Excavations at Sīrāf: Third Interim Report

British Institute of Persian Studies

Excavations at Sīrāf: Third Interim ReportAuthor(s): David WhitehouseSource: Iran, Vol. 8 (1970), pp. 1-18Published by: British Institute of Persian StudiesStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4299628 .

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EXCAVATIONS AT SIRAF

Third Interim Report

By David Whitehouse

The third season of excavations at Siraf took place between October and February 1968-69.1 During the season we continued work at the Great Mosque and in the residential quarter discovered in 1967. We examined also a second, smaller mosque and completed a detailed plan of Siraf at a scale of I : 500.2

We are grateful to H.E. the Minister of Culture, Mr. Mehrdad Pahlbod, and the Director General of the Archaeological Service, Mr. A. Pourmand, for permission to excavate at Sirif. The Director of the Archaeological Museum gave us much valuable advice. Mr. Taghi Rahbar once more accompanied us to Siraf as the Representative of the Archaeological Service and we thank him for his unfailing help.

The excavations at Siraf are sponsored by the British Institute of Persian Studies. During the season we received most generous support from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, the British Museum, the British Academy, the Royal Ontario Museum, the Monro Trust, the Pilkington Glass Museum, the Russell Trust and the Corning Museum of Glass. We received additional support in the form of a munificent anonymous donation, most of which will be used during the fourth campaign, planned to take place between October and February 1969-70. Finally, the British Museum and the Royal Scottish Museum each kindly released a member of staff to join the expedition. Without this wide and varied support, work on the scale achieved would have been impossible.3

During the season we built a permanent excavation house and museum at Siraf. Part of the cost of this was met by a grant from the Archaeological Service of Iran, which we acknowledge with gratitude.

The expedition staff was as follows: David Whitehouse (director), Ruth Whitehouse, Gerald Dalby, Peter Donaldson, Clifford Long and Jan Roberts (site supervisors), Jennifer Aldsworth and Ronald Shoesmith (site assistants), Frederick Aldsworth (surveyor), Lars Hesselgren (assistant sur-

veyor), Dianne Clegg, Enid Parson, Jennifer Scarce, Nicholas Lowick and Andrew Williamson (finds assistants), Rosemonde Nairac (conservator), Sonya Stangroom (draftsman), Giles Sholl (photo- grapher) and Edward Harris (quartermaster).

Finally, I am personally grateful to the following for advice on the excavation and the material mentioned in this report: Miss Margaret Medley, Miss Mary Tregear, Mr. John Ayers, Mr. Basil Gray, Mr. Ralph Pinder Wilson, Dr. S. M. Stern and Mr. David Stronach.

THE EXCAVATION

The excavation lasted fourteen weeks, during which we employed up to 200 workmen. Throughout the season work continued at the Great Mosque, providing new information on the history of the main enclosure and the extension. Outside the main enclosure we uncovered an ablution area and part of a bazaar. Concealed beneath the Great Mosque were the remains of at least one large building which

1 For preliminary reports, see Iran VII (1969), p. 182 and Antiquity XLIII, no. 170 (1969), pp. 107-8.

SThe new plan covers most of the area mapped by Sir Aurel Stein and published in Archaeological Reconnaissances in North Western India and South Eastern Iran (London 1937), pp. 202-12, particularly plan 17. The surveyors began the task of contour- ing the plan by establishing a series of bench marks. We hope to complete the levelling next season.

3 We thank also the Department of Civil Engineering, Imperial College of Science and the Winchester Research Unit for lend-

ing equipment. As before, the staff of Decca Services, Bushire, gave us both hospitality and assistance. In addition to direct financial support, our sponsors again offered bursaries for com-

petition among members of staff. Bursaries were awarded to Frederick Aldsworth, Gerald Dalby, Clifford Long, Jan Roberts and Giles Sholl. Our sponsors also lent us a long wheelbase Land-Rover. We are indebted to curator and staff of the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford, for providing us with

storage space for the finds.

1



2 JOURNAL OF PERSIAN STUDIES

was already in ruins when the main enclosure was begun c. 800 A.D. In the residential quarter we excavated four more houses, all of which had been abandoned by c. I150. At the smaller mosque (Site G) we discovered a shrine of the late thirteenth or fourteenth century.

The three sites are described in the following order: I. Site B. The Great Mosque. 2. Site F. The Residential Quarter. 3. Site G. The Shrine.

I. Site B. The Great Mosque By the end of the season we had uncovered the whole of the Great Mosque, revealing a complex of

buildings 55 m. square, comprising the main enclosure, extension and ablution area (Fig. I). Excava- tion below the floor of the main enclosure yielded new evidence for the form of the earliest mosque, while a detailed examination of the pier bases increased our knowledge of the latest restoration. On the basis of this information, we suggest that the history of the Great Mosque should be revised as follows:

I. The original mosque was a rectangular building fourteen bays deep and thirteen bays wide. The courtyard was surrounded on three sides by a single arcade, with a triple arcade in front of the qibla wall.

2. The mosque was enlarged by the addition of a fifteenth bay at the qibla end. Possibly at the same time, an additional bay was inserted on all four sides of the courtyard. Thus, at the end of Period 2, the mosque had a courtyard surrounded on three sides by a double arcade, with a sanctuary five bays deep.

3. The extension was added. The ablution area was built at the same time, or slightly later. 4. Part of the extension was rebuilt. 5. The main enclosure was restored after a partial collapse.

The Main Enclosure. Excavation beneath the floor of the main enclosure told us much about the earliest mosque, revealing its plan, the form of the mihrdb and the appearance of the arcades. The original plan emerged from an examination of the foundations which support the arcades. We observed at an early stage that the arcades conceal two types of foundation: dry stone and mortared walls. Furthermore, while foundations thought to be original (e.g. arcade 3) are dry stone, those considered secondary (e.g. arcade 6) are mortared (P1. Ic). By the end of the season we had recovered a consistent pattern: foundations 3, 5 and B are dry stone; 15 and M were originally dry stone but have been partly rebuilt using mortar, and 6, 14, C and L are mortared throughout. Clearly, the dry stone foundations are original and the earliest mosque had a single arcade on three sides of the courtyard (arcades 15, A and M) and a sanctuary three bays deep (arcades 3, 4 and 5).

During the first season we concluded that bay I is a secondary feature and that the original qibla wall occupied the position of arcade 2, a deduction based on the discovery of a circular buttress at the south- east end of the arcade (P1. IIa).4 Last year we confirmed this by excavating the remains of a mihrdb projecting from foundation 2. The mihrdb has particular interest because it contains two periods of construction, each with a different form. As it stands, the structure resembles the mihrdb of Period 2 (P1. Ia and b and Fig. 2) and consists of a rectangular projection from the qibla wall. The projection is roughly built and, unlike the qibla wall, contains little or no mortar. Moreover, there is no bonding between the lower part of the mihrdb and the qibla wall and it is clear that the former was inserted into the wall, removing all trace of the original structure. However, the absence of a scar on the qibla wall implies that the first mihrdb was contained in the thickness of the wall and that this original " flat "

mihrdb was replaced by a projecting structure before the mosque was enlarged in Period 2. In my second report I suggested that the earliest piers in the Great Mosque possibly rested directly

on the foundations, without the square bases used in Period 2.5 We know now that the conjecture was mistaken. During the excavation of the earliest mihrdb we exposed the foundation of arcade 3 in bays F and G. Underlying bases 3F, 3G and 3H, and concealed beneath the sanctuary floor, we found the

* SirTf I, p. 9. 6 Siraf II, p. 43.



EXCAVATIONS AT SiRAF 3

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

A4 STREET A

SLOT

B IDfEl i DR

C P2 El----

I N I

-17 E

F z MR 238

G i

I MBELL

STEPS

H / i

/D 71DRR

JAR- -

CISTERN

K----- -------- ----

"SLOT _ I El

STR C IS TE

EXTENI L E

L -, -

L ....

J L__.J L__

S

OVEN . FOOTPATH

P O 4- - - - - -

D,-i-

STREET

VAULTED CELLAR 0 15

METRES

HA OD PD JR & DW

PERIODS 1 and 2 I i

Fig. z. The Great Mosque. Simplified plan.




2G

•o ~foundation of mihrab

, \

MIHRAB /

DRY STONE MIHRAB

ofiche inserted in

PERIOD 2 /PERIOD 1 QIBLA WALL

footing

hole 0

slot hole

mortared foundation

4 metres PDm DWd

Fig. 2. The Great Mosque. The mihrabs of Periods i and 2.

square bases of the piers of Period I. If the arcade is typical of the earliest mosque, the piers had square bases in both Periods I and 2. It follows also that the mosque was not simply enlarged in Period 2; it was partly rebuilt. The original qibla wall and arcade 3 were demolished, while in arcades 15 and M not only were the piers replaced but the foundations were thoroughly restored.

The Extension. During the season we continued work in the extension, uncovering the original floors in all surviving bays and removing the floors in bays 3 and 8-11I. This revealed the original form of the extension and provided evidence for its date (see below, p. 6). We knew already that the extension is a rectangular structure divided into eleven parallel bays. The floors are almost 2 m. below the floor of the main enclosure and the walls dividing the bays are remarkably thick. The jambs of the entrances into the extension are of a different construction from the walls. In an attempt to explain these features, we speculated that the extension may have been designed with floors at the same level as the sanctuary, but that plans were changed and low-level floors and openings inserted. Such a view reconciled the massive partitions, which are comparable with the mortared foundations in the main enclosure, with the low-level floors." Last year, however, the hypothesis was destroyed when we investigated a blocked opening in wall 12 and discovered a second opening in wall I I.1 If the conjecture were correct, the opening in wall 12 would prove to be a secondary feature, cut through a solid foundation. This is not the case; the opening is original. Furthermore, we found also an original opening in wall I I, connecting bays Io and I I (P1. IId). Thus, it appears now that the extension was

6 SirdJfII, pp. 44-5.

7 In 1967-68 we discovered two openings in wall i2: the opening mentioned above and an opening between bay ii and the

ablution area. The second opening was rather weathered and we were uncertain whether it was original or inserted. Lack of time prevented us from investigating the first opening.



EXCAVATIONS AT SIRXF 5

built as intended, with rooms at a low level entered from the street. It is possible that a wooden roof existed at the level of the main enclosure and that the partitions supported the arcades of an upper storey, but no trace survives of a superstructure or roof.

After an interval, during which the bays were used for storage and ablution, part of the extension was backfilled and floors were constructed, or reconstructed, at a higher level. In bays to and I I we discovered pier bases and plaster floors at the same level as the main enclosure, built after the bays had been partly backfilled with earth and rubble. The project involved replacing several piers in arcades M and N and it was probably at this date that the side of the main enclosure was rebuilt between bays 12 and 15.

The Ablution Area. The ablution area fills the angle between the main enclosure and the extension and completes the complex of the Great Mosque. It is a rectangular building, 14 m. long and I I m. across (P1. IIIa). At the centre is a rectangular cistern surrounded by a paved precinct, which contains a latrine. The cistern floor is only

o.3 m. above the level of present day high tides and the latrine pit is

permanently waterlogged. On the two outer sides of the precinct are narrow ranges of rooms, probably intended for ablution. The precinct has an entrance from the street in the east angle and a second opening leads into the extension. Between the precinct and the main enclosure is a passage leading to the opening into bay I I of the extension, described above. The ablution area was frequently repaired. The ranges of rooms were remodelled and when part of the extension was backfilled the passage was converted into cubicles. The dump of pottery found last year outside the extension had been thrown into the passage after the opening had been blocked, but before the cubicles were begun.8 Clearly, the ablution area was already in use when the extension was rebuilt and, although final proof is lacking, the two structures may well be contemporary.

The Latest Restoration. The Great Mosque was extensively restored, probably in the twelfth century. Throughout the main enclosure the latest repairs were carried out with a distinctive type of pink plaster. If we are correct in assuming that all late repairs with pink plaster are contemporary, the restoration entailed: (i) replastering the arcades; (2) building or at least repairing the semicircular buttresses in the sanctuary; (3) building the rectangular buttresses; (4) repairing large areas of the sanctuary floor; and (5) constructing the small rooms in bay I5.9 Restoration was apparently long overdue, for a rectangular buttress to pier CIo incorporates a fragmentary pier identical in size and construction to the piers of Period 2. Evidently, part of the mosque had collapsed.

The Finds. The Great Mosque yielded an important collection of finds, particularly from the make- up for Period I of the main enclosure. Among the material from Period i are Islamic lead coins and a vast amount of pottery. The coins are poorly preserved and so far we have failed to identify either the mints or the rulers concerned.1' However, the script and style of the coins point to a date in the eighth century and their similarity suggests that they were issued by a single mint, possibly at Sirdf itself. Among the pottery is a fragmentary stoneware jar bearing two Arabic names, Yiisuf and Manstr or Maymin (P1. XIIc and d). The names have particular interest because they were incised before the vessel was glazed. The jar is undoubtedly Chinese and we conclude that it was made to order for a Muslim exporter, trading from a port in south China. Another Chinese ware present in Period I consists of bowls with a cream slip and decoration in green and brown." This " painted stoneware " occurs also at Sites A and C, but is rare at Site F, where it had gone out of use before the alleys were filled with rubbish (see below, p. 15). The only abundant type of glazed pottery in Period I was Sasanian-Islamic ware, which has a cream fabric and a vivid green glaze. The best known form is ajar frequently decorated with applied, stamped and incised motifs.'2 Scholars have proposed a wide range of dates for jars of this type and it is important to note that numerous sherds occur in Period I. Other

s Siraf II, p. 46. 9 To this period belong also the impression of the mimbar,

recorded in Sfirafll, fig. 2, and the slot which runs continuously from IE to 3E and 3N. We presume that the slot marks the position of a wooden rail, enclosing the most important part of the sanctuary. 2A

10 Lead coins occur also in the make-up for Period 2 and in the earliest levels of the shops. It should be noted that the corroded lead coins from bay IL, provisionally identified as Indo- Portuguese in Sirdf II, p. 48, are in fact early Islamic.

1 SirdfI, pp. 17-18 and pl. VIb. 1i Sirdf I, pl. VIc.




Sasanian-Islamic pottery from Period I includes a fragmentary barrel-shaped jar with incised ornament and a Kafic inscription containing the maker's name, IHltim. Among the unglazed pottery are sherds of unusually fine cream ware bearing Kfific inscriptions, vine scrolls and other vegetable motifs moulded in low relief. The sherds are comparable with the finest moulded pottery found at Sfisa.13

The extension, too, yielded a wide variety of finds, including a delicate glass vessel, 5"4

cm. across, decorated with moulded ribs (Pl. XIIa). We also found, in a disturbed level, a plaster holder for a lamp or incense burner (Pl. XId). The holder is a solid plaster cube,

8.8 cm. high, with a circular depression

in the top. The sides bear moulded ornament which includes a star-shaped motif and a palmette. A fragment of a second plaster holder was found in house N at Site F, in a layer deposited before the introduction of later sgraffiato ware in the eleventh century.14

In 1967-68 we discovered two fragmentary crenellations among debris from the facade of the main enclosure.15 Last year we were fortunate to find a third crenellation, broken but complete, buried under the floor of bays MI 1-12 (Pl. XIb). The crenellation, which is 42 cm. high, is made of plaster and bears vegetable motifs moulded in low relief. Part of the floor of bay M was replaced when the south-east wall of the mosque was restored (see above, p. 5) and we assume that the crenellation was broken and discarded during demolition prior to rebuilding. It would follow from this that not only the faqade but also the side of the main enclosure were embellished with stucco crenellations.

Finally, a shallow pit in the street to the south-east of the ablution area yielded a third fragment of the dedicatory inscription found in 1967. The new fragment provides the opening words of lines 1-3, but does not contain a date. The assembled fragments (P1. XIc) may be translated as follows:

(i) In the name of God the Clement, the Merciful. This is what was ordered by the Amir. ... (2) Shihdb ad-Dawla 'Izz al-Milla Nasir al-Umma Jamdl. ... (3) al-Ma'Mli Kdmrfi b. Hazdrasb b. Kd(mri). ...

The Chronology of the Great Mosque. The abundant coins and pottery found in 1968-69 allow us to be more precise about the chronology of the Great Mosque than was possible the previous year. I then suggested that Periods I and 2 belonged to the ninth century, while Period 3 was later than c. Iooo.16 Although the make-up for Period I yielded a large collection of coins, most were lead pieces which defy identification. Nevertheless, we also found several bronze and silver coins, the latest of which was minted c. 780. Since the lead coins are attributed on the basis of style to the eighth century, we suggest that the earliest mosque was built soon after c. 780. Last year I reported that the pottery associated with Period 2 in the main enclosure contained none of the tin-glazed pottery found in Period 2 of the sounding. Last season we recovered several thousand additional sherds from the make-up for Period 2 and these, too, did not include a single tin-glazed fragment. Indeed, the only glazed wares commonly found in Period 2 were Dusun stoneware and Sasanian-Islamic pottery and the collection bears a marked resemblance to the pottery of Period I. If we are correct in believing that tin-glazed wares were developed in the mid-ninth century, Period 2 can hardly be later than c. 850o.1

A cache of seven coins, concealed before the extension was built, provides a lower limit for the date of Period 3. The latest coin was minted in, or after, 1024. Shortly after the extension was completed, later sgraffiato ware came into use.18 Observation here and elsewhere at Sirdf suggests that the ware was introduced c. I05o and for this reason we conclude that the extension was built some time between 1024 and c. 1050.

The dates of Periods 4 and 5 depend on the chronology of Seljuq pottery with a fritty paste. The alterations to the extension, which comprise Period 4, were carried out before, and the restoration of Period 5 after the introduction of fritty wares at Siraf. The earliest wares with a fritty paste are usually

13 Raymond Koechlin, Les ciramiques musulmanes de Suse au Musle du Louvre (Paris 1928), p. 28, cat. nos. 29 and 30o; cp. pl. IV.

14 For an exceptionally fine plaster holder, see George T. Scanlon, " Fustat Expedition: Preliminary Report 1965. Part II ", Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt VI (1967), pp. 65-86, particularly p. 74, fig- 5a.

16 StrdfII, p. 44; p. 57, fig. 8 and pl. VIIb. 16 Straf II, p. 46.

'1 The date of the earliest tin-glazed pottery is at present in dispute, although the occurrence at Qairawin of tin-glazed tiles with lustre decoration, almost certainly exported from Baghdad in 862, strongly suggests that the technique of making tin-glazed pottery was established in Iraq by the middle of the ninth century.

18 For a description of " later sgraffiato ware ", see Sirdf I, p. 15, and for an illustrated example, see Sirdf II, pl. VIe.



Pl. Ia. Site B. The mihr7dbs of periods I and 2.

Pl. Ib. Site B. The main enclosure. The mihrdb of period I.

Pl. Ic. Site B. The main enclosure. Foundations of (left) period I and (right) period 2 at the junction of arcades 5 and M.



Pl. IIa. Site B. The main enclosure. Foundations at the south east end of bay I. The qibla wall of period I, reinforced at the angle with

a rounded buttress, is on the left.

Pl. IIc. Site B. The bazaar. An earthenvare bread oven.

Pl. HIb. Site B. The main enclosure. Part of the pre-mosque structure, between the foundations of bay I.

Pl. lId. Site B. The extension. The blocked opening between bays io and Ii with (left) one of the cross walls in bay I I.



P1. IIla. Site B. The ablution area. General view, looking towards the extension.

Pl. IIIb. Site B. The bazaar. A row of shops abutting onto the fagade of the main enclosure, from the north west.



Pl. IVa. Site F. General view, looking south.

Pl. IVb. Site F. House R, looking east.



Pl. Va. Site F. House N, looking south.

Pl. Vb. Site F. The main street, looking east, with house W and the private mosque on the right.

P1. Vc. The street on the south side of house E, looking towards the entrance to house S.



P1. VIa. Site F. The courtyard of house N, looking north.

P1. VI b. Site F. The main entrance to house E. Note the late blocking wall in the alley on the left.



Pl. VIIa. Site F. The alley separating houses R and Y and N, S and E, looking south.

P1. VIIb. Site F. Drain in the alley to the east of house E, as found. PI. VIIc. Site F. Drain in the alley to the east of house E, with the cover stone removed.



Pl. VIIIa. Site G. The main entrance.

Pl. VIIIb. Site G. The mihrdb, seen from the rear, looking towards the main entrance.

Pl. VIIIc. Site G. The mihrdb.



Pl. IXa. Site G. Opening with an ogival arch in the undercroft.

Pl. IXb. Site G. The undercroft on the east side of the mosque, exposed by the collapse oj the ground floor rooms.

Pl. IXc. Site G. Steps down to the undercroft.



P1. Xa. Site G. The ruined tomb chamber outside the mosque, seen from above.

Pl. Xb. Site G. An opening in the undercroft, with the wooden lintel preserved in situ.

Pl. Xc. Site G. The larger cistern.



P1. XIa. Site F. Stucco panel from house N. Length 92-5 cm.

Pl. XIc. Site B. The dedicator, inscription. Length 68 cm.

Pl. XIb. Site B. Stucco crenellation from the south east side of the main enclosure. Height 42 cm.

P1. XId. Site B. Plaster holder for a lamp or burner. Height 8-8 cm.



Pl. XIIa. Site B. Glass vessel from the extension. Diameter 5"4

cm.

Pl. XIIc. Site B. Chinese stoneware jar with two Islamic inscriptions. Diameter 42 cm.

Pl. XIIe. Site F. Sasanian-Islamic amphora from house N. Height 60 cm.

P1. XIIb. Site G. Glass lamp. Height 9-6 cm.

Pl. XIId. Site B. Chinese storeware jar. Detail of inscription.

Pl. XIIf. Stone shank from a grapnel anchor. Length 77 cm.



EXCAVATIONS AT SIRAF 7

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

A '

B

C L- i

D

E

F 238

G r

LL

47

0 15

metres

metre

PRE-OSQU (ERY REMSU L~j C13 yA(LATE);

Fig. 3. Site B. The eighth century or earlier structures beneath the Great Mosque.




attributed to the late twelfth century and it is unlikely that they were manufactured before c. I 150o. It is highly improbable that the impoverished community described by Yaqiit in 1218 had sufficient resources to restore the Great Mosque and we assume that Period 5 was completed some time before that date. If pottery with a fritty paste was perfected in the third quarter of the twelfth century, Period 5 belongs to the period c. I1150-75 to 1218.

On the basis of this information, the revised chronology is as follows:

Period I. Shortly after c. 780; perhaps c. 8oo. Period 2. c. 85o, or possibly earlier. Period 3. After 1024, but probably before c. 1050. Period 4. Before c. I 150-75. Period 5. After c. 150-75, but before 1218; perhaps c. II75-1200.

The Shops. Outside the Great Mosque is a group of small structures and a narrow street. The structures abut on to the fagade of the main enclosure and consist of two rows of premises, one on each side of the steps leading into the mosque (P1. IIIb). The structures are flimsily built, with plaster partitions and paved or plaster floors. Few, if any, would have supported an upper storey. The partitions are without openings and each room is entered from the street. All the rooms are small, the largest measuring barely 3 x 2 m. internally. Several rooms contain ovens (P1. IIc) and it is clear that the structures are the small lock-up shops and workshops of a bazaar. The shops extend along the north- east side of the ablution area and it is tempting to conclude that the Great Mosque was surrounded on the landward side by a bazaar.

The excavated shops abut on to the Great Mosque and it is probable that the bazaar developed after the construction of the earliest mosque. Unfortunately, the evidence is insufficient for us to deter- mine whether it was built as a piece of town planning or grew up haphazardly during the ninth century. The earliest shops yielded pottery and lead coins comparable with material from Periods I and 2 in the main enclosure, while the latest structures were associated with sgraffiato ware of the eleventh and twelfth centuries. By the time the Seljuq wares reached Sirif, the shops were deserted.

The Earliest Occupation. The floors and footings concealed beneath the mosque belong to some of the earliest structures found at Sirif and comprise one of the most important discoveries of 1968-69 (P1. IIb and Fig. 3). The remains consist of one or more large buildings occupying an area of at least 70 x 55 m. The buildings were already in ruins when the first mosque was built and at one point a small structure was erected after the end of the early occupation but before the construction of the mosque.

We found the buildings first beneath bays 9-11 of the extension, after removing the floors in a search for evidence to date Period 3. Subsequently we uncovered footings below the main enclosure, the ablution area and the bazaar. It is clear that the remains of buildings exist beneath a large part of Site B, although erosion has removed all trace of structures south of a line between bay IL and extension bay 8. The buildings appear to be roughly contemporary with the earliest deposits at Sites A and C.19

The buildings have walls of mortared stone which rest on stone foundations set in mud. They have plaster floors. With the exception of the small structure mentioned above, we have no complete plan and the form and function of the buildings are unknown. Unlike the houses at Site F, which have narrow ranges of rooms surrounding a central yard, the buildings consist of broad agglomerations of rooms linked by connecting doors (e.g. under bay i) or narrow passages (e.g. under bays 8L and 9M).

At present we have little evidence for the date of the earliest occupation. Material from below the level of the floors contains little glazed pottery, although scraps of Dusun stoneware show that goods were already imported from China. Among the finds are two sherds with short Pahlavi graffiti. The erosion and the small structure suggest that an appreciable period elapsed between the abandonment of the buildings and the construction of the mosque. If the mosque was begun c. 8oo, the early occupation ended in the eighth century and its origins may well be earlier.

19 Siraf I, p. 2x.




2. Site F. The Residential Quarter In 1967 we excavated an impressive house near the centre of Siraf, some 400 m. west of the Great

Mosque.20 Last season we investigated a large area to the east and north-east of the house, revealing four additional houses and parts of five more (P1. IVa and Fig. 4). The area emerged as a prosperous residential quarter bisected by a grid of streets and narrow alleys.

House E. House E is a rectangular building, 27 m. long and 12 m. wide. We recovered evidence for three periods of construction on the site: (I) a building which had been completely demolished and survives only as a footing on the south side; (2) a rectangular courtyard house; and (3) a phase of repair and re-occupation in the ruins of Period 2. As it stands, house E belongs almost entirely to Period 2 (P1. VIb and Fig. 6). The house has an asymmetrical plan, consisting of a courtyard with rooms on three sides only. Like the building excavated in 1967 (house W), it has both front and rear entrances and, like house N (see below), it has a faqade turned through a few degrees to conform to the line of the street. As in house W, the main entrance is marked by pairs of double pilasters, the bases of which survive at the inner end of the passage. Excluding the entrances, the building has eight ground floor rooms, including a well house near the centre of the west side. A shallow vault supports the floor of the room in the north-east angle, but we have no reason to suppose that the cavity was intended as a cellar. On the east side the courtyard wall projects almost I m. beyond the rooms, thus preserving the building line of Period I.

House N. Houses N and S are relatively small, each occupying only half the area of houses E and W (Fig. 5). House N, which measures approximately 16 x 17 m., is almost square, although the fagade has been turned through 20 to conform with the street (P1. Va and VIa). The plan is roughly symmetrical and comprises nine rooms opening into a central yard. On each side of the entrance is a rectangular room measuring 2 75 x 5'5 m. internally. Flanking the courtyard are two pairs of rectangular rooms, one of which is divided by a narrow partition. Opposite the entrance is another rectangular room,

2"3 m. wide and 6-2 m. long. The room is remarkable for its vaulted ceiling, the

springing of which survives on the south wall, I 85 m. above the floor. Traces of a second vaulted ceiling survive in the room which occupies the south-west angle of the house. House N possessed more than one storey. Lying in the room with a partition were fragments of a second narrow wall. Unlike the partition, the fallen wall contained a doorway and cannot, therefore, be part of the ground floor. It follows that at least part of the house was two or more storeys high. The house had been repaired, for the doorway into the room to the east of the entrance had been blocked and the walls on the south side of the yard had been refaced with reddish plaster.

House S. House S is even smaller than N. It is I4-5 m. square and has a complex history with four major periods of building. In each period the house was remodelled and in constructing Period 4 the builders removed much of the preceding masonry. During the season we uncovered the whole of Period 4, but investigated only parts of Periods 1-3, revealing the sequence but not the complete plan of the individual phases. We know little of Period I. In Periods 2 and 3 the site was occupied by a courtyard house with semicircular pilasters on the outer walls and a single entrance near the centre of the east side. In Period 4 the house was almost totally rebuilt. On the north and east sides the walls were reinforced with rectangular pilasters. The position of the entrance was changed to provide direct access from the broad street on the south side of house E. After successive rebuilding the floors of Period 4 were more than I m. above the surrounding streets and the house was entered by a flight of steps (P1. Vc). The steps lead into a rectangular passage, through which one entered the central yard. The yard is surrounded by seven rooms, one of which has a narrow partition. In the north-west corner of the yard is a well, which belongs either to Period 4 or, more probably, to the post-medieval occupation which overlies most of the excavated area (see below, p. 15).

House R. House R is the most unusual and complicated structure found at Site F. It is a large building with an irregular plan comprising two phases of construction and at least one period of repair (P1. IVb and Fig. 7). In its original form, the complex was probably a single house, much of which

,o Siraf II, pp. 48-53.




r J

ii

House_ E E1 Hos WD

I House N

(est

r...;

O oi

o

HoseY

Main,

street ,,

House R

ii

t~( east )

House R

. _ .::

(w est) (

metres G,-m.

.... '

, :--:--::-:-_-_"--- GDm DWd"-

Fig. 4. Site F. General plan.




0 5 15

metres

GD&CLm DWd

Fig. 5. Site F. Houses N and S.




Pit

0 5 15 Dry stone wall

metres

GD m DWd

Fig. 6. Site F. House E.

survived unchanged when it was rebuilt in Period 2. It possessed two entrances: a main entrance from the street to the south and a side entrance from the alley to the west. It appears that neither of the existing south doors is original and in Period I the main entrance was probably between the two, opposite the entrance to house N. The house of Period I had an L- or [-shaped yard and its irregular plan may reflect the form of earlier buildings of which nothing survives above ground level. In Period 2 the building was divided into two semi-detached houses, each with an entrance from the street to the south. The new east house is a compact structure measuring only 15 x 8 5 m., with four rooms on the ground floor. The west house is altogether larger, with eight or more ground floor rooms and two entrances: a new south door and the old side entrance of Period i. The west house underwent repairs and minor alterations, during which the side entrance was blocked, converting the passage into an extra ground floor room. Like houses N and W, the building had more than one storey (see below).

House Y. Although we excavated only a small part of house Y, we uncovered enough to suggest that it resembled house W, with a fagade comprising two rooms on either side of an imposing entrance. However, unlike house W, it was carelessly built; the pilasters are placed at irregular intervals along the

faCade and the room in the south-west angle has an irregular plan. This room is unusual in having an entrance from the street, but no apparent opening into the courtyard. House Y was repaired, possibly more than once, and a rectangular pilaster was added to the south-west angle.



EXCAVATIONS AT SiRAF 13

?wall

drain

Period 1 Period 2

SII Uncertain Late walls

0 5 15

metres

Fig. 7. Site F. House R.

Domestic Architecture at Sirdf. The houses at Site F display two distinct architectural styles: (I) using semicircular pilasters and (2) using rectangular pilasters. Wherever information on their relative dates exists, the semicircular pilasters are earlier. Thus, house W was built with semicircular pilasters, but

repaired with rectangular pilasters;21 houses E and S both were built with semicircular pilasters,

21 Sirdf II, p. 51.




demolished and rebuilt using rectangular pilasters; finally, house Y and the unexcavated building south of house S were built with semicircular pilasters but, like house W, were repaired with rectangular pilasters. Furthermore, in the two houses with semicircular pilasters where evidence survives (i.e. house W and the second and third phases of S) only the courtyards and entrance passages are paved; the living rooms have plaster floors. In contrast, in three of the four houses with rectangular pilasters (houses E, N and R) courtyards, entrances and living rooms are paved. A similar change occurs in the buildings at Sites A and C where, although we lack information on the pilasters, we know that all the early floors are made of plaster and all the paved floors are late. It is possible, therefore, that a change from semicircular to rectangular pilasters was accompanied by the adoption of paved floors for living rooms as well as courtyards and entrances. In short, a new style of building was introduced to Siraf and at Site F its arrival coincided with a spate of rebuilding. It is possible, therefore, that the new style was introduced in a period of reconstruction, perhaps after a disaster like the earthquake of 977-

At least two of the houses excavated last year were more than one storey high. In house R we excavated a fallen wall nearly 6m. high, with a ceiling scar

3" 5 m. above floor level; while in house N

we found a tumbled wall which could not be accommodated in the ground floor plan. These, like house W, were evidently two of the multi-storey houses mentioned by the tenth-century writer Istakhri.

Architectural Decoration. Every house yielded pieces of decorated stucco from the debris which filled the rooms. Although none survived in situ, it was clear that most, if not all the fragments belonged to the rooms in which they were found, and it follows that every house had stucco decoration. Much of the plaster is comparable with the stucco found in house W,22 but the most remarkable pieces consist of triangular panels decorated with stars and rosettes contained in a network of stars and polygons (P1. XIc). Several panels retain a band of ornament on the longest edge, showing that they were set above openings. Few of the rooms at Site F possess niches or windows and we assume that the panels were placed above the doors. When Site F was abandoned, several houses were decorated with this type of stucco. We maintain (see below, p. 15) that houses N, R and W were not only empty, but had already collapsed and become filled with rubble before c. o50o. If this is correct, the triangular panels can hardly be later than the early eleventh century, thus forming the earliest dated examples of star and polygon ornament.

The Streets. The excavation of Site F revealed in detail a street plan similar to the pattern of streets found during the survey of surface remains at Sirdf. In both cases, we recovered regular grids of streets and while there is no suggestion that Sirdf was laid out with a master-plan, it is clear that whole quarters were deliberately planned, presumably under official control. The pattern found at Site F consists of a main street, or streets, 4 m. wide (P1. Vb), intersected by narrow alleys up to 2 m. across. Neither the streets nor the alleys were paved and the surface consists simply of earth. Roofs were drained by columns of earthenware pipes which carried storm water into stone-lined pits (P1. VIIa). Wherever possible the pits were dug in the alleys and only one building, house Y, has a drainage pit in the main street. Although most of the pits received columns of pipes, several were used for the disposal of domestic waste, possibly from latrines, and a drain near the south-east angle of house E was found with its stone cover in position (P1. VIIb and c). As the prosperity of Sir~f declined and the houses fell into decay (see below, p. 15), it became increasingly common for the remaining occupants to tip refuse in the alleys. The alleys to the west of house E and to the south of house S, for example, became so choked with rubbish that the survivors felt compelled to close them with dry stone walls (P1. VIb).

The Finds. The houses and alleys yielded a vast number of finds. Among the pottery, for example, is a three-handled amphora with a dull green glaze, deposited on a floor in house N before the building collapsed (P1. XIIe). Perhaps the most interesting finds, however, are two fragmentary stone shanks from grapnel anchors. They were identified after comparison with a complete example found elsewhere at Sirif by villagers and recovered by the expedition from a modern house between Sites B and C. The complete object (P1. XIIf) is a sandstone block 77 cm. long, tapering towards the top. The lower end is

22 Sirf IIl, p. 52; p. 58, fig. 9 and pl. VIIc and d.




pierced by two rectangular holes, one above the other, cut at right angles. At the upper end is a circular hole, above which are shallow grooves. The rectangular holes originally contained the wooden flukes, while the cable was attached by the circular hole at the top. The grooves prevented the cable from chafing. Mr. Neville Chittick informs me that similar shanks occur at Mogadishu and Kilwa in East Africa. The only datable examples known to me are the two fragments from Site F; the earlier piece was found in house R, in a layer preceding the introduction of later sgraffiato ware, and the later piece in house E, associated with later sgraffiato bowls. Thus, grapnel anchors with heavy sandstone shanks were already in use at Sirif by the mid-eleventh century.

The Post-Medieval Occupation. Site F was re-occupied in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The occupation consisted of a scatter of small dry stone buildings which yielded pottery and other finds comparable with the material from Site E.23 In 1967 we discovered traces of buildings overlying house W; last season we found buildings above houses E, S and R, and the alley separating houses E and N. The structures are difficult to date, largely because they lack the Chinese porcelain found in the more opulent building at Site E. However, unglazed painted wares are common and a layer of agricultural soil beneath a building above house S contained three Islamic coins: two minted by AbUi Sa'id( 1316-35) and a third struck in the early fourteenth century. Inserted into the layer was a hoard of sixty Chinese copper coins, lying in a manner which suggested that they had been strung together on a cord. The coins span a period of more than 6oo years. The earliest pieces were minted by Kao Tsu (618-26), T'ai Tsung using the title T'ai Ping (976-84) and Chih Tao (995-8). The latest coins were minted by Li Tsung using the title Chia Hsi (1237-40), Shun Yu (1241-52) and Tu Tsung (I265-75).24

The Chronology of Site F. The occupation of Site F falls into two distinct periods: (I) the medieval occupation, which ended with the decline of Siraf, and (2) the re-occupation in the fourteenth century. Although detailed information on the earliest medieval buildings must await excavation below the floors of the houses with semicircular pilasters, we know much about the period of decline. The stratified earth and rubble which filled the ruins of houses N, R and W yielded tens of thousands of potsherds, but not a single piece of later sgraffiato ware. The debris filling houses E and S contained sgraffiato ware, but no Seljuq pottery with a fritty paste. It is unlikely that the houses were deliberately filled with rubble and there is good reason to suppose that the debris accumulated gradually. If, as I suggest (see above, p. 6), later sgraffiato ware came into use c. 1o05 and wares with a fritty paste c. I150-75, houses N, R and W had been abandoned some time before c. 105o and houses E and S before c. I

150-75. When Ydqiit described Sirif, Site F was choked with rubble.

We found nothing to suggest that the area was re-occupied before the fourteenth century. However, a century later a village occupied the whole of a triangle enclosed by the beach, the modern road from the Great Mosque to Site F and the watercourse from Shilau valley. We do not know yet how long the area was occupied or what prompted the inhabitants to move along the bay to the modern village.

3. Site G. The Shrine

The ruins of Site G occupy a commanding position on the edge of a promontory separating the

valleys of Kunirak and Shilau, near the north-west corner of Sir~f.25 The promontory ends in a cliff and the ruins actually project beyond the edge, supported by a massive revetment. The surrounding area contains numerous rock-cut graves and is littered with broken grave covers. Before excavations began, it was clear that the ruins included a mosque and investigation revealed that this was associated with ablution facilities and a walled cemetery. Coins and pottery from the site suggest that the mosque was built between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries and the typology of the grave covers indicates that the area was already a cemetery in the twelfth century. The mosque, therefore, was built in an awkward position, demanding extensive revetments, in the middle of an old cemetery. It is difficult to escape the conclusion, which accords with local tradition, that the building is in fact a shrine.

23 Sirdf II, pp. 56-8. 24 Mr. Lowick points out that the composition of the hoard is

strikingly similar to that of a larger hoard of Chinese coins from

Kajengwa in East Africa; see G. S. P. Freeman Grenville,

" Coinage in East Africa before Portuguese Times ", Numis- matic Chronicle, 6th series, XVII (0957), PP. 151-79, particularly p. 164.

21 See Stein's plan, reproduced in Sirdfl, fig. 2, and SirdflII, fig. I.




The mosque itself measures approximately 15 x 16 m. and is roughly square, although the qibla side, which projects beyond the edge of the cliff, is considerably bent (Fig. 8). The focal point is an elegant courtyard three bays wide and two bays deep, measuring 8-5 x 7 m. The centre bay on the qibla side contains a low mihrdb decorated with cast plaster panels (P1. VIIIb and c). The courtyard is entered through a porch, which again bears plaster panels (P1. VIIIa), and beyond this is a passage 2 - 2 m. long. On each side of the porch is a squarish room. The north room contains a flight of steps leading to the minaret. The absence of a heavy footing suggests that this took the form of a cage-like structure on the roof, rather than a tower."2 To the south of the courtyard are the remains of a double arcade, running the full depth of the mosque. The building is badly ruined on the south-east side and nothing survives of the outer wall above floor level. However, the form of the piers on the south side of the inner arcade confirms beyond doubt that a second arcade existed. Finally, to the south-west of the courtyard is a rectangular room 8 - 5 m. long and nearly 3 m. wide.

Outside the south-west room, on a shelf of rock half way down the cliff, is a small tomb chamber containing a single grave with a stone cover. The cover is uninscribed, but clearly the grave contains an important person. Unfortunately, we do not know whether the actual grave is older than the mosque.

In front of the mosque is a walled cemetery containing more than twenty graves, a crypt and a small mausoleum. The graves are aligned at approximately 90go to the direction of Mecca, like the burials of Period 2d at Site A.27 Each grave is marked by a vertical slab at the head and foot and some are outlined with stones. On the south side of the cemetery is a crypt containing two or more stone and plaster graves. The crypt measures

2" 4 x 3 -8 m. internally and was at least I .3 m. deep. It was built

after the mosque fell into decay and was backfilled before the cemetery went out of use. On the opposite side of the cemetery are the remains of a mausoleum, 4- I m. square. The mausoleum is built of mortared stone and is plastered on the inside. It has a symmetrical plan with an opening I .4 m. wide in every wall. At an unknown date the north opening was blocked, creating an internal niche. In one corner, I 12 m. above the floor, is a fragmentary squinch, which establishes that the structure had a dome. The chamber itself contains two stone and plaster graves.28

At the side of the mosque is a triangular yard containing ablution facilities and a range of rooms. The buildings are of two main periods: Period I, in which all the components already existed, and Period 2, in which the rooms were completely rebuilt. The ablution facilities occupy the west side of the yard. They comprise two covered cisterns and a sunken area used for washing. The cisterns are of the standard Sirdfi type, being large rectangular tanks, with rounded ends and a vaulted roof.29 They were fed with storm water and at Site G we found a series of conduits intended to collect water from the roofs and to carry away any excess. The roof of the smaller cistern forms part of the courtyard floor and the top of the larger tank is barely 0* 5 m. above floor level. Between the tanks is a small washing place with a floor I -2 m. below the level of the yard. Access was provided by a flight of steps and the only facilities were a bench and openings in the cistern walls for drawing water. Outside the yard are at least three rectangular platforms associated with conduits bringing water from the larger cistern. The area may have served for washing corpses before burial in the walled cemetery.

On the north side of the yard is a range of narrow rooms. Five rooms existed in Period I, occupying an area up to I I m. long and 5 m. wide. In Period 2 the rooms were demolished and rebuilt with a different plan. The new building comprises two rooms separated by an opening in the north wall of the yard. The north room measures I

"9 x

6.6 m. and the east room, which has a rhomboidal plan, is

26 As in modern mosques in the region; see Sfraf II, p. 48. 27 SfrdfI, p. 6, fig. 3. Today the Sunnis of TTheri bury their dead

with the axis of the body pointing towards Mecca, while the Shi'is are buried at 900 to this alignment. The two practices explain the different alignments of graves in the major cemeteries at Sirdf, which led Stein, Archaeological Recon- naissances, pp. 2o8-og9, to suggest that some of the graves might be Jewish, a conjecture repeated by Jean Aubin, " La ruine de Sirf et les routes du Golfe Persique aux XIe et XIIe si~cles ", Cahiers de Civilisation Mddidvales I (1959), pp. 295-3oI, parti-

cularly, p. 297. We cannot at present identify any of the graves at Sirif as necessarily Jewish.

28 The mausoleum is comparable with a larger building, which still retains part of the dome, on the ridge above Site B; see Stein, Archaeological Reconnaissances, p. 207. For similar, but more elabo- rate domed mausolea, see William Murray Clevenger, " Some Minor Monuments of

Khurdsmn ", Iran VI (1968), pp. 57-64.

29 Cp. the ruined cistern in the courtyard of the Great Mosque. The type is not, of course, confined to SirIf and is widely used

today.



EXCAVATIONS AT SIRXF 17

Crypt

..- ~ Light well

-Steps down to Undercroft r

"c

Mausoleum

Cemetery Steps up Minaret

-0 c C istern 1

/I,

Courtyard Area

! %

Period 1, possibly rebuilt Platform

Period 1, foundations etc

Period 2 0 10 / Well

S Uncertain metres

Fig. 8. Site G. The later mosque. Simplified plan.




2 2 m. wide and up to 6 m. long. During Period 2 a wall was built across the yard, making the east room inaccessible from the mosque.

Among the finds associated with Period 2 is a glass lamp of a type commonly found at Siraf. The lamp (P1. XIIb), which has a shallow body and a tapering base, was intended for suspension in a metal ring. The type has a long history. Examples occur at Sdmarra,30 and at Siraf the earliest fragments come from the make-up for Period 2 at the Great Mosque. Elsewhere at Site B fragments are associated with later sgraffiato ware and the vessel from Site G cannot be earlier than 1264 (see below).

The Chronology of Site G. We cannot date the structures with precision. The stucco panels in the mihrdb and main entrance clearly belong to a late stage in the history of the site and the form of the mosque is difficult to parallel among dated buildings elsewhere. At present our evidence for the date of the mosque consists of two coins and some 500 potsherds associated with the early rooms in the yard. Both coins were minted for Abish bint Sa'd with Abagha as overlord (1264-82). If we exclude two residual fragments, one tin-glazed and the other later sgraffiato ware, the only glazed pottery from the rooms has a thin apple green finish. At the Great Mosque identical wares came into use during the currency of later sgraffiato and Seljuq wares with a fritty paste. Among the unglazed sherds, the painted wares characteristic of fifteenth-century levels at Site E are completely lacking. The evidence of the pottery combines with that of the coins to suggest that the rooms were in use before the fifteenth century, a view strengthened by the discovery on the site of an unstratified tile of the thirteenth or fourteenth century. Although we know little of the later history of the site, we may summarize the evidence for the whole occupation as follows:

I. A cemetery already existed in the twelfth century. 2. The mosque and courtyard were built in the late thirteenth or fourteenth century. A

cemetery developed in front of the complex. 3. The courtyard and the cemetery wall were rebuilt, possibly on the same occasion. 4. The mosque itself was redecorated, perhaps in the eighteenth century.31

Note: A preliminary account of the fourth season of excavations appears on p. 187.

30 CarlJohann Lamm, Das Glas von Samarra (Berlin 1928), cat. no. 145, pl. IV.

31 The style of ornament on the panels recalls tiles of the Zand dynasty at Shirdz. When Kempthorne visited Sirif in 1835, the

mosque was in ruins; G. B. Kempthorne, "A Narrative of a Visit to the Ruins of Taheri . . .", Trans. Bombay Geographical Society XIII (1856-57), pp. 125-40.



Documents

Excavations at Sīrāf: Third Interim Report