Recent archaeological discoveries in the Halilrud valley (Kerman province, Iran), especially at the Site of Varamin and Konar Sandal of Jiroft, brought to light a hitherto unknown culture, the so-called “Jiroft civilization,” which... more
Recent archaeological discoveries in the Halilrud valley (Kerman province, Iran), especially at the Site of Varamin and Konar Sandal of Jiroft, brought to light a hitherto unknown culture, the so-called “Jiroft civilization,” which generally dates back to the third millennium BC. Jiroft became famous between 2002/2003 when thousands of confiscated burial goods, especially elaborated carved chlorite vessels, from a dozen looted necropolises of Halil Rud impacted the media. Consequently, many scholars paid attention to Jiroft; some stated that Jiroft could be the “the lost civilization” between Mesopotamia and Indus valley. Some referred to it as the core of the production and probability distribution of the already known chlorite artifacts, the so-called “intercultural style.” Moreover, some pinpointed the toponym of MarhaŠi to Jiroft. In this paper, we will attempt to examine the Jiroft or Marhashi Civilization from a historical perspective based on the Mesopotamian cuneiform texts and the archaeological evidence. Importantly, our research indicated that Jiroft and Southern Mesopotamia were closely linked before the first appearance of Marhashi in the cuneiform texts (during the time of the Akkadian Sargon).
This paper discusses a truncated-cone chlorite vessel currently held in the Miho Museum, Japan. It was probably produced around 2300-2200 BCE in the Halil Rud Valley or Jiroft region and comes perhaps from a grave. This vessel displays a... more
This paper discusses a truncated-cone chlorite vessel currently held in the Miho Museum, Japan. It was probably produced around 2300-2200 BCE in the Halil Rud Valley or Jiroft region and comes perhaps from a grave. This vessel displays a fascinating iconography, including the depiction of a hybrid character combining bovine, human, lion and bird features. After discussing the hybrid characters which are observed on chlorite artefacts and glyptics in third millennium BCE southeastern Iran, available textual data are considered for a narrative interpretation of the possible religious landscape of the polity called in Mesopotamian sources Marḫaši or Paraḫšum. It is also suggested that the so-called 'Treaty of Naram-Sin' might provide additional insights on the pantheon worshipped in Marḫaši around 2250 BCE.
Based on the historical data, Marhashi has been one of the eventful regions of Iran during the second and third millennium B. C. It has been also one of the important confederates of ancient Elam during the most of its life time. The... more
Based on the historical data, Marhashi has been one of the eventful regions of Iran during the second and third millennium B. C. It has been also one of the important confederates of ancient Elam during the most of its life time. The Mesopotamia texts cited to its name beside the name of ancient Elam. The goal of this research is to determine the position of Marhashi region through study and examining the historical resources and archaeologist evidence indicated that Marhashi may has been located on the Pusht-i Kuh region of Elam province. During an archaeological survey carried out on the Pusht-i Kuh region of Elam, many sites of ancient Elam have been determined; one of which is named Kool Khazine. According to its archaeological findings we assumed Kool Khazine to have been most likely as the same of ancient Marhashi or a place that was connected with Marhashi.
