Sistan plain…….. 60 sites in Ghorghori, 2 sites in northern Zabol, 92 sites in Dust Mohammad Khan, 208 in district one of Zabol, 22 sites in district two of Zabol, 26 sites in Kuhak, 60 sites in Zahak, 35 sites in Mohammadabad, 60 sites in Sana Rud. Having 302 historical sites, Rostam Fort broke the record in number of historical sites.”….http://www.cais-soas.com
"The Burnt City with a span of 150 hectares of land is the largest areas in the Middle East dating back to the Brass Age. It was founded in 3200 BCE and was ruined in 2100 BCE and in the course of its 1100-year life was witness to four civilization eras. It was burnt for three times and completely ruined in the third fire. That is the reason as to why the city is called the "Burnt City". Studies show that in the early stage of their settlement in the region (3200 to 2800 BCE) the people of the Burnt City had established contacts and entered into transactions with …. in the second phase of their settlement (2800 to 2500 BCE) the people halted their contacts with Khuzestan but preserved their ties with Central Asia. Seals that have been discovered in the Burnt City, Mishmahig (Bahrain), Kuwait and southern Khvarvaran (Iraq) lend further proof to such a theory. In the third phase (2500 to 2300 BCE) and even in the fourth phase (2300 to 2100 BCE) the inhabitants of the Burnt City had contacts with northern and eastern areas but gradually lowered the level of their relationship….. the Burnt City was the center of a civilization known as "Civilization of the Hirmand River Zone" that served as the capital of the civilizations that existed 5000 years ago. ….However, due to the displacement and drying up of the Hirmand River's delta, living in the region lost its charm. It is said that the Burnt City had about 70 villages that were highly active in agriculture and production of clay works.”….Dr. Sajjadi…..http://www.cais-soas.com/CAIS/Archaeology/Pre-History/burnt_city.htm
Shahre Sukhteh Artifacts
“One of the other issues which have somehow puzzled archaeologists during the first phase of researches in Sistan plain, is existence of a historic gap between the years of 2000 to1500 BCE, since they have not found any historical evidence belonging to this period of history,” said Merafarin…..http://www.cais-soas.com
“Shahr-e Sūkhté (Persian: شهر سوخته, meaning "[The] Burnt City"), also spelled as Shahr-e Sukhteh and Shahr-i Shōkhta, is an archaeological site of a sizable Bronze Age urban settlement, associated with the Jiroft 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. A proposal is submitted to include it in the World Heritage List of UNESCO….The reasons for the unexpected rise and fall of the Burnt 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-Sookhteh might ultimately provide concrete evidence of a civilization east of prehistoric Persia that was independent of ancient Mesopotamia.”….http://www.anobanini.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=480
“In 2006, archaeologists working at Shahr-e Sūkhté in southeastern Iran found what appears to be a ~5000-year-old prosthetic eye, engraved and gilded to look like the sun……[The eye] has a hemispherical form and a diameter of just over 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 female remains found with the artificial eye was 1.82 m tall (6 feet), much taller than ordinary women of her time. On both sides of the eye are drilled tiny holes, through which a golden thread could 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 during her lifetime. The woman’s skeleton has been dated to between 2900 and 2800 BCE.” (Text looks to come from Wikipedia.”….http://www.alexdallymacfarlane.com/2012/01/black-rain-floods-the-downs/
“The Ancient Ruler of the Burnt City…..A little known report dated to January 31, 2005 cites the Iranian Cultural heritage News agency’s discovery of the world’s oldest known ruler. This was unearthed in 2005 at the Shahr e Sookhteh or Burnt City near Zabol in iran’s southeast province of Sistan-Baluchistan……The Burnt City, dated to 5000 years ago, is perhaps one of the ancient world’s most advanced urban centers. The site indicates that advanced urban centers and accompanying technology in Western Asia did not necessarily originate in the Mesopotamian and/or Levant arenas. Western scholars have worked alongside their Iranian colleagues for a number of years to conduct excavations at the Burnt City and elsewhere on the Iranian plateau….Dr. Mansour Sajjadi….precise systems of measurement indicates that the inhabitants of the Burnt City were highly advanced in the sciences, mathematics and civil construction works. The discovery of the ancient ruler is suggests that the inhabitants of the Burnt City probably had developed other precise measurement tools. The Burnt city has already yielded interesting finds such as an artifical eye, backgammon pieces, and an example of animation.”….http://www.kavehfarrokh.com/iranica/maps-of-iran-5000-bc-651-ad/the-ancient-ruler-of-the-burnt-city/
“Khorasan’ is derived from Middle Persian khwar (meaning "sun") and āsān (or ayan literally meaning "to come" or "coming" or "about to come"), hence meaning "land where the sun rises" …..Khorasan, also written as Khurasan (Middle Persian: Khwarāsān, Persian: خراسان بزرگ or خراسان کهن), is a historical region[1] lying in the northeast of Persia (Iran) that has been mentioned in various sources in the past. "In pre-Islamic and early Islamic times, the term "Khurassan" frequently had a much wider denotation, covering also parts of Central Asia and Afghanistan; early Islamic usage often regarded everywhere east of western Persia, sc. Djibal or what was subsequently termed 'Irak 'Adjami, as being included in a vast and ill-defined region of Khurasan, which might even extend to the Indus Valley and Sind." Before Islamization of the region, the inhabitants of Khorasan had mostly practiced Zoroastrianism, but there were also followers of Buddhism and other religions…..Khorasan in its proper sense comprised principally the cities of Balkh, Herat and Taloqan (now in Afghanistan), Mashhad, Nishapur and Sabzevar (now in northeastern Iran), Merv, Nisa and Abiward (now in southern Turkmenistan), and Samarqand and Bukhara (now in Uzbekistan). Some believe that at certain times Khorasan covered a wider area, which included parts of Transoxiana, Soghdiana, Sistan, and extended to the boundaries of the Indian subcontinent.”
Aurel Stein, Innermost Asia. Detailed Report of explorations in Central Asia, Kansu and Eastern Iran, Clarendon Press, 1928
Archaeological studies in the Seistan Basin of southwestern Afghanistan and eastern Iran. Anthropological papers of the AMNH ; v. 48, pt. 1 Fairservis, Walter Ashlin
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Email....okarresearch@gmail.com
March 2014
John Hopkins....Northern New Mexico
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