SHAHDAD, SHAHR-I SOKHTA, TEPE YAHYA…….MANY SITES FOR A SINGLE HISTORY ?

MAURIZIO TOSIUniversity of Bologna

Italy

SHAHDAD AND THE BRONZE AGE IN SOUTHEAST IRANA Workshop commemorating Prof. Ali Hakemi’s Work atShahdad and 40 Years of Excavations in Southeast Iran

Cambridge, 15-16 July 2011

ALI A. HAKEMI1915-1997

SHAHDAD

ShahdadModern Village

Archaeological Area

0 0,1 0,2 0,3 0,4

AREA A

AREA B

AREANECROPOLI*

Are

e A

rch

eolo

gic

he

Estensione in SQ KM

AREA NECROPOLI*

AREA B

AREA A

ARCHAEOLOGICALEVIDENCE (SQ KM)

SUPERFICIE (in Sq M)

AREA A 0,1 101364

AREA B 0,16 167632

AREA NECROPOLI* 0,38 381865

Salvatori, Vidale 1977

Surface Survey

From TOSI, 1979

JIROFT: THE LAND OF MARHASHI ?

THE HALIL RUD VALLEY IN JIROFTLOOKING SOUTHWARDS

A QUESTION OF PERSPECTIVE ?

Dwarka

UrUruk

Tepe Yahya

Susa

Lagash

Eridu

An Shan

Ras al-Jinz

MAGAN

SUMER

ELAM

MELUHHA

MARHASHI

DILMUNCOUNTRIES

ONTHE

LOWERSEA

LATE STONE AGE COASTAL FORAGERSOF ARABIA AND THE UBAID POTTERY

Umm al-QuwainC. 4800 BCE

Dwarka

UrUruk

Tepe Yahya

Susa

Lagash

Eridu

An Shan

Ras al-Jinz

MAGAN

SUMER

ELAM

EARLIEST IN EGYPTNaqadah Graves

EARLIEST INMESOPOTAMIA

UNWORKED BLOCKS FROM EBLA

Rehman-dheri

Harappa

Mohenjo-daro

Balakot

Allahdino Dholavira

LothalNageshwar

Chanudaro

Kot Diji

Amri

Nausharo

Ganweriwala

Kalibangan

Rakhigarhi

Lewan dheri

Sutkagen dor

Tarakai Qila

500 km

Mundigak

Ra’s al-Junayz

Bampur

Tepe Yahya

Shahr-i Sokhta

Miri Qalat

Kuntasi

Sotka Koh

Shortugai

Jiroft

Mundigak

Sistan

Stylistic details may place the Helmand fragments near the Indus Valley specimens

DILMUN Mohenjo-DaroHarappa

LOTHAL

?

Discoveries of Dilmun and Lothal in 1954 Dilmun > Lothal = 2.500 km

Dylmun-type Seal, Lothal Surface

DILMUN VERSUS INDUS SEALS

SMALL COLUMNS

BREAKING THE MONSOON ROUTES

THE MIDDLE ASIAN INTERCULTURAL SPACE

NORTH

CENTER

SOUTH

WEST EAST

THEMIDDLE

EAST

CENTRALASIA

SOUTHASIA

SISTAN

THE SHAHR-ISOKHTA AREAEXCAVATIONS RESIDENTIAL AREA

LOOKING EASTTOWARDS AFGHANISTAN

TEPE YAHYA

TEPE YAHYA IVCc. 3000 BC

1972-73

Lamberg-Karlovsky C.C. & M. Tosi (1973) Shahr-i Sokhta and Tepe Yahya: Tracks on the Earliest History of the Iranian Plateau, in East and West, 23, pp. 21-58.

AN EARLY PERCEPTION OF INTERACTION SPHERES IN SOUTH ASIA IN THE LATE 4TH MILLENNIUM BC: TURAN AND THE WEST

Lamberg-Karlovsky C.C. & M. Tosi (1973) Shahr-i Sokhta and Tepe Yahya: Tracks on the Earliest History of the Iranian Plateau, in East and West, 23, pp. 21-58.

INTERACTION SPHERES IN SOUTH-WEST ASIA AROUND 2500 BCE

TRADE ROUTES AND MAIN COMMODITIES

“INTERCULTURAL-STYLE” OBJECTS

FULLOL HOARD

NORTHERN AFGHANISTAN 1969

THE BEGINNING OF A NEW CHAPTER IN MIDDLE ASIAN

ARCHAEOLOGY

NORTH-EASTERN AFGHANISTAN

Silver Pyxis AO 31881 (Louvre) – acquired 2001

1 2 14/15 163 4 65 107 8 9 11 12 13 17

1. SITTING WOMAN WITH KAUNAKES 2. TREE WITH FRUITS 3. SITTING WOMAN WITH KAUNAKES 4. SITTING WOMAN WITH KAUNAKES 5. SITTING WOMAN WITH KAUNAKES 6. TREE WITHOUT LEAVES 7. NAKED SERVANT SCOOPING LIQUID FROM LARGE JAR 8. SITTING WOMAN WITH KAUNAKES AND FANCY HEADDRESS 9. SITTING MAN10. SITTING MAN WITH TREE11. DRESSED SERVANT WITH PLUMES ON HEADDRESSING CARRYING KID12. OFFICIATING PRIEST HOLDING LIBATION CUP13. TABLE OF OFFERINGS WITH DEAD KID IN PLATE AND LARGE BOWL14. SITTING NAKED YOUTH OFFERING GRAPE (?) BUNCH15. SEATED “GODDESS16. TREE WITH FRUITS17. LARGE BOWL 18. SEATED “GOD” HOLDING PALETTE/WAND

18

SHORTUGAI 1977-79DISCOVERY OF AN HARAPPANOUTPOST ON THE AMUDARYA

SERAZM

THE MIDDLE ZERAVSHAN VALLEY NEAR SERAZM

SARAZM LADY’S GRAVE(c. 3200 BCE)

Sarazm (Tadjikistan) : stripped sea-shell bangle

Tonna dolium L.

Tonna dolium L. present - day distribution in Indo-Pacific Region

Shortugai

Sarazm

Shahdad

Hissar

SARAZM – SHORTUGAI = KM 350 = 14-17 DAYS

SARAZM – BALAKOT = 1700 KM = 70-80 DAYS

BALAKOT

THE MIDDLE ASIANCIRCUIT OF EXCHANGES

DISTRIBUTION OF NAL AND NAL-STYLE WARES IN INDO-IRAN

SurRa’s al-Hadd

Ra’sal-Jinz

BLACK-SLIPPED JARS IN OMAN

GONUR

INCISED SOAPSTONE VESSELS FROM OMAN

MOHENJO DARO

SILVER SEAL FROMTOGOLOK 21

ROYAL GRAVES

GONURGENERAL PLAN

2008

THE CART GRAVE AT GONUR NORTH (C. 2200 BCE)

Stone statuettes of male kneeling figures: a Central-Asian model?

Mohenjo-daro

Gonur, Margiana

FEASTINGELITES OF EARLY

BACTRIA…..……WHILE OTHERS ARE WORKING

GONUR TEPE HARAPPA

L - 161L - 161

L-162

GONUR’S ELITE IVORYCONNECTION TO THEINDIAN SUBCONTINENT

Metal knife from Burial No. 1922 with handle in shape of

interwoven snakes

Hatch & Crosses

1

2

3

GONUR

MOHENJO-DARO

SHAHR-I SOKHTA

STONE RECTANGULAR DICE FROM SHAHR-I SOKHTA AND SOME IVORY SPECIMENS FROM MOHENJO-DARO

SHAHR-I SOKHTAGRAVE G. 731

c. 2400-2300 BCE

ALTYN DEPE NAMAZGA V

Gaming Pieces

Mohenjo-Daro (ivory)

Shahr-i Sokhta (aragonite or turquoise)

The Jonathan P. Rosen Seal(Porada, Early Mesopotamia and Iran, 94 fig. 31)

A PLAY OF CHESSDetail on

the Jonathan P. Rosen Seal

The Adab Vase Bismaya

(Frankfort, Art and Architecture, 40 fig. 31)

The Harp Players on the Adab Vase

(Stauder, Die Harfen … der Sumerer, XXX fig. 33)

The Foroughi Seal

(Porada, Compte Rendue de l’Onzième Rencontre, pl. 1 fig. A)

(Amiet, L’âge des échanges, 299 fig. 10)

The New York Seal

(Amiet, L’âge des échanges, 300 fig. 137)

(Amiet, L’âge des échanges, 299 fig. 12)

«Bactrian» Goblet(Francfort, Observations, 45 fig. 6a)

Harp Player on the

Shahr-i Sokhta Plaque(Duchesne-Guillemin, JNES 29,

200 fig. 1)

Indian Harps of the Second Century BC(Stauder, Die Harfen … der Sumerer, 16 fig. 17)

13/04/2023 146

TURENG TEPE1959-1977

13/04/2023 147

13/04/2023 148

Tureng TepeRicostruzione ipotetica in 3d della struttura

HOLDING HANDS IN PATIENCE AND PRAY, …. BUT FOR ME THE

ONLY THING LEFT IS …

SURRENDER TO THE ENEMY…