Iran 09 (1971)

IRAN Journal of the British Institute of Persian Studies

VOLUME IX 1971

CONTENTS

Page Governing Council . . . . . . . . . ii

Director's Report . . . . . . . . . . iii

Excavations at Sirdf: Fourth Interim Report, by David Whitehouse I Rashid al Din: The First World Historian, by John Andrew Boyle . 19 The Chronology of Turbat-i Shaikh Jdm, by Lisa Golombek . . 27

The Fortress of Khan Lanjdn, by S. M. Stern, E. Beazley and A. Dobson 45 The Last Safavids, 1722-1773, by J. R. Perry . . . . . 59

A Problem Piece of Kashmiri Metalwork, by Jennifer M. Scarce and L. P. Elwell-Sutton . . . . . . . . 71

The Proto-Elamite Settlement at Tepe Yahyd, by C. C. Lamberg- Karlovsky . . . . . . . . . . 87

A Hoard of Ingot-Currency of the Median Period from Nfish-i Jan, near Malayir, by A. D. H. Bivar . . . . . . . 97

Towarc's a Chronology for the "Lfiristan Bronzes", by P. R. S. Moorey 113 Liiristan before the Iron Age, by Clare L. Goff. . . . . 13

Shorter Notices . . . . . . . . . 153

Survey of Excavations in Iran, 1969-70 . . . . . . 65

Published annually by

THE BRITISH INSTITUTE OF PERSIAN STUDIES

c/o The British Academy, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, WIV ONS Price: ?5.oo

STATEMENT OF AIMS AND ACTIVITIES

i. The Institute has an establishment in Tehran at which British scholars, men of learning versed in the arts, friends of Iran, may reside and meet their Iranian colleagues in order to discuss with them subjects of common interest; the arts, archaeology, history, literature, linguistics, religion, philosophy and cognate subjects.

2. The Institute provides accommodation for senior scholars and for teachers at British Universities in order that they may refresh themselves at the source of knowledge from which their teaching derives. The same service is being rendered to younger students who show promise of developing interests in Persian studies.

3. The Institute, whilst concerned with Persian culture in the widest sense, is particularly concerned with the development of archaeological techniques, and seeks the co-operation of Iranian scholars and students in applying current methods to the resolution of archaeological and historical problems.

4. Archaeological excavation using modern scientific techniques as ancillary aids is one of the Institute's primary tasks. These activities, which entail a fresh appraisal of previous discoveries, have already yielded new historical, architectural, and archaeological evidence which is adding to our knowledge of the past and of its bearing on the modern world.

5. In pursuit of all the activities mentioned in the preceding paragraphs the Institute is gradually adding to its library, is collecting learned periodicals, and is publishing a journal, Iran, which is expected to appear annually. The Institute aims at editing and translating a series of Persian texts, the first of which, the Humav-Nama, edited by the late Professor A. J. Arberry, has already appeared.

6. The Institute arranges occasional seminars, lectures and conferences and enlists the help of

distinguished scholars for this purpose. It will also aim at arranging small exhibitions with the object of demonstrating the importance of Persian culture and its attraction for the world of scholarship.

7. The Institute endeavours to collaborate with universities and educational institutions in Iran by all the means at its disposal and, when consulted, assists Iranian scholars with technical advice for directing them towards the appropriate channels in British universities.

MEMBERSHIP OF THE INSTITUTE

Anyone wishing to join the Institute should write to the Honorary Secretary, J. E. F. Gueritz, Esq., M.A., 85 Queen's Road, Richmond, Surrey. The annual subscription for Membership of the Institute is ?I, while the total sum of ?4 entitles the subscriber to receive the Journal. Application Forms at back of Journal.

IRAN

Journal of the British Institute of Persian Studies

VOLUME IX 1971

CONTENTS Page

Governing Council . . . . . . . . . ii Director's Report . . . . . . . . . iii Excavations at Sirdf: Fourth Interim Report, by David Whitehouse I Rashid al Din: The First World Historian, by John Andrew Boyle . 19 The Chronology of Turbat-i Shaikh Jam, by Lisa Golombek . . 27 The Fortress of Khan

Lanjmn, by S. M. Stern, E. Beazley and A. Dobson 45 The Last Safavids, 1722-1773, by J. R. Perry . . . . . 59 A Problem Piece of Kashmiri Metalwork, by Jennifer M. Scarce and

L. P. Elwell-Sutton . . . . . . . . 7I The Proto-Elamite Settlement at Tepe Yahyit, by C. C. Lamberg-

Karlovsky . . . . . . . . . . 87 A Hoard of Ingot-Currency of the Median Period from Nfish-i Jan, near

Malayir, by A. D. H. Bivar . . . . . . . 97 Towards a Chronology for the "Lfiristan Bronzes", by P. R. S. Moorey I13 Lfiristan before the Iron Age, by Clare L. Goff. . . . . 31 Shorter Notices:

Une Double Hache du Lfiristmn, by Jean-Louis Huot . .. 53

Ein elamitischer Streufund aus Soch, Fergana (Usbekistan), by Burchard Brentjes . . . . . . . . . 155

A Circular Symbol on the Tomb of Cyrus, by David B. Stronach . . 55 The October Exhibition at the Iran Bastan Museum . . . 158 Pyramidal Stamp Seals: A Note, by John Boardman . . . . 59 Recent Discoveries in Iran, 1969-70: A Major Islamic Monument,

by Antony Hutt . . . . . . . . 159 Mosques and Mausolea in Khurasan and Central Iran, by Robert

Hillenbrand . . . . . . . . . . 6o The Imamzadeh High Altar and Subsidiary Monuments, by Paul Gotch 162

Survey of Excavations in Iran, 1969-70 . . . . . . i65

Published annually by

THE BRITISH INSTITUTE OF PERSIAN STUDIES

c/o The British Academy, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, WIV ONS

BRITISH INSTITUTE OF PERSIAN STUDIES

GOVERNING COUNCIL

President *Sir MAX MALLOWAN, C.B.E., M.A., D.Lit., F.B.A., F.S.A.

Vice President BASIL GRAY, Esq., C.B., C.B.E., F.B.A.

Members DEREK ALLEN, Esq., C.B., F.B.A.

Professor Sir HAROLD BAILEY, M.A., D.Phil., F.B.A.

R. D. BARNETT, Esq., D.Lit., F.B.A., F.S.A. *Sir MAURICE BOWRA, C.H., M.A., D.Litt., Litt.D., LL.D., F.B.A.

Professor J. A. BOYLE, B.A., M.A., Ph.D. MICHAEL BROWNE, Esq., Barrister-at-Law

JOHN BURTON-PAGE Esq., M.A., F.S.A. Professor W. B. FISHER, B.A., D. de l'Univ., F.R.A.I.

Dr. ILYA GERSHEVITCH, M.A., Ph.D., D.Litt., F.B.A.

Professor A. K. S. LAMBTON, O.B.E., D.Lit., Ph.D., F.B.A.

Professor SETON H. F. LLOYD, C.B.E., M.A., F.B.A., F.S.A., A.R.I.B.A.

LAURENCE LOCKHART, Esq., Litt.D., Ph.D., F.R.Hist.S. RALPH H. PINDER-WILSON, Esq., M.A., F.S.A.

BASIL W. ROBINSON, Esq., M.A., B.Litt.

*Sir MORTIMER WHEELER, C.H., C.I.E., M.C., T.D., D.Lit., F.R.S., F.B.A., F.S.A.

Professor R. C. ZAEHNER, M.A., F.B.A.

Hon. Treasurer Sir JOHN LE ROUGETEL, K.C.M.G., M.C.

Hon. Secretary JOHN E. F. GUERITZ, Esq., M.A.

Joint Hon. Editors Mrs. LUKE HERRMANN, D.Phil., F.S.A. Professor C. E. BOSWORTH, M.A., Ph.D.

OFFICERS IN IRAN

Director

DAVID STRONACH, Esq., M.A., F.S.A.

Assistant Director

ALEXANDER H. MORTON, Esq., B.A.

c/o The British Academy, Burlington House, Piccadilly, LONDON, WIV ONS

P.O. Box 2617, Tehran, IRAN

*Denotes Founder Member

DIRECTOR'S REPORT

ist November 1969 to October 3rst 1970

During the past year the Institute was associated with a wide programme of research in the field embracing archaeological, architectural and anthropological studies. Apart from the continuing programme of excavations at Siraf, new soundings were initiated at the mediaeval city of Sirjan and, for the first time since 1967, further work was carried out at the chiefly Median site of Tepe Ntish-i Jan.

Lectures In two illustrated lectures that were given at the British Academy Mr. Stronach spoke on " Current

Archaeological Excavations in Iran " on November I4th 1969 and, on June 29th I970, Dr. David Whitehouse read a paper on " Excavations at the Mediaeval Port of Sirif on the Persian Gulf: Fourth Season, I969-70 ".

At the same time those lectures that were held during the winter at the Institute included the following: " Omar Khayyam: Astronomer, Mathematician and Poet " by Professor Boyle; " Con- servation Aspects of Iranian Monuments " by Mr. Martin Weaver; " Persian Architecture, the Saljuq contribution " by Mr. Michael Rogers; " Recent Excavations at Sirdf" by Dr. David Whitehouse; and " Cyrus and Darius at Pasargadae " by Mr. Stronach.

Visit of Mr. Allen Mr. Derek Allen, the new Secretary of the British Academy, was able to spend a week in Iran from

March 4th to March ioth, during the course of a round of visits to the British Schools and Institutes overseas. From Tehran, Mr. Allen also paid a brief visit to Kabul.

Visit of Mr. Gray Following the mid-term meeting of the International Committee of the Sixth International Congress

of Iranian Art and Archaeology early in April, Mr. Basil Gray left Tehran in order to examine a number of major Islamic monuments in western Iran. At the close of his stay he gave a most successful lecture at the Institute entitled " The Timurid Buildings of Samarqand ".

Professor D. M. Lang As part of a lecture tour arranged under the joint auspices of the Institute and the British Council,

Professor D. M. Lang spent ten days in Iran from May 23rd to June 2nd. On May 26th he spoke at the Institute on " Armenia and the Caucasus in History " before going on to lecture at the British Council's regional centres in Isfahan, Shiraz and Tabriz. Before leaving Iran Professor Lang generously donated a series of colour transparencies of monuments in Georgia and Armenia to the Institute's slide collection.

Assistant Director In connection with his current study of Saljuq monuments in Iran Mr. Antony Hutt embarked on

several separate field trips during the spring, before joining Professor K. A. Luther and Dr. K. S. McLachlan on a surface examination of the presumed site of the mediaeval city of Karaj, south-west of Arak.

Before leaving Tehran at the end of the period of his appointment on May 31Ist Mr. Hutt spoke on " The Development of the Minaret in Iran " at the British Council on April 6th and, in a farewell lecture at the Institute on May 12th, he dealt with " Three Minarets in the Kirman Region ". Prior to his current return to the University of London he was also able to carry out further architectural surveys in Iran, Afghanistan and Turkey.

iii

Mr. Hutt is succeeded as Assistant Director by Mr. Alexander Morton, a former Fellow of the Institute.

Fellows

Among the Institute's Fellows for the year 1969-70 Mr. Robert Hillenbrand has returned to Oxford in order to prepare his doctoral thesis on Iranian tomb towers, while Mr. P. A. Andrews is in the process of completing his comparative study of nomad tents in Iran, Turkey and North Africa. Mr. Andrew Williamson, whose work at Sirjan is mentioned below, has recorded several inscriptions of Saljuq and later date in the Lar region besides continuing his exhaustive survey of trade routes throughout southern Iran.

Of the two new Fellows elected this summer, Mr. Stuart Swiny took part in both the excavations at Darvazeh Tepe and at Tepe Nfsh-i Jan before beginning a preliminary mound survey in northwestern Iran, and Mr. Andre Singer has already begun to make useful progress in his current study of the ethnography of four relatively unknown tribal groups-the Hazara, the Berberi, the Teymuri and the Jamsidi-in eastern Khurasan.

Excavations The fourth season of the Institute's excavations at Sirif lasted from October 1969 until February

1970. During the season four separate sites were excavated: the Great Mosque, a residential suburb, the pottery, and part of a bazaar. Of these, it is now known that the first not only contains the Great Mosque, which was probably founded in the period between 815 and 825 A.D., but also, at a lower level, the remains of an important Sasanian or early Islamic palace.

At Sirjan, the late Sasanian and early Islamic capital of Kirman province, a short period of three weeks' work produced a rich range of tenth and eleventh century pottery together with a quantity of fine stucco of similar date. Many separate clues bore witness to the local production of glazed and unglazed pottery and it is hoped that future work may throw fresh light on the early industrial areas of the site.

Lastly the excavations of the past summer have shown that the rock outcrop of Tepe Niish-i Jan harbours much the earliest fire temple so far associated with the Iranian newcomers to the Plateau. This compact, well preserved Median site has also become a focus for a fresh attempt to conserve excavated mud-brick remains: with the generous assistance of the Shell Research Laboratories at

Egham, certain selected test areas have already been treated with an " Epikote " lacquer and, thanks to the munificence of the Iranian Oil Operating Companies, it should be possible to provide the vital

protection of a permanent roof over both the Fire Temple and the Fort as soon as the excavations themselves have reached a more advanced stage.

Autumn Lectures

During the course of a welcome visit from Dr. and Mrs. Walzer in October, Dr. Walzer lectured on two occasions. In a meeting at the Institute where Professor Hossein Nasr, Dean of the Faculty of Letters of Tehran University, took the chair, he read a paper on " The Rise of Islamic Philosophy " while two weeks later at Tehran University he spoke on " The ' Active Intellect ' in Greek and Arabic

Philosophy ".

Guests

Those staying at the Institute during the period under review have included the following: Mr. James Allan (Ashmolean Musuem, Oxford); Mrs. Joan Allgrove (Keeper of Textiles, The Whitworth Art Gallery, University of Manchester); Mr. P. M. Armstrong, Mr. M. R. Messham, Mr. J. G. Williams and Mr. L. W. Harrow (Cambridge University Expedition to Iran, Afghanistan and Turkey); Miss Elisabeth Beazley (completing architectural studies for the Institute at Pasargadae); Mr. Peter Bicknell (Institute of Social Anthropology, Oxford); Mr. Michael Burrell (School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London); Mr. Brian Clark (Department of Geography, University of Durham);

iv

Mr. William Culican (University of Melbourne); Mr. Paul Davison (University of Durham, studying Persian); Professor W. B. Fisher (University of Durham, visiting Kabul and Tehran); Miss L. M. George (School of Oriental and African Studies, studying Islamic art); Mr. J. E. B. Gray (Lecturer in Sanskrit, School of Oriental and African Studies); Mr. R. W. Hamilton (Keeper, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford); Dr. John Hansman (School of Oriental and African Studies); Mr. J.-C. Klein (Facultd des Sciences de Paris, botanical studies in the Elburz); Professor and Mrs. C. C. Lamberg- Karlovsky and other members of the staff of the I97o Tepe Yahyd Expedition; Mr. Audran Labrousse (French Archaeological Mission to Susa and architectural studies for the Institute at Pasargadae); Dr. Paul Luft (St. Antony's College, Oxford, historical research on the Safavid period); Mr. Terence Mitchell (Department of Western Asiatic Antiquities, British Museum); Mr. George Morrison (Uni- versity of Oxford); Miss Harriet Osborn (Choga Mish Expedition); Mr. S. R. Peterson New York University, studying Islamic architecture); Mrs. Helen Potamianos (School of Oriental and African Studies, visiting archaeological sites); Mr. Michael Power (Department of Geography, University of Durham, engaged in an urban study of Isfahdn); Miss Judith Pullar (Institute of Archaeology, Uni- versity of London, Wainwright Fellow), Mr. Michael Roaf (Institute of Archaeology, Tepe Nfish-i Jdn Expedition); Mr. Fridrik Thordarson (University of Oslo, Lecturer in Classics); Dr. and Mrs. David Whitehouse and other members of the Siraf Expedition); Mr. Dunning S. Wilson (Near Eastern Center, U.C.L.A., Persian bibliography project); and Mr. Antony Wynn (University of Oxford, studying Persian).

V

EXCAVATIONS AT SIRAF

Fourth Interim Report

By David Whitehouse

The fourth season of excavations at Siraf took place between October and February 1969-70.1 During the season we continued work at the Great Mosque, beneath which we discovered the remains of a palatial complex of the Sasanian or earliest Islamic period. We completed our investigation of the residential quarter (Site F) and excavated two areas examined first in 1966: a pottery (Site D) and part of a bazaar (Site C).

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 SirMf. The Director of the Archaeological Museum, Mr. A. Hdkemi, gave us much valuable advice. The Deputy Director General of the Archaeological Service, Mr. S. M. Khorramabadi, was most helpful with practical arrangements, both before and after the season. Mr. Taghi Rahbar again accompanied us to Siraf as the Representative of the Archaeological Service and we thank him for his unfailing help.

The excavations at SirMf are sponsored by the British Institute of Persian Studies. During the season we received most generous support from the British Museum, the British Academy, the Royal Ontario Museum, the Pilkington Glass Museum and the Corning Museum of Glass. The excavation received additional support from a munificent anonymous trust. Finally, the British Museum and the Royal Ontario Museum each released a member of staff to join the expedition. Without this wide and varied support, work on the scale achieved would have been impossible.2

The expedition staff was as follows: David Whitehouse (director), Ruth Whitehouse, Barbara Stephen, Peter Donaldson and Jan Roberts (site supervisors), Jonathan Erskine, Mark Tweg and Tony Wilkinson (surveyors), Sarah Jennings, Laura Glashan, Miranda Till, Peter Farries and Nicholas Lowick (finds assistants), Celia Room and Janet Walker (conservators), Leslie Brown (draftsman), Pauline Farnworth (photographer) and Nicholas Bradford (quartermaster). Andrew Williamson visited the site and gave us valuable help. Giles Sholl took the photographs published here as plates VIIId and IX.

Finally, I am grateful to Mr. David Stronach for advice on practical arrangements in Iran.

THE EXCAVATION

The excavation lasted fourteen weeks, during which we employed up to 200 workmen. Throughout the season work continued at the Great Mosque, where we concentrated our efforts on the buildings concealed beneath the platform of the main enclosure. In the residential quarter we excavated below the five houses exposed in 1967-69, in three cases recovering the plans of earlier structures. At Site C we revealed part of a bazaar containing shops, a public bath and a mosque. Finally, at Site D, we

1 For preliminary reports, see Iran VIII (1970), pp. 189-90 and Antiquity XLIV, no. 175 (1970), p. 195.

2 We thank also the department of Civil Engineering, Imperial College of Science for lending survey instruments. 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 competition among mem-

bers of staff. Bursaries were awarded to Sarah Jennings, Peter Donaldson and Jan Roberts. Under the terms of her award, Miss Jennings spent the spring and summer of 1970 helping to prepare the results for publication. Our sponsors also lent a long wheelbase Land-Rover for use in Iran. We are indebted to the curator of the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford, Mr. Bernard Fagg, for providing storage facilities for the finds.

1

2 JOURNAL OF PERSIAN STUDIES

uncovered the major part of a pottery, complete with workshops and the remains of thirty kilns.3 Among several grave covers found in the cemeteries at Sirdf was an epitaph bearing an elaborate plaited Kfific inscription and the date 383/993 (pp. 16-17).

The four sites are described in the following order: I. Site B. The Great Mosque. 2. Site F. The residential quarter. 3. Site C. The bazaar. 4. Site D. The pottery.

I. Site B. The Great Mosque Before the season began, we knew that the Great Mosque was a composite building with five major

periods of construction.4 We knew also that the main enclosure was built on a platform 2 m. high, formed by filling a masonry shell with large quantities of earth and rubble.5 Beneath this platform we exposed part of a large palatial building. Last season we removed a further 2,000 cubic metres of the fill with three main objectives: (I) to examine the foundations of the minaret, (2) to recover more evidence for the date of the main enclosure and (3) to examine as much as possible of the early structures beneath the platform of the mosque. By the close of the season, we had established that a minaret existed in period I, we had collected new evidence for the date of the original mosque and we had exposed approximately 1,300 square metres of the early complex.

The minaret. The minaret was the last important feature of the mosque to be examined. The standing remains consisted of a solid masonry base 3 - 8 m. square, surviving to a height of 2 2 m. above the floor." A flight of five steps abutted onto the base, above which the minaret presumably had an internal stair. The original height is unknown. Last year we uncovered the foundations of the tower and recognised masonry of three distinct periods. The earliest foundation was a square structure of mortared rubble, 3"7

m. across. Like the foundations of the earliest arcades, it was built free-standing, before the platform was filled with earth; there was no trace of a foundation trench and the filling lay directly against the mortared stone. Clearly, therefore, the original mosque possessed a minaret. If we are correct in dating period I to the beginning of the ninth century (see below, pp. 3-4), it is among the earliest minarets of which anything survives. Its position near the centre of the facade recalls the minaret of the Great Mosque at Qairawan, which was built not later than 836 and possibly in 724-27. Subse- quently, the foundation was enlarged by the addition to the south-west side of a trench-built rubble " jacket ", 0-55 m. thick. Above this enlarged foundation were traces of a circular tower. Unfortu- nately, we cannot date the second phase of construction; all we know is that the foundation trench contained a single tin-glazed potsherd, showing that the minaret was replaced after the mosque was rebuilt in period 2, which preceded the introduction of tin-glazed pottery at Siraf. Finally, the foundation received a second trench-built enlargement and on this composite structure was built the existing tower. The steps outside the tower were constructed after the pavement in bay 15 had been renewed. It appears that part at least of the pavement was replaced in or after 1262-63 (see below) and we suspect that the minaret was repaired as part of the refurbishing in period 5.

The Finds. The removal of a large volume of earth from the mosque platform yielded an impressive collection of finds. Among the material from the filling of period I were abundant fragments of Chinese ceramics. The most frequent type was a storage jar of coarse grey stoneware with a shiny olive green glaze. Numerous examples had been found previously at Sirff, including part of a vessel with incised ornament from Site F7 and a jar inscribed before glazing with two Arabic names, recovered from a period I deposit at the mosque in I968.8 A second common type was a buff or grey stoneware bowl with

8 For the position of the four sites, see the plans in David Whitehouse, " Excavations at Sirdf: First Interim Report ", Iran VI (1968), pp. 1-22 and " Excavations at Sirdif: Second Interim Report ", Iran VII (I969), pp. 39-62. The third interim report appears in Iran VIII (1970), pp. 1-18. Else- where in this paper, the three reports will be referred to as

SirdfI, II and III,

4 Sirdf III, pp. 2-8.

6 SfrdfII, p. 43.

SSfirdfII, p. 44 and pl. I (c).

7 SirdfII, pl. VI (c).

8 Sirdf III, p. 5 and pl. XII (c) and (d).

EXCAVATIONS AT SIRAF 3

painted ornament in brown and green.9 Unlike the majority of examples found in later deposits at Siraf (such as the sherds from Site F, illustrated on pl. VIIIa and c), many pieces from the mosque were decorated only in green, suggesting that the monochrome variety ceased to reach the site before the bichrome ware went out of use.10 Less common in period I were fragmentary bowls with a solid base, from which the potter had gouged a concentric groove. The bowls had a buff or greyish fabric and were covered on the inside with a transparent olive green glaze. The most distinctive feature, however, was the removal before firing of rectangular patches of glaze, presumably to facilitate stacking in the kiln (pl. IXb). Finally, the platform yielded fragments of small stoneware jars with a dark grey fabric and a shiny surface, which was usually black. The vessels were exceedingly coarse; indeed it appears that they were made without a fast wheel and the place of manufacture is unknown. However, no Islamic parallels are known and the jars probably reached Sirdf as containers for exports from China or South East Asia.

The huge collection of Islamic pottery contained abundant fragments with a green alkaline glaze (pl. Xa), including sherds from jars with barbotine decoration."1 The unglazed pottery included cream wares with delicate moulded ornament12 or geometric "chip carved" motifs.13 Among the undecorated vessels were pot-stands comparable with objects from Stisa.14

Pottery apart, the platform yielded a wide variety of small finds. Most important, perhaps, was a corroded bronze mirror, dia. 6-6 cms., at present being cleaned, which appears to be either Chinese or a close Islamic copy of a Chinese mirror. Among the bone and ivory objects were numerous buttons or amulets, a spatula, perhaps for use with cosmetics (pl. VIIa), and a small rectangular panel decorated with a crouching hare (pl. VIId). The stone objects included fragments of steatite bowls with distinctive ornament based on the ring-and-dot motif.

Chronology. The excavation yielded abundant coins, permitting us to suggest with some confidence the date of period I. Because the filling consisted of earth and rubble which contained much occupation debris, many early objects were redeposited when the mosque was built. These included a bronze coin of Theodosius I (376-94) (P1. VIIb), one of the few Roman coins reported from the Persian Gulf,15 and an anonymous dindr, struck for Abd al-Malik in 78/697-98 and mounted for use as a pendant (P1. VIIc). Other coins included a group of at least seventeen dirhems struck between 80/699-700 and 12I /738-39- The dirhems were found together and appeared to be the remains of a hoard which had been disturbed and partly redeposited by the workmen who filled the platform with earth. Despite the occurrence of many eighth century and earlier coins, the mosque was, without doubt, built in the ninth century, for among the lead pieces were several minted in 188/803-04, some of which came from a hoard deposited during construction. The latest coin which may belong to period i was a dirhem of 199/814-15, found in the core of the steps by which one entered the mosque. While a flight of steps undoubtedly existed in period I, it was not clear whether the surviving steps were original. If the steps were a secondary feature, the platform was built in or after 803-04; if original, it was built no earlier than 814-15. In either case, we believe that period I belongs to the early ninth century, probably before c. 825. We found no new evidence for the dates of periods 2-4. Period 5, however, in which the mosque was extensively repaired, apparently must now be placed in the thirteenth century, if not later. Among the pottery found beneath the floor of bay 15, which was relaid in period 5, was a fragment with a painted inscription containing the number 662. The number appeared to be a date, the equivalent of I263-64. If it is a date, the Great Mosque was repaired in or after 1263, at a time when we believed that Sirif was almost deserted.

Its occurrence on the site was noted in Sirif I, pp. 17-18 and a fragment was illustrated on pl. VI (b).

10 For a monochrome fragment from Sfisa, cp. Raymond Koechlin, " Les CUramiques Musulmanes de Suse au Musee du Louvre ", M.D.P. XIX (1928), cat. no. 105, described on p. 69 and illustrated on pl. XIII.

" Cp. Sirdf I, pl. VI (c) and Arthur Lane, Early Islamic Pottery (London I947), pl. 3.

12 Cp. Lane, pl. 4 (c) and Koechlin, cat. no. 29, described on p. 28 and illustrated on pl. IV.

13 Cp. Koechlin, cat. no. 25, described on p. 27 and illustrated on pl. V.

14 Cp. Koechlin, cat. no. I9, described on p. 26 and illustrated on pl. II.

1" For another find, cp. R. Ghirshman, The Island of Kharg (Tehran I96o), p. 5.


On the basis of these discoveries, we must revise the chronology as follows: Period I. Early ninth century; certainly in or after 8o03-4 and possibly not before 813-14- Period 2. c. 850, or possibly earlier. Period 3. After 1024, but probably before c. I050. Period 4. Before c. I 150-75. Period 5. Certainly after c. I 150-75; apparently in or after 1263-64.

The early enclosures. In 1968-69 we began to uncover the floors and footings of a group of buildings concealed beneath the platform of the mosque.16 It emerged that the buildings covered an area measuring at least 70 55 m. and were already in ruins when the platform was built. Excavations outside the mosque showed that, although the buildings extended in all directions beyond the platform, later activity had caused serious damage. Indeed, the early buildings were well preserved only below the platform of periods I and 2. Last season we contined to excavate the complex and established that it consisted of two large enclosures (Fig. I). The outer enclosure (P1. Ib) was at least 70 m. across. It was built immediately above the beach, with an outer wall parallel to the shore. 32 m. inside this boundary

Postern

VI .-

t1A

-%,,,,

metre

Ptm Dcl

?\,' ,, .. .. , \-...,.: \ \

N

Inner

Encl"os.ureOuterEnlosur

P

,"m,

D

•!/I/Id

Y~ ~ .:•,

rA ?

..% ,,,,,.

? "

, :?.i o I , t:~i"

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mere

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Fig. i. Site B. The early enclosures.

18 Sfrdf III, p. 8, fig. 3 and pl. II (b).


stood the wall of an inner enclosure, with an elaborate entrance protected by semi-circular towers (Pl. Ia). The remains gave every appearance of an inner fortress or fortified palace, surrounded by an outer enclosure containing living quarters and magazines.

The outer enclosure was protected by a curtain wall, I m. thick. When the season closed, we had exposed parts of the south and east walls, the former containing an archers' embrasure and an opening I

. 7 m. wide. The opening underlay bay 2H of the mosque. It possessed neither gatehouse nor towers

and scarcely can have been the main entrance from the shore; presumably it was a postern. It is possible that the eroded foundations beneath bays Io and I I of the extension to the mosque represent a second, larger opening, but proof at present is lacking.

The postern gave access to a courtyard with maximum dimensions of 5 4 x 6 m. It had a gravel floor and contained the base of a square pier or plinth, o.

6 m. across, the function of which is unknown. The enclosure possessed at least one additional yard, again with a rubble plinth, beneath bay 13J. Beyond the first courtyard was a passage, 2-3 m. wide and 15 m. long, leading into a large gravel yard in front of the inner enclosure. A second passage, less than 2 m. wide, lay some 15 m. farther east. Both had earth or gravel floors and probably lacked a roof. The passages traversed a warren of more than fifty rooms, occupying an area 22 m. deep, inside the outer wall. The rooms varied in size from 2 - 9 x 2 5 m. to 8-7 x 3 - 4 m. Some of the larger rooms were divided by flimsy partitions, barely 0 -2 m. thick. Despite the size and complexity of the enclosure, we found only one distinctive architectural feature, part of a collapsed opening apparently spanned by a parabolic arch. The use of the parabolic arch is not, of course, conclusive proof that the building is pre-Islamic."

The inner enclosure was altogether more impressive. The south wall, which extended for more than 44 m. and was I -2 m. thick, possessed an imposing entrance consisting of an opening flanked by towers and leading into a large rectangular gatehouse. The opening was I - 9 m. wide. The towers were hollow, with walls at least I m. thick and a diameter of 4.9 m. They survived to a maximum height of 2 m. and at this level were featureless, except for embrasures covering the door. The gatehouse, which was io m. wide and

3"7 m. deep, gave access to a cobbled yard containing covered drains. Beyond the yard

were several rooms. To the east of the gatehouse, below bay 14D, was a room 2 m. wide (P1. Ic), in which the enclosure wall formed the south side and to the north the wall was I m. thick. Farther east, another room adjoined the outer wall and it is possible that the enclosure had a casemate wall, 4-5 m. thick, containing ground floor barracks or magazines.

Clearly, the early complex belonged to an important settlement, with a fortress or fortified palace as the core. Furthermore, its position on the beach suggests that the settlement was a port or naval garrison. The identity of this early settlement has considerable significance for the history of the Gulf and it is unfortunate that the excavation did not supply a single datable find. The only distinctive material found beneath the floors was cream earthenware with a colourless lead glaze or a green alkaline glaze, comparable with the plain green pottery from the platform of the mosque. The fortified entrance recalls both Sasanian buildings, like Qal'eh-i Yazdigird, near Qasr-i Shirin,18 and the palaces of the Umayyad princes. Thus, although the complex was built considerably before the mosque, we still do not know whether it is Sasanian or Islamic. However, Siraf has yielded a steady trickle of pre-Islamic material, notably the Roman coin mentioned above, and it is possible that the enclosures are Sasanian. Indeed, the ninth century writer Baladhuri refers to the capture of a castle at Sirdf, Saryanj or Shuhriydj during the muslim conquest of Fars.19 If this is indeed our site (which is by no means certain), then the castle may well be the complex under the mosque. However, before asserting that the structures are Sasanian, we must obtain conclusive evidence for their date-a major objective of the season of 1970-71.

2. Site F. The Residential Quarter At the beginning of the season, Site F stood revealed as part of a quarter of impressive houses, one

17 A parabolic arch supports part of the revetment of the thirteenth century or later shrine (Site G), excavated in 1968, described in Strdf III, pp. 15-18.

18 E. J. Keall, "

Qal'eh-i Yazdigird, A Sasanian Palace Strong-

hold in Persian Kurdistan ", Iran V (1967), pp. 99-121. 19 Bal~dhuri, Kitdb Futih al-Bulddn, trans. F. Murgotten, (New York, 1924), part II, pp. 134-5. I am indebted to Dr. John Hansman for drawing my attention to this work.


of which possessed a mosque.20 In 1967-69 we had excavated five complete houses, together with fragments of five adjacent buildings, showing that the quarter had a regular plan traversed by a street, with narrow alleys separating the houses on either side. Three houses apparently were abandoned before c. 1050 and without doubt the whole area was in ruins by the end of the twelfth century. Although the excavation provided valuable information on the domestic architecture of Sirdf and the city's decline, it told us little of the quarter's growth and last winter we returned to the site to examine its early development. Excavation beneath houses R, S and W revealed earlier buildings, while soundings below houses E and N also yielded evidence of earlier occupation. Work at the mosque adjoining house W revealed a sunken ablution area containing basins and a well.

House W. Excavation beneath house W disclosed the remains of an earlier structure, completely demolished when the standing house was built (Fig. 2). Although little survived above floor level, sufficient remained to show that the plans of the earlier and later buildings were substantially the same. Clearly, the early structure (period I) was a private house, rebuilt on a larger scale to form the standing remains (period 2). Thus, in period 2, the south, west and east walls, the courtyard and the rooms at the south end all occupied the same positions as the corresponding features in period I. However, in period

Periods

0 15 S1&21

2 only metres

JE DW

-I

dE DW

Fig. 2. Site F. The forerunner of House W.

2o Sfraf III, pp. 9-15.


I the north wall was 3 m. farther south than the later facade, making the north rooms shorter and re- ducing the overall length of the house from 27 m. to 24 m. Moreover, in period I the courtyard possessed not two, but four L-shaped piers, thought to be the supports of a gallery from which one entered the first floor rooms. The courtyard contained several additional features, including post-positions and the setting for a sandstone mortar, comparable with settings found in houses E and N.21 Finally the rooms on the east and west sides of the courtyard had different plans in periods I and 2.

In period 2, a row of massive piers existed outside the south wall of the house22 (P. IIa) and it is probable that piers already existed in period I. In period 2 the main entrance was without doubt in the north facade; it was 2 - 6 m. wide, almost 7 m. long and, unlike the south entrance, it possessed elaborate stucco pilasters. By contrast, in period I the north entrance had the same type of pilaster as the entrance from the south and was, moreover, only half the size. We suggest, therefore, that the main entrance of the early house may have been at the south end and that the piers were part of an original facade.

threshold --> I

PERIOD 1 ,PERIOD 2 II

foundations only scarsonly

" threshold

tank'

foundation

0 4

I

, i i---

1 t

AC JE & DW

Fig. 3. Site F. The mosque adjoining House W.

The Mosque. In 1967 we discovered that a small rectangular mosque abutted on to the north-west angle of house W and the following year we elucidated two principal periods of construction. Last winter we completed our investigation by excavating the adjoining ablution facilities. We know now that the development of the complex was as follows (Fig. 3). In the first period, the mosque was almost square, measuring 5'4 x 5'5 m. internally. The facade contained two openings of unequal size, divided by a central pier. The mihrdb was a rectangular niche,

o. 6 m. wide and

o. 65 m. deep. To the left of the niche was a gap in the qibla wall, creating a cubicle, 1 6 m. wide. We do not know how the building was roofed. It appears that roofs at Siraf were usually made of poles 3.5-4

m. long, covered with matting

21 Sfraf III, figs. 5 and 6. 22 Srdf II, pp. 48-53.


and mud. It would require beams more than 6 m. long to provide the mosque with a roof of this type: an expensive task, probably requiring sawn timber rather than poles. Perhaps, therefore, the building had a vaulted roof, or even a dome, although the walls, which were only 0-4 m. thick, might not have supported the weight.

To the north of the mosque lay the ablution facilities, contained in a sunken area approached by a flight of steps (Pl. IIb). The area was triangular, filling the space between the mosque and the main street. It had a plaster floor and contained a well, the remains of three tank-like structures and a washing place. The floor was considerably broken and one of the " tanks " had been demolished, leaving only a scar. The two remaining tanks had earth floors and walls of mortared rubble. Projecting from the larger tank was a small cubicle containing a plaster bench and a drain, evidently a washing place.

In period 2 the ablution area was back-filled, making it possible to enlarge the mosque. On three sides the walls were rebuilt, the north-west wall becoming a row of piers which divided the main building from a new rectangular room I * 6 m. wide. In this period, the north-east wall was without openings; evidently the mosque was entered from the additional room, although no trace of a doorway survives.

We know little about the chronology of the mosque, although it is clear that period I was built no earlier than the standing house, for it abutted on to the north-west angle. The structure may have been enlarged when house W was partly rebuilt using rectangular pilasters. Before it finally collapsed, the mosque was secularised; the mihrdb was concealed behind a wall of clay and stone, while a rubble pier was inserted to support the roof, which was now on the point of collapse.

Periods:

Early Later (alterations)

Later Post - medieval ?

0 15

metres

JEm DWd JEm DWd.

Fig. 4. Site F. House R.


House S. House S was examined first in 1968-69, when we revealed a small building with at least four periods of construction.23 Last season we removed more of the floors and filling of the house, establishing that its development was as follows (P1. IIIb). Throughout its history, the building occupied the same area 14-5 m. square, with a plan comprising a central courtyard surrounded by rooms on all four sides. Little remained of period I. Unlike the later phases, it was built at street level. Part of the east wall survived, showing that the earliest house had semi-circular buttresses at intervals of

3"5 m. The

door was near the north-east angle and provided access to a paved passage 2 5 m. long, from which one entered the yard. It appeared that the rooms which surrounded the yard were the same width as in the later periods on the north, east and south sides, while the west range was slightly wider. We know few details of the plan, except that the north range contained at least three narrow rooms,

2.5 m. long and

only o.9-1I "3

m. wide. The house was remodelled in period 2. Although the new structure retained the original outer walls

with semi-circular buttresses and the entrance, the internal arrangement was changed. The narrow rooms, for example, were replaced by a single, larger room and the width of the west range was reduced. In period 3, the outer walls were rebuilt using rectangular buttresses. Initially, the old entrance was retained, but later a new opening was made in the south-east angle of the house, approached by three steps with a total height ofo 0 - 75 m. In period 4, the house assumed the plan recorded in 1968-69.

House R. The standing remains of House R24 concealed a building with two or more periods. Excavation revealed that the latter structure had an unusual plan, with an entrance passage almost Io m. long. Apparently it occupied the same area as the building examined in 1968-69, but unlike the standing house had a single courtyard, 7- I m. long and probably 8"5

m. wide (P1. IIIa and Fig. 4). The courtyard was paved and contained several rectangular piers. The entrance, also paved, was 2 8 m. wide. At the inner end stood a pair of semi-circular pilasters, comparable with the pilasters in the entrances of the building beneath House W. The rooms had an unusual plan, with a double range flanking the entrance passage. We recovered only part of the plan, which included at least one small cubicle, recalling some of the rooms in period I at House S. Indeed, the presence of cubicles less than I .5 m. wide may have been an early feature of the domestic architecture of Siraf, abandoned before the introduction of rectangular buttresses.

House E. Here we excavated below the floors of the rooms in the north-east and north-west angles of the house, the well house and the courtyard.25 In the north-east room, we examined the vaulted cavity beneath the floor. I 7 m. below the vault was a plaster floor cut by the foundations of the house. Most of the cavity was filled with earth. At the north end of the room was a hole in the vault, suggesting perhaps that the cavity served as a cellar for cold storage. As at the Great Mosque, the builders of House E raised the floors above ground level by tipping earth and rubble between the footings. Thus, in the north-west room, we removed almost I m. of earth before reaching ground level, where we found a fragmentary floor and a well. The well contained large quantities of pottery, including tin glazed sherds and painted stoneware (P1. VIIIa and c). In the well house we removed part of the existing floor, disclosing a paved surface o. I m. below the plaster. In the courtyard, we examined two rectangular- foundations, each roughly I m. square. The foundations, which are I

" 5 m. from the east wall, presumably supported the piers of a roof or first floor gallery.

House N. Excavation was restricted to the rooms in the north-west and south-west angles of the house.26 As in House E, the builders constructed the floors almost I m. above ground level. In the north- west room, removal of the filling revealed a well and the walls of an earlier building. The walls were slight and clearly did not belong to a structure comparable with any of the later houses.

Discussion. We know now that the regular street plan which existed when the quarter fell into decay was already present at an early date, for the buildings beneath Houses W, R and S occupied the same (or similar) ground as the houses themselves. Furthermore, the discovery of early wells beneath Houses E and N established the existence of a row of wells (which included those in front of House W27 and in

23 SfrdfIII, p. 9 and fig. 5. 24 SirqfIII, pp. 9 and 12 and fig. 7.

26 SfrdfIII, p. 9 and fig. 6. 26 SfrafIII, p. 9 and fig. 5.

27 SirdfII, fig. 4.


the ablution area of the mosque) along the south side of the main street, suggesting that the alignment already existed before Houses E and N were built.

The grid of streets at Site F is the finest example of urban planning at Sir~f and it is important to determine as closely as possible when it was introduced. Our best evidence comes from beneath House W, period I, where we found three corroded coins which Mr. Lowick identifies as Sasanian, although the rulers cannot be recognised. Elsewhere at Site F, the earliest deposits yielded green glazed Islamic sherds and scraps of " Dusun " jars. They contained no imported white or Yiieh wares and no tin glazed pottery, which probably came into use in the ninth century, although the date is at present in dispute.28 We suspect, therefore, that the area may have been occupied at the same time as the early complex beneath the Great Mosque and we believe that the street plan probably existed by the close of the ninth century.

3. Site C. The Bazaar

During the season we enlarged the area examined in 196629 until we had exposed some 900 square metres. The excavation disclosed parts of five buildings on either side of a street which ran from east to west, parallel to the shore. On the north side of the street were three buildings: a row of shops, a large courtyard structure thought to be a warehouse and a hammdm (P1. IVa and Fig. 5). The shops were separated from the warehouse by an alley 2 m. wide, which at some stage was closed and filled with small structures, perhaps additional shops. On the south side of the street was a large block of shops and a mosque, partly eroded by the sea. Clearly, the area was a bazaar and surface remains to the east and west suggest that the commercial quarter extended along the waterfront from the Great Mosque, where we found small shops in 1968-69,30 to the edge of the modern village.

The Shops. The row of shops to the north of the street consisted of at least five self-contained rooms, divided by narrow partitions. Each room was 2-8 m. long and I -4-I -8 m. wide. Outside the shops were traces of a bench made of plaster and rubble, such as occur in modern bazaars, where they are used for working or displaying one's wares. On the south side of the street was a block of shops at least 24 m. long and 8 m. wide. Facing the street was a range of eight or more rooms, some certainly and all probably self-contained, behind which was a second range, perhaps fronting a street to the south. In 1966 an exploratory sounding revealed that the block had a long history with several phases of construction,31 implying that the bazaar was an early feature of the waterfront. It appeared that the latest phase was rebuilt before the introduction of late sgraffiato ware, perhaps c. 1050.

The Warehouse. The building identified here as a warehouse had a frontage 14.-5 m. long and was more than 20 m. deep. The south front consisted of four rectangular rooms and an entrance passage with a recessed opening approached up a flight of steps. We exposed only the latest phase, in which the opening did not have a door, suggesting that the public had ready access to the central yard. The rooms which flanked the passage were shops containing the remains of low stone and plaster benches and, in one case, part of a plaster surface with square and circular depressions, perhaps to display different types of merchandise. In the latest phase, the room in the south-west angle could be entered only from the street. At the east end of the facade, a long room with a pair of trench-like features and an axial drain was connected by a narrow opening with the stoke-hole of the hammdm. Outside the facade were the remains of projecting structures and on the west side of the entrance, a feature resembling the bench outside the shops on the north side of the street.

Clearly, the building had a commercial function and it seems likely that the courtyard was used for receiving and loading merchandise. Similar courts in modern bazaars are surrounded by shops and

28 See Strdf III, p. 6, note I7. So far, the excavations at Sirdf have failed to prove that tin glazed wares occur in the ninth century, although this appears probable. It is clear, however, that the traditional view, which attributed the introduction of tin glazed wares to the period of caliphal occupation at Samarra (834/6-883), rests on unreliable evidence and must be tested by excavation at selected sites. The problem is discussed in David Whitehouse, " Some Chinese and Islamic

Pottery from Sirdf ", to be published in the proceedings of the Colloquy held by the Percival David Foundation in July 1970.

29 SirdfI, pp. I1-12. 30 SirdfIII, p. 8, pl. III b and fig. I. 31 The sounding is shown in Strdf I, pl. V (a). The early levels,

shown in Sirdf I, pl. V (b), underlay the initial period of construction.

Pl. Ia.

Site B.

The entrance to the inner enclosure beneath the m

osque.

P1. Ib.

Site B.

The outer enclosure beneath the m

osque, overlain by the foundations of the sanctuary.

P1. Ic.

Site B.

A room

adjoining the gatehouse of the inner enclosure beneath the m

osque.

P1. Ha. Site F. Piers outside the south entrance to House W.

Pl. Ilb. Site F. The mosque adjoining House W.

P1. Ila. Site F. Houses N (in the background) and R during excavation.

P1. IlIb. Site F. Houses R (in the background) and S during excavation.

Pl. IVa. Site C. General view of the bazaar from the east.

Pl. IVb. Site C. The mosque, showing the floor of Period i and the decorated mihrab of Period 2.

PI. Va. Site D. General view of the South West and South Centre yards, showing a well associated with a tank and drain, behind which is a ruined cistern containing a kiln.

Pl. Vb. Site D. The south entrance to the main building, showing the bearing for a potter's wheel. Outside the building (on the right) are

furnaces for making glaze.

Pl. VIa. Site D. Furnaces for making glaze. The scale is 0o5 m. long.

Pl. VIb. Site D. Kiln in the North East yard.

P1. VIIa. Site B. Ivory spatula, 7-5 cms. long.

P1. VIIb. Site B. Bronze coin of Theodosius I.

P1. VIIc. Site B. Dinar of Abd al-Malik, struck in 78/697-8, mounted for use as a pendant.

Pl. VIId. Site B. Ivory fittings, 5"7

cms. long.

P1. V

IIIa. Site F

. F

ragmentary painted stonew

are bowl, 13 cm

s. across.

P1. V

III c. Site F

. F

ragmentary painted stonew

are bowl, io-

I cms. across.

P1. V

IlIb. Site D

. F

ragment of tin glazedpottery w

ith gold lustre ornament, 7 cm

s. across.

P1. V

IIId. Site C. L

ate sgraffiato ware bowl (restored), dia. 19g5 cm

s.

Pl. IX

a. Site D.

Tiieh w

are bowl (restored), dia.

8* 8 cms.

P1. IX

b. Site B.

Fragm

entary stonew

are bowl. T

he foot is 6-9 cms. across.

Pl. Xa. Site B. Pitcher with green alkaline glaze, ht. 27-2 cms.

Pl. Xc. Site D. Unglazed flask, ht. 13"3

cms.

P1. Xb. Site D. Unglazed jug, ht. 30o4 cms.

Pl. Xd. Site D. Small unglazed vessel, ht. 12.1

cms.


? Warehouse

N Public bath

ofo

ii,,"

- .... --i

....••'x'

--o--

•i 0 15

:II

0 15

metres

Fig. 5. Site C. The bazaar.

storerooms and for this reason we suggest that the building was a warehouse, with a row of shops fronting the street. The standing remains belonged to a late phase in the history of the site, but soundings in 1966 showed that a similar building existed at an early date and it is possible, not certain, that the large block of shops and the warehouse were original features of the bazaar.

The Hammdm. Adjoining the large building was a rectangular structure measuring 6 x 9 m. internally. Although poorly preserved, especially to the south, it is clear that the structure was a hammdm, the first public bath discovered at Sirdf. The hammdm was built of mortared rubble plastered internally with

waterproof sdrt*j. It had six rooms and was entered from the street. The entrance gave access to a vestibule, to the north of which was a sunken area containing the furnace, adjacent to a boiler and a well. The sunken area was entered from a room in the large building, suggesting that the two premises were owned, or at least administered, by the same management. Leaving the vestibule, patrons passed through a series of four rooms: an undressing room and a cold, warm and hot bathroom. The undressing room contained a rectangular bath, perhaps for washing the feet. The cold and warm rooms contained similar baths, all of which were filled by hand and emptied by a covered drain. The hot room


had a stone basin, filled from a boiler above the furnace, which also heated the two hypocausts: a large hypocaust in the hot room and a smaller system beneath the tepidarium. Both hypocausts had been dis- mantled before the building collapsed.

The bath-house was difficult to date. The material from beneath the floor of the apodyterium contained no datable objects. Among the finds from the bottom of the well was a fine late sgraffiato ware bowl (P1. VIIId), which may have been lost while the building was in use. Other finds from the hammdm included, from the rubble above the boiler and calidarium Seljuq sherds and fragments of North Persian lustre ware, discovered in 1966.32

The Mosque. Opposite the hamdm stood the mosque. Although approximately half of the building had been removed by the sea, the plan of the mosque was apparent. In all four phases it consisted of a square building, roughly 8 m. across, with a projecting mihrdb I m. deep. The triangular space between the mosque and the street was occupied by a variety of structures, while to the north-east lay a yard with gravel or paved surfaces. We examined the remains of the mosque, the triangular area and part of the yard.

In the mosque itself, little remained of period I. The walls and internal features had been demolished before the construction of period 2 and only the foundations and plaster floor survived. Outside the mosque, the triangular area and the yard already existed. Period 2 was better preserved. Inside the mosque, the mihrdb was flanked by pairs of dwarf stucco pilasters with scale decoration (P1. IVb). Half

way along the surviving side was a semicircular buttress, adjacent to which we found a break in the

plaster floor, indicating the position of a pier. Evidently the roof was supported by an arcade comprising two piers, with buttresses on the lateral walls. Outside the mosque, the triangular area contained two large masonry structures, one of which was a detached circular minaret. The second structure was either the jamb of a monumental gate or another tower-like feature. In period 3 the mosque was rebuilt with a series of niches in the north-west wall, while in period 4 the complex was again renewed.

The mosque is of considerable interest because the plan could be restored with confidence, part of a decorated mihrdb survived and a circular minaret existed in period 2. The filling beneath the mosque floor of period 2 yielded three coins, struck in 747-57, 763-64 and 764-65 or 766-67. Furthermore, the floor itself contained a bronze coin, probably of the period c. 750-58. The eighth century date suggested by the coins cannot, however, be sustained, for the filling also yielded tin glazed pottery of the ninth or tenth century. The deposit resting on the floor of period 4 contained sherds of Seljuq white ware, suggesting that the latest mosque remained in use until the twelfth century.

The Street. The main street had a minimum width of 3 m. It ran parallel to the sea and probably extended as far west as the Great Mosque. At Site C, in all but one area we excavated only the latest surviving surface. Outside the mosque, however, a sounding revealed more than I m. of superimposed surfaces of earth or gravel, confirming the evidence for a long occupation recovered from the block of

shops in 1966. The most important feature of the street was a pair of jambs attached to the " warehouse " and the shops. The jambs apparently flanked an opening and, when taken with the evidence for benches outside the smaller row of shops, suggested that the street was covered for at least 30 m. of the area exposed. Presumably the street was open on the east side of the jambs, in the vicinity of the

mosque and the hammdm.

4. SiteD. The Pottery

The pottery stood near the edge of Siraf, immediately above the beach and only 50 m. from the city wall.33 The site was well-chosen: in an outlying suburb land was cheaper and the fire risk more

acceptable than in the city centre; fuel and fine clay could be brought from the hinterland without traversing the town; pots destined for foreign markets could be loaded straight onto boats. We discovered the site in 1966. Last season we excavated more than I,ooo square metres, revealing a large building associated with at least four yards, three of which have been eroded by the sea (Fig. 6). The

yards contained the majority of the workshops and kilns which produced a vast amount of unglazed pottery, a smaller quantity of tin glazed ware and perhaps also pottery with a green alkaline glaze.

82 SirafI, p. I2. *3 SirdfI, pp. I2-14, pl. V (c) and (d) and figs. 6 and 7.

EXCAVATIONS AT SiRAF 13

Large building with c'yard, well and cold bath Cyard

Dr Drain

--- -Street P Platform

r------- Ps Preparation

sPs psurface O (\ O T Tank

Well-like W Well structure & OPs Ps

gShed Shed

*-

SE YARD

NE YARD i

Shed

P Glaze S CENTRE YARD

ovens O House - P

;o ? .

I .

bi !Tree position ?

O W Sand

SW YARD

Latrine

T

StreetT

0 15"'' "-J

Street

metres

JEJR&MTm DW d

Fig. 6. Site D. The pottery.

The complex was built on a bed of stiff alluvial clay, possibly an added incentive to build the establishment there. The clay contained abraded sherds, showing that it accumulated at a time when occupation existed in the vicinity. The clay also contained three coins; two were illegible, but the third, a broken dirhem, bore the fragmentary date 2 --, showing that it was struck between 815 and 913. Unfor- tunately, it was not absolutely clear whether the coins were deposited during the formation of the clay or were trampled into it at a later date. However, in either case they were buried before the site became a pottery.

The pottery probably occupied the whole of one block, with streets on the north, east and west sides and the sea to the south. The overall dimensions were at least 45 X 42 metres. In the north-west angle stood a large building entered from the street. In the north-east angle was a yard containing workshops, kilns and surfaces for preparing clay. To the south of the building was a narrow passage, beyond which


lay two additional yards, one containing a ruined cistern. A fourth yard occupied the south-east angle of the site.

The Large Building. The large building was almost square, with maximum dimensions of 16.9 and 17 m. It contained two periods of construction, in each of which the ground floor had a symmetrical plan comprising two entrances, eight principal rooms and a courtyard measuring 8-6 x

9"3 m. In

their final state, the outer walls possessed round buttresses at three angles, with square buttresses at the south-east angle and rectangular pilasters on the south and east sides. The main entrance, which was to the north, measured 5 x 3 m. It had a recessed opening I - 3 m. wide and a pair of round pilasters at the inner end of the passage, resembling the pilasters in the forerunners of Houses R and W in the residential quarter. A ruined projection from the outer wall suggested that pilasters may have flanked the entrance, recalling the triple pilasters of House W.34 The second entrance measured only 3"4

X I '9

m. and, like the rear entrances to Houses E and W, had a doorway flush with the outer wall.35 The rooms which flanked the main entrance measured roughly 6 x 3 m., with the long axis parallel to the facade. On either side of the courtyard was a pair of rooms measuring 4"

-6 x 3 m., while at the rear of the building were two rooms each approximately 6-6 m. long and 2-9 m. wide. The building possessed two unusual features: small rectangular cubicles and a row of openings in the outer wall. The cubicles occupied three of the angles. In each case, the end of the room had been partitioned off, creating a cubicle I -2 m. wide and 2-9 or 3 m. long, entered from the adjoining room. Cubicles were found in the early buildings at Site F, but never so evenly disposed. The second feature was a row of three openings in the west wall, which afforded access to the narrow triangular space between the large building and the street. Among the structures in this area was a latrine. Unfortunately, we know nothing of the possible upper storey or of the intended function of the building.

Whatever it was intended to be, the building was soon adapted for use as a workshop. The rear entrance was blocked and a potter's wheel was built in the passage; the bearing for the vertical axle survived, on either side of which were holes to receive the legs of a wooden table or bench (P1. Vb). The rooms in the south-west angle were demolished to make way for kilns. Additional kilns were constructed in the courtyard. Two wells were dug, one of which was abandoned before completion. The room on the east side of the enclosure contained traces of a platform or bench, together with a second bearing (not in position), suggesting that here, too, a potter's wheel was built.

The Yards. Three of the four adjacent yards were crowded with workshops, kilns, wells and water tanks, pits and surfaces for preparing clay. Although we excavated only part of the fourth yard, it was clear that this contained few structures; we found only two major features, a well with two rectangular tanks and a large deposit of sand. Presumably the yard was used for drying pots before firing and for storing fuel or finished products. The principal features of the first three yards were as follows:

I. Workshops. The north-east yard contained footings of four rectangular sheds, not all contemporary, one of which contained the bearing for a potter's wheel. Although the bearing was not in situ it was clear that the buildings were workshops, two of which contained surfaces for preparing clay. The south centre yard contained a fifth, more substantial structure, again presumably a workshop. The existence of workshops and a potter's wheel in the large building showed that the factory probably employed several craftsmen and produced an enormous quantity of pots.

2. Wells and water tanks. The south centre and south-west yards both contained wells associated with tanks, while the north-east yard contained a small well-like shaft in the centre of a plaster dish. The wells were little over 5 m. deep and at the time of excavation the water table was approximately 4"

5 m. below the surface. The well in the south centre yard, which was I 75 m. across, was associated with a cistern measuring 3 2 X

2" 45 m. During the use of the yard, the cistern was demolished to make way for

a kiln (P1. Va). The well in the south west yard supplied two smaller tanks, connected by a drain. 3. Surfaces for preparing clay. The large building, the workshops and the south east and north east

yards all contained oval or circular areas made of plaster or plaster and clay. Each area was o 75-I "5 m.

across and was slightly concave. Reference to present-day potteries in Iran suggests that the surfaces were used for preparing the clay.

54 Srdf II, pl. II (c). 35 SorffIII, plans in figs. 4 and 6.


4. Kilns. We excavated the remains of thirty kilns, which fell into two principal types: (I) kilns with a pit for the fire and an upper chamber to contain the pots and (2) kilns with only a single chamber, which received both the fire and the pottery. The first type (P1. VIb) was by far the most common. The fire was placed in an oval or circular pit, up to 5 m. long and 2 m. deep, approached down a sloping ramp. The sides were lined with clay, which was fired to a dull red earthenware the first time the kiln was used. The upper chamber had a floor at ground level, made of clay and stone, often incorporating potsherds and wasters. In one case the floor was reinforced with pipes and in another mud brick was used. In the larger circular kilns the floor was supported by a central pier. It was always perforated with numerous flues. Nothing of the upper chamber survived, but we assume that it was made of rubble and clay. The second type of kiln was a small structure with a circular chamber, at the bottom of which was a pit, presumably for the fire. The sides of the kiln were perforated with numerous holes intended to contain earthenware bars, on which the pots were stacked. The tips of several bars remained in situ, and numerous examples were recovered, both last season and in 1966.36

The passage to the south of the large building contained two small ovens of an entirely different type (P1. VIa). Each comprised a fire box and a chamber containing an oval earthenware tray. The larger oven was only o.

6 m. across. Similar ovens are used in Iran today for producing glaze and we suggest that the structures at Siraf were used for this purpose, a possibility supported by the discovery of a layer of slag in one of the earthenware trays.37

Products and other finds. The pottery produced a wide variety of unglazed ware, ranging from small jugs with a fine " eggshell " body to large reddish jars used for storing liquids or perishable food. The smaller vessels included two-handled jars (P1. Xb), flasks with a narrow neck and two handles (P1. Xc) and jugs (P1. Xb). Among the larger products were tall slender jars38 and vessels with incised or applied ornament, some of which have close parallels among the Islamic wares imported to Manda, on the East African coast.39 The pottery also produced vessels with a green alkaline glaze, tin glazed bowls, and unglazed gaming pieces, perhaps for a version of chess.

In 1966, the excavation at Site D yielded abundant glass waste and glassy slag, drips and trails were found again last winter. Indeed, the nature of the finds indicated that glass vessels were made on the site or that glass waste was imported for making glaze. Although the excavation failed to reveal unam- biguous evidence for the manufacture of glass, we intend to continue the search in 1970-7 1.

Among the finds from the site were several fragmentary Chinese vessels, notably a Yiieh ware bowl (P1. IXa), while the Islamic material included a sherd from a bowl with lustre decoration (P1. VIIIb), closely matched by a find from Fustit.40

A Modern Pottery at Kangdn. The nearest modern pottery is at Kangin, a small town 30o kms. north of Sirdf. The pottery contains many features found at Site D and during the excavation we visited Kangan to record the form of the workshops, kilns and yards and to observe the potters at work. Next season we hope to complete the record which throws valuable light on the function of features found at Siraf.

ADDENDUM

A progress report on the fifth season of excavations appears on pp. 176-7.

36 The kiln illustrated in Strdf I, fig. 7 had a pit in the floor of the chamber and holes for earthenware bars in the walls. It was remodelled when the pit was filled with ash and a central pier was built, presumably to support a floor. Among the ash in the pit were many broken bars.

37 A sample of the slag awaits analysis. 8 Cp. SfrdfI, pl. VI (f).

39 Neville Chittick, " Discoveries in the Lamu Archipelago ", Azania II (1967), pp. 1-31.

4, Arthur Lane, Early Islamic Pottery, pl. 13.


APPENDIX

STONE GRAVE COVER

Among the most impressive objects found last season was a stone grave cover with an elaborate plaited Kfific inscription which includes the date Jumida II 383/993 (Fig. 7). It is one of the earliest epitaphs discovered at Sirif (the earliest being the British Museum's example of 991) and is among the earliest dated specimens of elaborate plaited Kfific. The cover is one of two epitaphs preserved in situ in a small cemetery some 750 m. north-east of the Great Mosque, on the edge of the medieval city.

The cover was carved from a single sandstone block and measures I- 51 x 0-34 x 0-50 m. Along the top runs a crest, o I15 m. high. The inside is hollow and the top and sides bear inscriptions in low relief. The text is as follows:

0 50 100 1 1 1

Cms LBm DWd Fig. 7. Stone grave cover.


Top

4J j1.

" In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate: Ibrahim b. Ali ......... died in Jumitdi II of the year three (hundred) and eighty three ....... O God, blessings on Mohammad and the

family of Mohammad: the power belongs to God ".

Sides

,roI~ j l ,.F..4 jo LcJ 4~j I b ji Ltac C? 5- J t dI

(Qur'an, LV, 26-27).

The cover provides important evidence for the chronology of the plaited Kafic script. The early development of plaited Kafic was discussed recently by Volov, who drew attention to the occurrence of

simple plaited letters on tenth century coins, notably an issue of al-Muqtadir (908-32) and a dindr struck at Rayy in 324/935-6. The script enjoyed a considerable vogue in Iran, where it became a favourite device of the Samanid potters. The epitaph from Sirif marks a departure from this simple script. Here, as in the inscription on the tomb tower at

Ridkmn, which includes the date 411/1020-21,

the plaiting has assumed a greater importance; adjacent letters are interlocked, often with elaborate knots, and one letter may be carried across another. Another example of the elaborate style is the epitaph of 438/1047 preserved in a recent shrine at SirMf, which combines prolific floriated motifs with elaborately plaited letters.41 Indeed, a feature of the plaited Kific inscriptions at Sirdf is the abundant use of floriated ornament, in contrast to the more restrained script found at Rddkdn.

41 SfrdfI, pl. VIII e and f.

RASHID AL-DIN: THE FIRST WORLD HISTORIAN*

By John Andrew Boyle

Rashid al-Din Fadl Allah, often referred to by his contemporaries as Rashid Tabib (" Rashid the Physician "), was born c. 1247 in Hamadin, the Ecbatana of the Ancients. On the period of his youth and early manhood we possess no information whatsoever. The son of a Jewish apothecary, he became at the age of 30 a convert to Islam, having previously, it must be assumed, been a loyal member of the Jewish community of his native town, then an important centre of Jewish culture and the seat of a well organized yeshivah or Rabbinical college, circumstances which account for his familiarity with the customs and traditions ofJudaism and his knowledge of the Hebrew language.' His conversion may well have coincided with his entry into the service of the I1-Khan Abaqa (1265-81), the second Mongol ruler of Iran, in the capacity of a physician, and he is perhaps to be identified with the Jew called Rashid al-Daula (a variant form of his name), who, according to the continuator of Barhebraeus,2 was appointed steward to the Il-Khan Geikhatu (I291-95) " to prepare food which was suitable... , of every kind, which might be demanded, and wheresoever it might be demanded ". At the time of economic upheaval which preceded the experimental introduction of ch'ao or Chinese paper currency, when, we are told, not even a single sheep could be procured for the Il-Khan's table, Rashid al-Daula " stood up strongly in this matter and he spent a large sum of his own money, and he bought myriads of sheep and oxen, and he appointed butchers and cooks, and he was ready in a most wonderful fashion on the condition that in every month of days silver should be collected for the sdhib-diwan, because the treasury was empty, and it was destitute of money, and not even the smallest coin was to be found therein. And he wrote letters and sent them to the various countries, but the Jew was unable to collect anything. And thus the whole of his possessions came to an end, and as he was unable to stand in (i.e. continue) a work such as he was doing, he left and fled ".

If this Rashid al-Daula is not the future statesman and historian, it is strange that a man of the latter's talents should have remained in total obscurity from his entry into Abaqa's service until his appearance, some twenty years later, in the spring of 1298, as a deputy to Sadr al-Din Zanjdni, the vizier of Abaqa's grandson Ghazan (1295-1304). Rashid al-Din3 himself recounts the circumstances which led to the execution of Sadr al-Din, perhaps the most perfidious and unprincipled of the Il-Khanid viziers. It emerges from the account that he already stood high in the I1-Khan's favour and was on terms of friend- ship with his commander-in-chief the Mongol Qutlugh-Shdh. In the autumn of 1298 Sa'd al-Din Sdvaji was appointed Sadr al-Din's successor with Rashid al-Din as his associate. We next hear of Rashid as accompanying Ghazan on his last expedition (1302-03) against the Mamlfiks: in March 1303, he played a prominent part in the negotiations which led to the surrender of Rahbat al-Shim, the present-day Syrian town of Meyadin on the west bank of the Euphrates. It was during Ghazan's brief reign that he carried out the fiscal reforms which go under his master's name but of which Rashid himself may well have been the real author, reforms intended to protect the sedentary population from the rapacity of the Mongol nomad aristocracy. It was now too that he was commissioned by Ghazan to write a history of the Mongols and their conquests, a work completed and expanded under Ghazan's successor Oljeitii (1304-16) to form the Jdmi' al- Tawdrikh (" Complete Collection of Histories "),

* The text of a lecture delivered at the British Institute of Persian Studies, Tehran, on the 9th April, 1969. Based on the Intro- duction to the Successors of Genghis Khan, a forthcoming translation of Volume I, Part II, of the Jami' al- Tawdrikh, it appears in Iran by the courtesy of the publishers, the Royal Institute for Translation, Tehran, and the Columbia University Press.

1 On the question of Rashid al-Din's Jewish origins see B. Spuler, Die Mongolen in Iran (Leipzig, I939), Pp. 247-9, W. J. Fischel " Azarbaijan in Jewish History ", Proceedings qf the American Academy for Jewish Research, XXII (1953), PP. 1-21 (15-18).

2 The Chronography qf Gregory AbA'l-Faraj, transl. E. A. W. Budge (London, 1932), p. 496.

3 See the Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. V (Cambridge, 1968), p. 385-

19


" a vast historical encyclopedia ", in the words of Barthold,4 " such as no single people, either in Asia or in Europe, possessed in the Middle Ages ".

Rashid enjoyed still greater favour under Oljeitii. He had become the owner of vast estates in every corner of the I1-Khan's realm: orchards and vineyards in Azerbaijan, date-palm plantations in Southern Iraq, arable land in Western Anatolia. The administration of the state was almost a private monopoly of his family: of his fourteen sons eight were governors of provinces, including the whole of Western Iran, Georgia, Iraq and the greater part of what is now Turkey. Immense sums were at his disposal for expenditure on public and private enterprises. In Oljeitii's new capital at

Sult.niya he

built a fine suburb with a magnificent mosque, a madrasa and a hospital; at Tabriz he founded a similar suburb called after himself the Rab'-i Rashidi. On the transcription, binding, maps and illustrations of his various writings he is said to have laid out a sum of 6o,ooo dindrs, the equivalent of ?36,0oo in our money.

In T312 his colleague Sa'd al-Din fell from grace and was put to death; and for a brief while Rashid al-Din was in danger of sharing his fate. A letter in the Hebrew script purporting to be written by Rashid was discovered and laid before Oljeitii. In it the writer urged his correspondent, a Jewish protdgd of one of the Mongol emirs, to administer poison to the I1-Khan. Rashid al-Din was able to prove the letter a forgery and continued to enjoy Oljeitii's favour and confidence for the remainder of his reign. A rift, however, soon developed with his new colleague, Taj al-Din 'Ali Shdh, and the Il-Khan sought to remedy matters by dividing his empire into two administrative spheres, Rashid al-Din being responsible for Central and Southern Iran while 'All-Shah was placed in charge of North-Western Iran, Mesopo- tamia and Asia Minor. The antagonism between the two viziers persisted despite this segregation of their duties, and in 1317, in the reign of Oljeitii's son Abi Sa'id (1316-35), 'All Shah succeeded by his intrigues in securing his rival's dismissal. Persuaded against his will to re-enter the I1-Khan's service Rashid al-Din was attacked once again by 'Ali Shah and his party and accused of having poisoned Abil Sa'id's father. According to the Mamlfik sources he admitted having gone against the advice of Oljeitii's physicians and prescribed a purgative for his disorder, the symptoms of which do appear to have been consistent with metallic poisoning. On this admission he was cruelly put to death, his severed head, according to the same authorities, being taken to Tabriz and carried about the town for several days with cries of: " This is the head of the Jew who abused the name of God; may God's curse be upon him! " Rab'-i Rashidi, the suburb of Tabriz which he had founded and given his name, was looted by the mob, and all his estates and property were confiscated, even his pious foundations being robbed of their endowments. His final resting-place, a mausoleum of his own construction, was destroyed, less than a century later, by Miran-Shah, the mad son of Timfir, who caused Rashid's body to be exhumed and re-interred in the Jewish cemetery.

The encyclopaedist Ibn IHajar of Ascalon (d. 1449) reproduces what was undoubtedly the contemporary assessment of Rashid al-Din: a Jewish apothecary's son turned Muslim who rose in the service of the Il-Khans to the rank of vizier; who championed and protected the followers of his adopted faith; who built fine public buildings in Tabriz; who, while merciless to his enemies, was generous in the extreme to the learned and the pious; and who wrote a rationalistic commentary on the Qur'an for which he was accused of ilhdd, i.e. of belonging to the outcast sect of the Isma'ilis or Assassins.5 To the Jdmi' al- Tawdrikh, the work on which his fame now rests, Ibn IHajar makes no reference whatsoever.

Rashid al-Din6 himself has described the elaborate measures which he adopted to ensure the preservation of his writings and their transmission to posterity. These measures included the translation into Arabic of all his Persian works, and into Persian of all his Arabic works, while a specified annual sum was allocated for the preparation of two complete transcripts, one in either language, " on the best

Baghdad paper and in the finest and most legible writing ", to be presented to one of the chief towns of the Muslim world. Despite these and other precautions it was the opinion of Quatrembre7 that " we have lost the greater part of the works of this learned historian, and all the measures which he took have

* Turkestan down to the Mongol Invasion, p. 46. * Al-durar al-kdminafi a'ydn al-mi'at al-thdmina, Vol. III (Hydera-

bad, 1349/1930-I), pp. 232-3.

* See E. G. Browne, A Literary History ofPersia, Vol. III, pp. 77-9. 'Quoted by Browne, op.cit., pp. 79-80.

RASHID AL-DIN: THE FIRST WORLD HISTORIAN 21

not had a more fortunate success than the precautions devised by the Emperor Tacitus to secure the preservation of his illustrious relative's writings ". The passage of time has shown Quatremere to have been unduly pessimistic. A diligent search of the libraries of Persia, Turkey and Central Asia has filled some of the lacunae, and it is too early to assume that any of the works still missing is irretrievably lost.

Of his theological writings reference has already been made to his commentary on the Qur'an, which bore the title Miftdh al-Tafdsir (" Key to the Commentaries "). Neither this nor his Favd'id-i Sultdnfya (" Royal Deductions "), based on a conversation with Oljeitti on religious and philosophical questions, nor his As'ila u Ajviba (" Questions and Answers "), containing the author's corespondence with Muslim and even Byzantine scholars, has yet been published. His Kitdb al-Ahwd wa-'l-Athdr ("Book of Animals and Monuments ") dealing with botany, agriculture and architecture is described by Browne as " unhappily lost ". Several chapters of it were however published in Tehran in 1905 from a manuscript which may still be in existence. Finally, a work unknown to Quatrembre, the Mukdtabdt-i Rashidi, the correspondence of Rashid al-Din, mainly on political and financial matters, with his sons and other Il-Khanid officials, was published in 1947 by Professor Shafi of Lahore and has recently been translated into Russian.8

Of his magnum opus, the Jdmi' al- Tawdrikh, there appear to have been two versions, an earlier (13o6- 07) consisting of three, and a later (c. 1310o) consisting of four volumes.9 Volume I, the Ta'rikh-i Ghdzdni, a history of the Mongols from their beginnings until the reign of Ghazan, has already been mentioned. In Volume II, commissioned by Ghazan's successor Oljeitti, Rashid al-Din was set the formidable task of compiling a general history of all the Eurasian peoples with whom the Mongols had come into contact. Beginning with Adam and the Patriarchs the volume recounts the history of the pre-Islamic kings of Persia; of Muhammad and the Caliphate down to its extinction by the Mongols in 1258; of the post- Muhammadan dynasties of Persia; of Oghuz and his descendants, the Turks; of the Chinese; of the Jews; of the Franks and their Emperors and Popes; and of the Indians, with a detailed account of Buddha and Buddhism. Volume II is in fact the first universal history. " One can seek in vain ", says Professor Jahn,10 " both in the foregoing and in the following centuries for an equally bold and at the same time successful enterprise. This very first attempt to commit to paper a faithful account of the history of the world has not as yet been accorded the recognition it deserves as a unique achievement ... " To Vol. II was originally prefixed a history of Oljeitii from his birth until the year 7o6/I306-07. A manuscript of this portion discovered by Professor A. Z. V. Togan in Meshed has since disappeared. The original Volume III bearing the title Suwar al-A qdlim (" Forms of the Climes ") was a geographical compendium containing " not only a geographical and topographical description of the globe as it was then known ..., but also an account of the system of highways in the Mongol Empire with mention of the milestones erected at imperial command, and a list of postal stages ".11 No manuscript of this volume has yet come to light. On the other hand, Volume III of the second version (in which the Suwar al-Aqdlim became Volume IV) bearing the title Shu'ab-i Panjgdna (" The Five Genealogies ") has survived in a unique manuscript discovered by Professor Togan in 1927 in the Topkapi Sarayl Library in Istanbul. As its title indicates it contains the genealogies of the ruling houses of five nations: the Arabs, Jews, Mongols, Franks and Chinese.12

The text of Volume I, published piecemeal in various countries over a period of more than a century, is now available in its entirety. On the other hand, much of Volume II is still accessible only in manuscripts. The sections on Sultan Mahmiid of Ghazna and the Seljuqs were published by the late Professor Ate? in 1957 and 1960 respectively and that on the Ismi'ilis by Mr. Dabir-i Siy~qi (1958) and again by Messrs. Dinish-Pazhilh and Mudarrisi (196o), whilst Professor Jahn has produced an edition and translation of the History of the Franks (I95I), facsimiles of the Persian and Arabic text of the History of

8 On Rashid al-Din's non-historical works see A. Z. V. Togan, " The Composition of the History of the Mongols by Rashid al-Din ", Central Asiatic Journal, VII/I-2, pp. 60-72 (60-3), Karl Jahn, " The Still Missing Works of Rashid al-Din ", ibid., IX/2, pp. I113-122.

* See Jahn, op. cit., p. I 19.

1o Rashfd al-Din's History of India (The Hague, 1965), p.x. 11 Jahn, " The Still Missing Works ... ", p. I2o. 12 On the Shu'ab-i Panjgdna see Togan, op. cit., pp. 68-9, Jahn,

" Study on Supplementary Persian Sources for the Mongol History of Iran " in Aspects of Altaic Civilization ed. Denis Sino (Bloomington, 1963), pp. 197-204 (198-9).


India (1965) and a translation and facsimiles of the History of Oghuz and the Turks (1969). The remainder of the volume, as also Volume III, the Shu'ab-i Panjgdna, is as yet unpublished.

It is of course Volume II with its concluding sections on the history of the various non-Muslim

peoples that gives the work its unique character as " the first universal history of Orient and Occi- dent ".13 As an historical document, however, it is not to be compared with Volume I, the Ta'rikh-i

Ghdzdni, which, based as it largely is on native sources now lost, constitutes our chief authority on the

origins of the Mongol peoples and the rise of the Mongol World Empire. This volume, according to the

original arrangement, consisted of two sections of unequal length, of which the first and shorter contained the history of the different Turkish and Mongol tribes, their divisions, genealogies, legends, etc. in a

preface and four chapters, whilst the second and very much larger section dealt with the history of Gen-

ghis Khan, his ancestors and successors down to the Il-Khan Ghazan. A more convenient division into three separate volumes, first proposed by E. G. Browne in 1908, has been adopted by the Russians in their recent editions and translations of the Persian text. In accordance with this arrangement Rashid al-Din's original Volume I is sub-divided as follows:

Volume I, Part I : The Turkish and Mongol Tribes. Volume I, Part 2: Genghis Khan and his Ancestors. Volume II: The Successors of Genghis Khan. Volume III: The Il-Khans of Persia.

Besides the new Russian translations there is also an older Russian version of Volume I of the text as thus divided, whilst the beginning of Volume III (the reign of Hiilegii) was translated into French by Quatremere as long ago as 1836. In the forthcoming version of Volume II Rashid al-Din will appear for the first time in English dress.

Volume II begins with the history of Ogedei, Genghis Khan's third son and first successor (1229-

1241) as Great Khan. Next come accounts of Genghis Khan's other three sons: the eldest, Jochi (d. 1227), with the history of the Golden Horde founded by his son Batu (1237-56) down to the reign of Toqta (1291-1312); the second Chaghatai, the eponymous founder (1227-42) of the Chaghatai dynasty in Central Asia, with the history of that dynasty down to the reign of Du'a (1282-1307); and the youngest, Tolui (d. 1233), the father of two Great Khans, M6ngke and Qubilai and of Hiilegii, the founder of the I1-Khanid dynasty of Persia. There follow the reigns of the Great Khans, successors to

Ogedei: his son Gilyiik (I246-48), his nephews M6ngke (1251-59) and Qubilai (1260-94) and,

finally, Qubilai's grandson Temiir 1ljeitii (1294-I1307). As in the case of Genghis Khan, the biography of each prince is divided into three parts: the first contains a list of his wives, sons and descendants, the second gives the details of his life and reign and the third, in theory, consists of anecdotes illustrating the ruler's character, a selection of his biligs or sayings along with other miscellaneous information but, in

practice, is often absent, the rubric being followed in the MSS. by a space left blank for the subsequent insertion of the relevant data. Part I, in the original manuscripts, included a portrait of the prince and a

genealogical table of his descendants and Part II a picture of his enthronement, references to which and other illustrations are made in the text. In Part II, in the case of the Great Khans only, the narrative is

interrupted at intervals to give the names of the contemporary Chinese and Muslim rulers and also some account of contemporary events within the latter's territories. Here, too, there are sometimes blanks in the MSS. where the name of a ruler had not been ascertainable at the time of writing.

The Successors of Genghis Khan, as the English title indicates, takes up the history of the Mongol Empire from the death of its founder. It recounts the campaigns in Russian and Eastern Europe (1236-42), which led to the establishment of the Golden Horde,; it describes the conquest of Southern China

(1268-79), which changed the House of Qubilai (better known to us as Kubla Khan) into the Chinese

dynasty of the Yiuan; and it breaks off in the reign of Qubilai's grandson Temiir (1294-1307), still the nominal suzerain of territories extending westwards from Korea to the Balkans. Only Hiilegti's

expedition to the West, the destruction of the Isma'ilis (1256), the overthrow of the Caliphate (1258) and the long struggle with the Mamlfik rulers of Egypt (1259-1313) receive no mention, these events

1n Jahn, Rashid al-Din's History of India, p. x.


being recorded in the following volume on the Il-Khans of Persia. Here, in the Successors of Genghis Khan we have, as in the Travels of Marco Polo, a survey of Asia under the pax Mongolica, but with this difference that Rashid al-Din disposed of far more copious and authoritative sources of information than the Venetian, whose account of Qubilai's Empire, for all its amazing detail, is of necessity restricted to the evidence of his own eyes and ears.

The earliest parts of the Jdmi' al- Tawdrikh are based almost exclusively on a Mongolian chronicle called the Altan Debter or " Golden Book ", which, as Rashid al-Din himself tells us, was preserved in the I1-Khan's treasury in the charge of certain high officers. It is unlikely that the historian had direct access to this work, which was regarded as sacred; its contents were probably expounded to him orally by Bolad Chingsang, " Bolad the ch/ng-hsiang or Minister ", the representative of the Great Khan at the Persian Court, and by Ghazan himself who as an authority on the Mongol traditions was second to Bolad alone. The original text of the Golden Book has not come down to us, but a Chinese version, the Sh/ng-wu ch'in-ching lu or " Description of the Personal Campaigns of the Holy Warrior (i.e. Genghis Khan) ", written at some time prior to 1285, is still extant, and the work was also utilized in theYiian shih, the dynastic history of the Mongols, compiled in 1369.14 In his account of Genghis Khan's campaign in Western Asia Rashid al-Din is for the most part content to reproduce, in a somewhat abridged form, the narrative of Juvaini (1226-83) in his Ta'rikh-i Jahdn-Gushd ("History of the World-Con- queror "), but here too there are not infrequent interpolations from the Mongolian chronicle, and he even adopts its faulty chronology, in accordance with which the events of the campaign take place a year later than in reality. In the present volume Juvaini continues, down to the reign of M6ngke (1251- 59), to be Rashid al-Din's main authority but with considerable additional material from other sources. Thus the earlier historian's account of the invasion of Eastern Europe (I241-42) is repeated almost verbatim to be followed, in a later chapter, by a much more detailed version of the same events based, like the preceding description of the campaigns in Russia (I237-1240), on " rough Mongol records ",15 as is evident from the orthography of the proper names. So too in recounting the final campaign against the Chin rulers of Northern China (1231-34) Rashid al-Din combines data from Juvaini with information derived from Far Eastern-Mongol and, to some extent, Chinese-sources. For the reigns of Qubilai and Temuir he must have relied mainly upon the official correspondence of the I1- Khans, supplemented no doubt with the questioning of ambassadors and merchants arriving from Eastern Asia. The Great Khan's representative Bolad Chingsang, whom Rashid had consulted on the early history of the Mongols, seems also to have been his chief authority on contemporary China.

The accounts of Qubilai's campaigns are plainly based on Mongolian rather than Chinese sources. They lack the topographical and chronological precision of the iian shih and contain many obviously legendary or folkloristic elements. They are valuable none the less as illustrating the Mongol point of view and add considerable detail and colour to the somewhat laconic narrative of the Chinese chronicles. Thus we read in Rashid al-Din that Qubilai, when crossing the Yangtse to lay siege to Wuchang in Hupeh, made use of a specially fashioned birch-bark talisman.16 This resort to a shamanistic practice, designed apparently to placate the water spirits of the great river, is passed over in silence by the Chinese authorities; but we may well believe that the convert to Buddhism and the patron of Con- fucianism was still at heart a primitive animist. Again the story of the 20,000 criminals released from jail by the Great Khan's decree to take part in the conquest of the South is too circumstantial not to have some foundation in fact. Many legends must have been woven around the long and famous siege (I268-1273) of Siangyang, and it is perhaps in some such popular tale that Gau Finjan (the historical Kao Ho-chang involved in the murder of the vizier Ahmad of Fanakat, Polo's Bailo Acmat) is made to play a part in the final capture of the stronghold.17 Rashid al-Din is at least right in stating that the

14 See J. A. Boyle, "Juvayni and Rashid al-Din as Sources on the History of the Mongols " in Historians of the Middle East ed. B. Lewis and P. M. Holt (London, I962), pp. 133-7 (P. 134).

x6 V. Minorsky, " Caucasica III: The Alan Capital *Magas and the Mongol Campaigns ", BSOAS, XIV/2 (1952), pp. 221-38 (p. 223).

16 On the practice amongst many peoples of propitiating "the

fickle and dangerous spirits of the water at fords " see J. G. Frazer, Folk-lore in the Old Testament, Vol. III (London, I918), PP- 414 ff

17 See A. C. Moule, Quinsai with Other Notes on Marco Polo (Cam- bridge, 1957), pp. 86-7, P. Pelliot, Notes on Marco Polo, Vol. I (Paris, I959), pp. Io-I I.


mangonels employed against the defences were of Muslim manufacture. They can hardly have been constructed, as Marco Polo alleges, by Christian engineers under the supervision of his father, his uncle and himself during the course of a siege which had not yet begun when the elder Polos left China after their first visit and had been over for two years before Marco himself first entered China!8s On the

whole, however, Polo and Rashid al-Din tend to corroborate and complement each other's statements, and between them the Venetian and the Persian provide a wonderfully vivid and detailed picture of

Mongol China. It is perhaps these chapters of the Successors of Genghis Khan that will make the greatest appeal to the general reader.

The following are three typical passages: On the building of the Grand Canal from Peking to Hangchow:

In Khan-Baliq19 and Daidu20 there is a great river21 which flows from a northerly direction, from the region of Chamchiyal,22 which is the route to the summer residence. There are other rivers also, and outside the town they have constructed an extremely large na'ur23 like a lake and have built a dam for it so that they can launch boats in it and sail for pleasure. The water of that river used to flow in a different channel and empty itself into the gulf that comes from the Ocean-Sea to the neighbourhood of Khan-Baliq. The engineers and learned men of Khitai,24 having carried out a careful enquiry, declared that it was possible for ships to come to Khan-Baliq from most parts of Khitai, from the capital of Machin,25 from Khingsang26 and Zaitun27 and from other places also. The Qa'an ordered a great canal to be cut and the water of that river and several other rivers to be diverted into that canal. It is a 40 days' voyage to Zaitun, which is the port of India and the capital of Michin. On these rivers many sluices have been built for [the provision of] water to the provinces. When a ship comes to one of these sluices it is raised up by means of a winch together with its cargo, no matter how large and heavy it is, and set down in the water on the other side of the dam so that it can proceed. The width of the canal is more than 30 ells. Qubilai Qa'an ordered it to be walled with stone so that no earth should fall into it. Alongside the canal is a great highway which leads to Machin, a distance of 4o days. The whole of that road is paved with stone so that, when there is a heavy rainfall, the beasts of burden may not get stuck in the mud. On either side of the road, willows and other trees have been planted so that the shadow of the trees falls upon the whole length of the road. And no one, soldier or other, dares to break a branch from the trees or give a leaf to his animals. Villages, shops and temples have been built on either side so that the whole of the 40-day route is fully populated.

On the practice of taking finger-prints: They28 take the fingerprints of the persons that are questioned. And the meaning of finger-print is as follows.

It has been discovered and confirmed by experience that the finger joints of all people are different. And so whenever they take a deposition from anyone, they place the paper between his fingers and on the back of the document mark the place where his fingerjoints touched, so that should he at some time deny his statement they can confront him with the marks of his fingers, and since these are correct, he can no longer deny it. And having taken this precaution in all the Divans, they make their report and take action in accordance with the order then given.29

s18 See Pelliot, op. cit., pp. 4-5, Moule, op. cit., pp. 76-7. 19 The Turkish name ("Royal Town ") for Peking, Polo's

Cambaluc. See Paul Pelliot, Notes on Marco Polo I (Paris, 1959), pp. 140-2.

20o Polo's Taidu, the Chinese Ta-Tu " Great Capital " Qubilai's new capital built alongside the Chin capital of Khan-Baliq. See Pelliot, Notes on Marco Polo II (Paris, 1963), pp. 843-5.

21 The Sankan or Yungting. 22 The Mongol name for the Nankow pass some 30 miles N.W. of

Peking. 22 Mongol naghur" lake, pond ". 24 Northern China, our Cathay. 25 The Persian name for Southern China. 26 Hangchow. Khingsai, Polo's Quinsai, represents the Chinese

expression Hsing-tsai, a shortened form of Hsing-tsai so meaning " Emperor's Temporary Residence ". See A. C. Moule Quinsai with other Notes on Marco Polo (Cambridge, 1957), pp. 8- 11.

27 Chuanchow on the coast of Fukien, Polo's Qaiton. On this famous seaport, see Pelliot, Notes on Marco Polo I, pp. 583-97.

28 I.e. the officials of the " Great Divan, which they call shing [Chinese shing, Polo's scieng] ". This was the Chung-shu sheng or Grand Secretariat, which " worked at the capital, but had provincial delegations called ' moving ' (.... hsing) Chung-shu sheng, or simply hsing-shing, and even shing alone; the areas under the control of each hsing-shbng soon came to be themselves named shing colloquially, and this is the origin of the modern use of shing in the sense of 'province'. See Pelliot, Notes on Marco Polo II, pp. 827-8.

29 Rashid al-Din had clearly only a vague idea of what the process of taking finger-prints involved. On the antiquity of the practice in China and Japan see Sir Henry Yule, Cathay and the Way Thither, ed. Cordier, Vol. (London) (1914), pp. 123-4, note 2.


On the animosity between Christians and Muslims:

During the vizierate of Senge a group of Muslim merchants came to the Qa'an's Court from the country of the Qori, Barqu30 and Qirqiz31 and brought as their audience-offering white-footed, red-beaked gerfalcons and a white eagle. The Qa'an showed them favour and gave them food from his table, but they would not eat it. He asked " Why will you not eat? " They replied: " The food is unclean to us." The Qa'an was offended and commanded: " Henceforth Muslims and all People of the Book shall not slaughter sheep but shall split open the breast and side in the Mongol fashion. And whoever slaughters sheep shall be slaughtered likewise and his wife, children, house and property given to the informer."32

'Isa Tarsa Kelemechi,33 Ibn Ma'ili and Baidaq, some of the mischievous, wicked and corrupt men of their age, availed themselves of this decree to obtain ayarligh that whoever slaughtered a sheep in his house should be executed. On this pretext they extorted much wealth from the people and tempted the slaves of Muslims, saying " If you inform against your master we will set you free." And for the sake of their freedom they calum- niated their masters and accused them of crimes. 'Ist Kelemechi and his accursed followers brought matters to such a pass that for four years Muslims could not circumcise their children. They also brought false charges against Maulana Burhan al-Din Bukhdri, a disciple of the godly Shaikh al-Islam Saif al-Din Bikharzi (may God have mercy on him!), and he was sent to Manzi, where he died. Conditions became such that most Muslims left the country of Khitai. Thereupon most of the chief Muslims of those parts-Baha al-Din Qunduzi, Shadi Zo- Cheng, 'Umar Qirqizi, Ndsir al-Din Malik Kashghari, Hindfi Zo-Cheng and other notables-jointly offered many presents to the vizier so that he made the following representation [to the Qa'an]: " All the Muslim merchants have departed from hence and no merchants are coming from the Muslim countries; the tamghas34 are inadequate and they do not bring tangsuqs;35 and all this because for the past seven years they have not slaughtered sheep. If it be so commanded the merchants will come and go and the tamgha will be in full." Per- mission was given for the issue of ayarligh to this effect.36 Again, the Christians in the Qa'an's reign showed great fanaticism against the Muslims and sought to attack them by representing to the Qa'an that there was a verse in the Qur'in which ran: "Kill the polytheists, all of them."37 The Qa'an was annoyed and asked: " From whence do they know this? " He was told that a letter on this subject had arrived from Abaqa Khan. He sent for the letter and summoning the ddnishmands38 asked the senior amongst them, Baha al-Din Bahd'i: " Is there such a verse in your Qur'in " Yes," he replied. " Do you regard the Qur'an," asked the Qa'an, " as the word of God ?" " We do," he said. " Since then," the Qa'an went on, " you have been commanded by God to kill the infidels, why do you not kill them ?" He replied: " The time has not yet come, and we have not the means." The Qa'an fell into a rage and said: " I at least have the means." And he ordered him to be put to death. However, the Emir Ahmad the vizier, the Cadi Bahi al-Din, who also had the rank of vizier, and the Emir Dashman pre- vented this on the pretext that they would ask others also. They sent for MaulAnI Hamid al-Din, formerly of Samarqand, and the same question was put to him. He said that there was such a verse. " Why then," said the Qa'an, " do you not kill [these people] ?"

He answered: " God almighty has said: 'Kill the polytheists,' but if the Qa'an will so instruct me, I will tell him what a polytheist is." " Speak," said the Qa'an. "Thou art not a polytheist," said HIamid al-Din, " since thou writest the name of the Great God at the head of thyyarlighs. Such a one is a polytheist who does not recognize God, and attributes companions to him, and rejects the Great God." The Qa'an was extremely pleased and these words took firm root in his heart. He honoured Hamid al-Din and showed favour to him; and at his suggestion the others were released.

80 The Qori and the Barqu (Barghu) or Barghut were Mongol tribes inhabiting the Barghujin Togiim or "Barghu Depression" i.e. the region of the present-day Barghuzin River to the east of Lake Baikal, Polo's " Plain of Bargu ". See Pelliot, Notes on Marco Polo I, pp. 76-9.

x1 I.e. the Kirghiz Turks, who now give their name to the Soviet Socialist Republic of Kirghizia but who at that time inhabited the forests around the Upper Yenisei.

82 According to the Trian shih the edict forbidding ritual slaughter was issued on the 27th January, I28o. See Pelliot, op. cit. pp. 77-8, and also P. Ratchnevsky, " Ralid ad-Din iber die Mohammedaner-Verfolgungen in China unter Qubilai " in Rashid al-Din Commemoration Volume (0318-1968) ed. J. A. Boyle and K. Jahn, Central Asiatic Journal XIV/I-3 (Wiesbaden, 1970), PP. I63-80.

S3 I.e. Jesus the Christian, the Interpreter: the Ai-hsieh of the

Chinese texts. On this Arabic-speaking Christian, who passed the whole of his life in the service of the Mongols and who took part in an embassy to the Pope, see Moule, Christians in China before the rear 1550 (London, 1930), pp. 228-9.

4 On the Turkish word tamgha, here used in the sense of octroi, see Gerhard Doerfer, Tiirkische und mongolische Elemente im Neupersischen vol. II (Wiesbaden, 1965), pp. 554-65-

85 On tangsuq " a curious or valuable object brought as a present " see Doerfer, op. cit. pp. 570-3. 36 I.e. a royal decree.

V7 Apparently a contamination of Qur'An, ix, 5 ("... kill those who join other gods with God ... ") and 36 (" . .. attack those who join other gods with God in all ... "). The reference is of course, in both cases, not to polytheists in general but to the heathen opponents of the Prophet.

38 I.e. Muslim divines.


To the historian Rashid al-Din's work is above all a repository of material on the history, legends, beliefs and mode of life of the 12th -and I3th- century Mongols, material that has survived nowhere else in such profusion. The earliest parts of the Ta'rikh-i Ghdadni are, as we have seen, based almost

exclusively on native tradition. In the present volume the data on the Golden Horde, on the rebellion of Qubilai's younger brother Ariq Bake and on the long-drawn-out struggle between Qubilai and Qaidu are derived from similar written or oral sources. We learn here too how this material was preserved: how "it was the custom in those days to write down each day every word that the ruler uttered," a

special courtier being appointed for this purpose; how these biligs or sayings, often couched in " rhyth- mical and obscure language," were recited on festive occasions by such exalted persons as the Great Khan

Ogedei and his brother Chaghatai; and how Temiir Oljeitti was chosen to succeed his grandfather Qubilai because he knew the biligs of Genghis Khan better than his rival and declaimed them " well and with a pure accent ". Of the biligs recorded in the Successors of Genghis Khan we may quote the saying attributed to a grandson, Genghis Khan's youngest son Tolui, a man called Toq-Temiir, who was

" extremely brave and a very good archer ":

In battle he rode a grey horse and used to say: " People choose bays and horses of other colours so that blood may not show on them and the enemy not be encouraged. As for me I choose a grey horse, because just as red is the adornment of women, so the blood on a rider and his horse, which drips on to the man's clothes and the horse's limbs and can be seen from afar, is the adornment and decoration of men."

Besides preserving the traditional lore of the Mongols and recording the history of their world em-

pire Rashid al-Din was also the historian of his own country. Volume III of the Ta'rikh-i Ghdzdni is our main source on the I1-Khanid period of Persian history and contains what Professor Petrushevsky has called a " priceless collection "39 of Ghazan'syarlighs or decrees on his fiscal reforms, of which Rashid al-Din was an ardent supporter and perhaps the initiator. The fame of the statesman-historian rests, however, less on these solid achievements than on the attempt, in the second part of his work, to com-

pile a general history of the whole Eurasian continent. His is certainly the credit of producing, 600 years before Wells's Outline of History, the first World History in the true sense ever written in any language.40

89 I. P. Petrushevsky, " Rashid al-Din in Persian Historiography of the Middle Ages ", XXVII International Congress of Orientalists: Paperv Presented by the U.S.S.R. Delegation (Moscow, 1967), p. 8.

40 See also Jahn, " Ralid al-Din as a World Historian " in

Yddndme-ye Jan Rypka (Prague, 1967), pp. 79-87.

THE CHRONOLOGY OF TURBAT-I SHAIKH JAM

By Lisa Golombek

An extraordinarily high percentage of the monumental architecture surviving in the Near East from Islamic times falls into the category of" funerary architecture ".1 It embraces a wide range of architectural types, from the modest dome-chambers at Aswan to the vast shrine-cities of Meshhed and Qum. Of particular interest is one class of funerary architecture, the " shrine-complex". It begins with the tomb of a holy man, and, as the cult prospers and expands, other units are added.2 The architectural growth of the shrine thus provides not only a sampling of architectural techniques and styles over several centuries but also a reflection of the changing practices of the cult and of its relative wealth and power at any given moment in time. A study of the structural history of the shrines of Iran-Meshhed, Ardabil, Qum, or some of the smaller ones such as Mahan and

Bist.m-would yield important infor-

mation in any of these categories. Most shrine-complexes of this type, despite the variety which they appear to display, have followed a

recognizable pattern of growth. Shortly after the death of the holy man a mausoleum was erected over his tomb. As the cult grew and the tomb became an ever more popular centre of pilgrimage, the mausoleum was encircled by service rooms-a ziydrat-khdna, a prayer hall, madrasas, khdnaqdhs, and other mausoleums for persons wishing to be buried in the grace-giving environment of the Shaikh's tomb. Hence the original mausoleum was eventually lost in the mesh of a giant architectural web.

Common as it may have been, this simple architectural formula for the development of a shrine- complex was not appropriate to every situation. There exists a series of shrines which, however many units were added over the centuries, never saw the construction of a mausoleum over the tomb of the holy man.3 In these cases it must be assumed that the religious scruples of the cult disallowed the construction of a mausoleum out of respect for a tradition to that effect.4 A prime example of an alternative solution is found at Turbat-i Shaikh Jam, the shrine of Shaikh Ahmad b.

Abii'l-.Hasan (441-536/1049-

1141). Situated halfway along the route between Meshhed and Herat, the shrine comprises about ten different buildings grouped around a large courtyard. Yet none of these houses the tomb of the Shaikh, which still lies uncovered in the courtyard in front of a monumental aiwan (P1. Ia).

The shrine of Shaikh Ahmad was one of the major centres of pilgrimage in the eastern Iranian world. It reached its apogee in the I5th century and then fell into decline with the arrival of official Shi'ism in the I6th century, although certain repairs were still being carried out at that time. Our purpose here is to study the structural history of this unusual shrine-complex whose multiple foundations record the vicissitudes of an otherwise little known epoch in the history of Iranian Islam.

Although parts of the complex have appeared in publication before, there has been no attempt to re-create the history of the entire complex.5 An investigation of the site during the year 1966 has

1 0. Grabar, " The Earliest Islamic Commemorative Structures, Notes and Documents ", Ars Orientalis VI (1966), pp. 7-46.

2 See, e.g. study on growth of the Shah-i Zinda and Gur Emir in Samarqand by I. E. Pletnev and Iu. Shvab, " Formirovanie slozhnykh arkhitekturnykh kompleksov u mavzoleev Qusam- ibn-Abbasa i Gur-Emir ", Materialy i issledovaniia po istorii restavratsii arkhitekturnykh pamiatnikov Uzbekistana, I (Tashkent, 1967), PP. 43-62.

3 L. Golombek, The Timurid Shrine at Gazur Gah (Occasional Paper I5, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, 1969), Chapter IV.

4 Ibid., p. io8. 5 J. B. Fraser, Narrative of a Journey into Khorasan in the Years 1821

and r822 (London, 1825); N. Khanikoff, Mimoire sur la Partie miridionale de l'Asie centrale (Paris, 1861); N. Elias, " Notice of

an inscription at Turbat-i-Jim in Khorasan ", JRAS XXIX (1897), PP- 47-8; C. E. Yate, Khorasan and Sistan (London, goo900); P. M. Sykes, " A Fifth Journey in Persia ", Geographical

Journal XXVIII (1906), pp. 585f.; E. Diez, Churasanische

Baudenkmaler (Berlin, 1918); idem, Persien, Islamische Baukunst in Churasan (Gotha, 1923); A. U. Pope, et. al., A Survey of Persian Art (London, 1938), pp. i126, 11i6o-, pl. 1364; A. Godard, Athdr-6 Irdn IV (1949), illus. on pp. 222, 304, 306, 344; D. Wilber, The Architecture of Islamic Iran: the Il-Khanid Period (Princeton, 1955), p. 174, pl. 172-76, fig. 52; L. Golombek, " A Thirteenth Century Funerary Mosque at Turbat-i Shaykh Jim ", Bulletin of the Asia Institute I (Shiraz, 1969), pp. 13-26.

I am most grateful to my hosts at Turbat-i Shaikh Jim, the [continued on next page

27


permitted the identification of at least eight building campaigns represented in the existing structure. These extend over about eight centuries, from the early I3th century to the present.

Of great importance was the discovery of a literary text containing an appendix which describes the architectural history of the shrine. The manuscript itself is the Maqdmdt-i Auldd-i Shaikh-i Jdm, written around the middle of the i5th century, and now in a private library in Turbat-i ShaikhJam.6

The plan of the site first published by Wilber in 1955 (drawn by John McCool for the Asia Institute in I938)' is basically correct, but in certain areas where measurements were checked it was found to be inaccurate (Fig. I). Unfortunately, a proper survey of the site has not yet been made available.

In addition to the epigraphic material which has been published8 several new significant inscriptions were recorded. To these may be added the evidence from a series of objects in metal, some Qur'ans, and several carved wooden doors which are contemporary with various phases of the I3th-I5th century constructions on the site.

The literary source mentioned above (referred to hereafter as the " Appendix ") merits a full translation before we proceed with our discussion. Since the information contained therein will help identify the various parts of the complex, the directional conventions used by its author have been retained. The qibla is referred to as " west ". Thus southwest is " west ", northwest is " north ", northeast is "east ", and southeast is " south ".

Translation of the " Appendix "

The Gunbad was built by a descendant of Sanjar in 633 (1236 A.D.). In 730 (1329-3o A.D.) Ghiyas al-Din Muhammad b. Muhammad b. Muhammad b. Abfi Bakr Kurt enlarged the Gunbad and completed its decoration. He ordered the construction of two masjids on the two sides of the arch

(.tdq), known as the " Gun-

bad-i Safid " and the " Masjid-i Kirmani ". Both adjoin the entrance portal (rivdq). The khdnaqdh which is on the north side of the Gunbad and is known as the " Saracha " was built by the Shaikh

al-Islam Shihab al-Din Isma'il. The madrasa which is alongside the Saracha on the north was built by Khvaja Muhammad b. Farivandi, the vizier. The Old Mosque (masjid-ijdmi') which is on the south side of the Gunbad and adjoins the Gunbad was built by the Shaikh al-Islam Khvaja Raii al-Din Ahmad, the mutavallf. He endowed it with much property (amldk). The builder of the portal arch (tadq-i darb) of the mazdr of the Fountain of Light was Khvaja Mutahhir b.

Khvaja Shihab al-Din Isma'il. He died before it was completed and his son Khvaja Ghiyas al-Din finished it twelve years later and decorated it. There are two other khdnaqdhs on the east side outside the mazir which are the construction of the Sahib-i Qiran Amir Timfir Gfirgan. The New Mosque (masjid-i jimi') on the west side and the madrasa and Gunbad-i Sabz on the north side of the mazdr were built by Amir Jalal al-Din Firfizshah. The madrasa which is on the south side was built by Amir Shah Malik. These buildings were erected during the reign of Shah Rukh Sultan during the months of the year 846 (1442-3 A.D.).

The Architecture (Fig. i) The complex consists of a series of individual units grouped along the west and north sides of a great

rectangular enclosure. At the core of the complex, almost exactly in the middle of the west cluster, is a

large, imposing dome-chamber (I), through which passes an axis extending from the gate-house in the east wall of the enclosure to the sanctuary of the mosque at the western extreme (VII). Fronting the dome-chamber and sheltering the tomb of the Shaikh is a great aiwin topped by twin turrets (IIIa).

Four separate units flank this core: two rectangular vaulted chambers reached from the aiwan (IVa and IVb), a hall of columns (II), and a small courtyard enclosed by triple arcades (IIIb-c).

6 Possibly the same MS. as seen by Khanikoff, op. cit. A biography of apparently the same date, perhaps the same text, was

published by W. Ivanow, " A Biography of Shaikh Ahmed-i-

Jim ", JRAS (1917), pp. 281-365. 'D. Wilber, op. cit., fig. 52. 8 N. Elias, op. cit.; E. Diez, Chur. Bau., p. 8o; Survey..., p. I I6I.

continued from previous page] Farmandir Mr. Husain Riid'i and his family, to the Foreign Area Fellowship programme (formerly Ford Foundation) for financial assistance, and to the technical staff of the Royal

Ontario Museum's West Asian Department, Mr. Peter Mitchell and Mr. Murray Hadaway, who rendered the drawings and plans.

o 0 C]

U

L

I--

___

-v~~ 6 c ocr

0I

o "M

0\ ' 0. ,

] I I

I

- ! \ '

' A

r:t• ,.

0 _; __._- 3 "• "-

" ... ... /

/ I] 'I\

Fig. i. The Shrine-complex at Turbat-i Shaikh Jnm : 1938 (drawn by John AMcCool for the Asia Institute).


Outside the north wall of the great rectangular enclosure stand two dome-chambers (VIa and VIb), one of which displays a magnificent tile-revetted melon dome (Pl. XVIII).

The Gunbad (I) (Fig. 2) The Gunbad, or " dome-chamber ", lies at the heart of the complex (Pls. II and III). The four

walls of the square room are concealed by the surrounding structures except on the west where the wall is visible projecting above the adjoining portico (P1. IIIb). Investigation of the masonry in this area showed that the wall of the dome-chamber was not bonded with the wall of the aiwan joined to it on the east, nor with the portico. Also visible in the upper section of the projecting wall are two bands of decorative brick work. Traces of the same decoration are visible through the mud plaster coating which conceals the south wall of the dome-chamber (P1. Vb). It was concluded that the dome-chamber when originally built stood in isolation until the chambers surrounding it were constructed.

o o o I

S5 Qiblah V

Fig. 2. Structural History of the Shrine-complex at Turbat-i Shaikh Jdm: 13th-early i4th centuries. Key: L. Gunbad (1236); II. Old Mosque.

Inside, the walls of the dome-chamber rise to an octagonal zone of transition consisting of four squinch arches and four blind arched panels. The dome itself is embedded with a network of intersecting ribs which form a star pattern (P1. II). The construction and design of the dome recall the dome of the mausoleum of Sanjar in Merv (late I2th century)9 and the remains of the Ghtirid mausoleum attached to the Mosque of Herat, erected around I200.10

The doorways in the north, south, and east walls appear to be original. However, traces of a plaster moulding around the doorway in the west wall suggest it was formerly a mihrdb, cut through when the room was no longer needed as a place of prayer. Three of the sets of doors in the dome-chamber retain I4th century carved wooden doors, one of which is dated 733/1333 (Insc. No. 2).11 A fourth door, now situated in the west doorway, dates from the 15th century.12

The walls and the dome are decorated with paintings of geometric and floral themes in varying shades of blue (P1. III a), stylistically datable to the second half of the I4th century.13

9 Surveyv..., pl. 310o. 10 D. Wilber, op. cit., pl. 64.

" Ibid., p. 174.

12 L. Golombek, op. cit., p. 14, fig. 12. 13 Ibid.

THE CHRONOLOGY OF TURBAT-I SHAIKH J.AM

31

The epigraphic decoration in the zone of transition is Qur'dnic, but the large inscription below the

octagon contains important historical information:

Inscription No. I :14

The mention of Allah is most exalted and dedication, most just and ............ in the Last Day. The Prophet, upon him be peace, said: " At the beginning of every Ioo years, He sends to this people someone to restore its religious edifice." Since in accordance with these two authentic Traditions and the Clear Text (i.e., the Qur'in) the opportunity of reviving the rites (due) the shrines of men of great virtue and miracles fell upon the weak slave Abfi'l- HIusain Muhammad b. Muhammad b. Muhammad b. Abi Bakr Kurt-may Allah the Exalted cause him to prosper in what he wishes and pleases-to repair this dome which competes with the firmament and has the worth of Suha (i.e. a star), the strengthening of the foundations and the construction of which was in the name of him who resides in its tomb, Haarat, Heir to the Throne of Sainthood, Ahmad b. Bfi'l-IHasan, Leader of Both Worlds, Guide to Mankind and the Spirits, may he increase in holiness, during the reign of the Pillar of the Universe, the Guide, the Sea of Virtues and Exaltedness (i.e., Abi'l-Husain Muhammad)-its original builder having been the King of Mortals, the Avenger (a descendant of . . . ?) Sanjar in Shavval, there having passed since the hijra 633 years-Ibn Mutahhir, the Avenged, the son of Ahmad, who is the most praiseworthy of his people, and if they be the dlite, then he is the best of the troop, gave the order during the months of the year 763 (1361-2 A.D.).

Briefly, the construction of the dome-chamber was originally undertaken in Shavval of the year 633 (June 1236) by a descendant of the Seljuq Sultan Sanjar. This is certainly a reference to the founder of the Kurt dynasty, Rukn al-Din Abi Bakr, who was related to the family of Sanjar.15 The dome- chamber was later repaired during the reign of the Kurt Malik Abi'l-IHusain Muhammad (i.e., Mu'izz al-Din, 732-771/1332-1370)16 by order of a certain Ibn Mutahhir, son of Ahmad. Leaving the details and implications of this information to be discussed below, it can be stated that the inscription bears out well the architectural evidence which suggested an original construction of the late 12th-early i3th century and a phase of decoration from the late I4th century.

Genealogy of the Shaikhs ofJdm (mentioned in text)

Ahmad b. Abi'l-Hasan (d. I 14 I)

Shams al-Din Mutahhir

Qutb al-Din Muhammad *

Shihdb al-Din Ismd'il (1250-1338) I I

(Qu.tb al-Din?) Mutahhir Razi al-Din Ahmad

Ghiyds al-Din Ismd'il I

Qu.tb al-Din Muhammad **

* Donor of a Qur'in written in 584 H. to the Shrine in 654/1256 (Mus6e Iran B~stin, Tehran, 3496, 3499, 3500, 3507). * * Donor of a Qur'An to the Shrine in 8 II /1408 (see below).

"' I am grateful to Dr. Sakina Berengian of the University of Toronto for assisting in the reading and translation of this inscription. The text of the inscription will be found at the conclusion of this article, p. 44.

'5 Fasih Ahmad b. Jal•l al-Din Muhammad Khvyfi, Mujmal-i

Fasi.i, ed. Mahmfid Farrukh (Meshhed, I34I/1962-3), III,

p. Io2 (hereafter: Fasihi). Rukn al-Din Abfi Bakr b. Taj al-Din Usmin Marghani's mother was the daughter of Sanjar. Taj al-Din held the mighty fortress of Ghfir and was not driven out by the Mongols.

16 Mu'izz al-Din is rarely called by his kunya " Abfi'l-IHusain " in the literature, but it does occur in the text of Fasibi, III, p. 42.


Ibn Mutahhir, whose full name was Ghiyds al-Din b. Mutahhir b. Shihdb al-Din Ismd'il'7 b. Qutb al-Din Muhammad b. Shams al-Din Mutahhir b. Ahmad b. Abi'l-IHasan belonged to the fifth generation of shaikhs descended from Shaikh Ahmad. He is mentioned in the " Appendix " as having com-

pleted the work on the entrance portal (IIIa) begun by his father. We shall see below that the completion of the entrance portal belongs to the same period as the decoration of the Gunbad, and that Ibn Mutahhir's work did include the repairs mentioned in the inscription.

Subsequent modification of the dome-chamber probably included the destruction of the I3th or

I4th century mihrab and its replacement by a doorway, a date for which is suggested by its I5th century wooden doors.

The Old Mosque (II) (Fig. 2) According to the " Appendix " the building south of the Gunbad (I) was the " old masjid-i jdmi' ".

This must be the group of two-storey arcades adjoining the dome-chamber and described by Wilber as the " Sunni Oratory ".18 Although only the western half of the building seems to have remained, it was possible to reconstruct the original design on the basis of old photographs and additional observations (Fig. 3).

The centre of the building appeared to be the dome, indicated (in Wilber's photographs) by the remains of ribs springing from the superstructure of the piers on the west. In 1966 only one bay was to be seen west of this " dome", but the remains of a second bay were still visible from the recently reconstructed courtyard of the New Mosque (VII) (P1. IVb).

That the building did not contain further additional bays to the west is indicated by the stucco

inscription frieze beginning on the north wall (P1. VIa) of the bay west of the dome and terminating on the south wall (P1. VII). It contains the first six verses of Sira 48 with the exception of forty-five words in the middle. These missing words would have occupied precisely the amount of space taken by one additional arch on either side. Furthermore, the existence here of the " Slira of Victory", commonly found in association with the mihrdb of a mosque (as in Section IVb, see below), suggests that the second

bay west of the dome once contained a mihrdb. Traces of arches springing from the walls of the arcade east of the dome show that two bays existed

also on this side, making the area east and west of the dome symmetrical (P1. IVa). Like the bays on the

west, those of the east were also spanned by transverse vaults springing from the piers at the same level as the arches which supported the dome.

The arcades which line the north side of the " nave " and the remains of those on the south are two-

storeyed. Where the dome is inserted the arcade is interrupted by a " transept ", an aisle equal in width to the nave, spanned also by transverse arches possibly somewhat lower than those of the nave. The transept arch abutting against the wall of the Gunbad (I) is again two-storeyed (Pl. Vb). In our reconstruction we have omitted this feature from the analogous point on the south, but it is certainly possible that it existed there as well.

The remainder of the building has been reconstructed under the assumption that the dome is the central point of a symmetrical structure. The missing arcades on the south are assumed to have been identical to those on the north.

The building may therefore be characterized as a rectangular covered hall, divided along its east-

west axis by a nave which led to a mihrdb. At its midpoint the nave was intersected by a transept of equal height with a ribbed dome over the crossing. Nave and transept were lined with arcades in two tiers which enclosed rectangular areas in the corners of the building. These cloister-like areas on the west side had piers with openings in the upper storey, permitting movement along the" catwalk " of the second storey.

The nave was roofed with magnificent transverse vaults, visible in older photographs (P1. Va), consisting of a small cupola supported by the transverse arches and on short tunnel vaults built between them. Analogous vaults are found in the gallery of the mausoleum at

Sult.niyya.19 17 ShihTb al-Din's dates are given by Fasihi as 648-738/1250-

1338 (III, p. 53).

18 D. Wilber, loc. cit. 19 Ibid., pl. 80.

THE CHRONOLOGY OF TURBAT-I SHAIKH JAM 33

Fig. 3. Reconstruction of the Old Mosque (II).

The transept was covered by groin vaults as were the cloister areas (P1. Vb). The dome has been reconstructed by analogy with Mongol vaults in the Mosque of Isfahin,20 whose ribs conform to a similar contour.

Inasmuch as can be judged from the standing remains, only the two bays west of the dome, i.e. in front of the mihrdb, were decorated with carved stucco. Multi-level carving of arabesque ornament lined the soffits of the nave arches (P1. VIb). The spandrels of the upper and lower arcades were framed

by inscription bands and the soffits and piers were decorated with painted plaster bonding patterns (P1. Va, VI a and VII). Torus mouldings of stucco outlined the arches, and the corners of the piers had

20 Survey ..., pl. 295B, vault no. 61.


engaged columns carved with spiralling designs (P1. VII). In the spandrels of one of the arches over the crossing could still be seen a fragment of blue and white mosaic faience (P1. VII). All of this decoration appears to have been concentrated in the area of the mihrdb.

The stucco carvings, the bonding patterns, and the mosaic faience may be dated stylistically to the first third of the I4th century, comparative material being found at

Bist.m (1313), Sult•niyya (1305-

13), and Ashtarjan (I 308).21 According to the " Appendix " the builder of the Old Mosque was Khvaja Rail al-Din Ahmad

b. Ism'ill, whose dates concur with the stylistic dating.22 It has been suggested that the carved wooden doors now in the Gunbad, dated 733/1333, were ordered in conjunction with the construction of the Old Mosque.23

The Entrance Portal (IlIa) (Fig. 4) The aiwan and portal screen which stand in front of the Gunbad, described in the " Appendix " as

the " portal arch " (t!dq-i darb), rises to a height of about thirty metres (PI.Ia).24 On the north and south, doorways lead into Sections IVa and IVb. At present the niches above the doorways give access to staircases enclosed within the pylons of the aiwan, but originally these must have had entrances from the ground floor (P1. VIIIa).

The staircases lead up to lantern turrets. Along the rear wall of the portal screen in the area below the turrets runs a shelf with projections of arches, begun but never completed, arranged at intervals along the wall above it (P1. Ib). This was probably intended for an arcaded gallery such as exists on top of the east aiwin at Gdzur Gdh.25 There an additional gallery opens in the opposite direction, overlooking the courtyard in front of the aiwan.

The niches in the lateral walls of the portal are filled with stucco muqarnas compositions, painted with arabesque ornament in blue (P1. VIIIb). The style of the composition is relatable to the stucco work of Sections IVa and IVb, the two rooms flanking the portal (Pls. XIVb, XV, and XVIIa), and the painted decoration may be compared with the paintings inside the Gunbad (P1. IIb). Thus the whole aiwan would appear to date from around 1360.

However, beneath some of the muqarnas elements in the niches a carved plaster openwork decoration is visible (P1. IXb). This was apparently covered up by the existing painted stucco. Stylistically it can be related to the decoration of the Old Mosque which dates it to the first third of the I14th century.

A change in the colour of the masonry in the northwest corner of the casing which surrounds the semi-dome of the portal further indicates that the portal was in fact constructed in two phases (P1. IIIb). During the first phase the portal rose only slightly higher than the outer walls of the Gunbad.

The structural evidence for an interruption of work on the portal is confirmed by the "Appendix". The portal was begun by Mutahhir b. Isma'il, brother of Rati al-Din Ahmad who built the Old Mosque, but it was not finished when he died. His date of death is not known, but according to the same source it took place twelve years before the completion of the portal by his son, Ghiyds al-Din. Since the re-decoration of the Gunbad by Ghiyas al-Din (mentioned in the inscription as " Ibn Mutah- hir ") was done in 1362-3, his father must have died around 1350. The foundations of the portal thus

belong to the first half of the I4th century. Work on the portal was then interrupted by the death of Mutahhir, to be continued by his son some years later.

But even after work was resumed in the late i4th century, the original plan for the portal was never realized. Had this been so, the portal might have looked like a typical Ilkhanid mosque portal which was " crowned by a pair of soaring minarets " and with its height being three times its width.26 The original plan for the portal at Turbat-i Jam, like that of Yazd, Ashtarjan, and Abarqiih, called for the raising of two tall minarets above the portal screen. The plan was never carried out. Construction was halted a few metres below the intended height of the screen and short lantern turrets were substituted for minarets.

21 D. Wilber, op. cit., pl. 37, 68, 85. 22 Fasihi, III, ibid. 23 D. Wilber, op. cit., p. I74.

24 Survey . . ., p. I16i. 25 Gazur Gah, pp. 45-6. 26 D. Wilber, op. cit., p. 76 and pl. 91, 156-8, 163.


The portal, in this truncated form, was given a new facing of mosaic faience by order of Shah 'Abbas I. His name appears in the large horizontal frieze over the spandrels of the arch (P1. IXa). Apparently the date of repair (1022/1613-14) and the name of the architect, Amir b. IHijji Mahmfld of Natanz, at one time appeared on the aiwan, probably at the end of the framing inscription (Qur'in XLVII: I-4 ... 8-i3 ... ) which is now lost (Insc. No. 6).27 Legend has it that Shah 'Abbas was about to destroy the Sunni shrine when evidence clearing the Shaikh of" heresy " was discovered, and the shrine was preserved and renovated.28 Whatever else he may have done in the shrine-complex, it is evident that his repair of the portal involved only its decoration.

tomb

.:-:.v.:~ :. ?

::.:. Ilia

IVb

III b-c

Qiblah

05M

S// / ,

~/,//,,/// /

////./ ?.',-?~ ,, /,, //","//,///_-/ ,

1//• •,,, , // i

/i/ . /, ~/ / / / /// /.

/J,,/ /

" I - 5,/ -/,, ///s,:

/ ; / ,, /5/ // / / /

//., /" " 1 /,,. ///

I. ~// // //

,

/

;, "//// //, " / /,

// /

Qiblah

p--T--•- M 0 5

Fig. 4. Structural History of the Shrine-complex at Turbat-i Shaikh Jam: i4th century. Key: I. Gunbad (1236); IL Old Mosque; IIIa. Entrance portal (early 14 c.); IIIb-c. Sardcha Khdnaqdh and Farivand~ Madrasa (early i 4 c.) ; IVa. Masjid-i Rivaq or Gunbad-i Safid (1362-3); IVb. Masjid-i Kirmdan (1362-3).

The Sardcha Khdnaqdh and the Farivandi Madrasa (IIIb-c) (Fig. 4) These two institutions were situated, according to the "Appendix ", in the area now occupied by a

small courtyard with its surrounding niches and axial aiwans adjoining the Gunbad on the north (Pl. X). It is doubtful that the existing structures represent vestiges of medieval buildings, perhaps with the exception of the north and south aiwans.

The Khanaqdh and Madrasa were constructed at approximately the same date. The Khanaqah was erected by Shihab al-Din Isma'il, father of the man who started work on the portal. He died in 738/1337-8.29 The Madrasa was the work of the vizier Khvaja 'Ala' al-Din Muhammad Farivandi, who was killed during the revolt of the Sarbadirs near Astarabad in the same year.30

Both buildings were probably in part demolished in subsequent years to make way for newer construction. Without excavations it is difficult to judge whether any of the existing structures adjoining the north wall of the Gunbad belong to these early 14th century buildings. According to the JVuzhat al-Qulib, 'Ala' al-Din Muhammad built an " 'imdra and a lofty gunbad."31 Possibly the present courtyard takes its dimensions from the courtyard of his madrasa.

27 Survey ..., p. I161.. 28 N. Khanikoff, op. cit. 29 W. Ivanow, op. cit., p. 353. 30 KhvAnd Amir, Habib al-Siyar (Tehran, 1333/1954-5), III, p. 357.

3" .Hamdallh

b. Abfi Bakr b. Muhammad b. Nasr Mustaufi Qazvini, ed. Muhammad Dabir Siyaqi (Tehran, 1336/1957-8), p. 189.


A reference to the burial place of Shihab al-Din by a I5th century source may provide a clue to the original extent of the Khanaqah. It places his grave in the passageway between the portal and the Gunbad-i Safid (IVa).32 Probably the "passageway " once belonged to the Khanaqah or to an open space beside it. The tomb was in its present location long before the Gunbad-i Safid existed and possibly even before the portal. Thus, the Khanaqth could easily have occupied a space coinciding with this " passageway ", originally including the tomb of Shihab al-Din, its founder, within its walls. To- ward the end of the I4th century when the Gunbad-i Safid was being built, it became necessary to demolish the Khanaqah without, however, disturbing the tomb. The tomb was then incorporated into a passageway.

The Masjid-i Kirmdni and the Gunbad-i Safid (IVa and IVb)--Fig. 4 The Masjid-i Kirmmni (IVb) is one of the two masjids which according to the " Appendix " flanked

the entrance portal. In the central aisle, which is divided from the lateral bays by transverse arches, is a

sumptuously carved stucco mihrdb (Pls. XI, XII and XIIIb).33 Inside the niche beneath the north soffit an inscription names its carver:

Inscription No. 3 The work of the weak and meagre slave who hopes for the mercy of his great Master, Khvaja Zaki b. Muham- mad b. Mas'fid Kirmani.

The chapel apparently derives its name " Masjid-i Kirmdni " from the nisba of the artist. In the same style as the carving of the mihrdb is an elaborate Qur'dnic inscription frieze running

continuously in a horizontal band beneath the springing of the arches (P1. XIIc). In the terminal bays at the north and south ends of the hall just above this frieze are rectangular panels with delicately under- cut plaster carvings of floral and vegetal themes (P1. XIIIc). A small square panel in the lateral bay north of the mihrdb bears a second inscription carved in stucco:

Inscription No. 4 Ustad Mulhammad Faqir.

The mihrdb belongs to a well-documented series that extends throughout the Ilkhanid period, show-

ing little change in proportions and composition.34 In its general configuration the mihrdb at Turbat-i Shaikh Jdm bears a close resemblance to that of the Mausoleum of Rabi'a Khatitn at Ashtarjan, executed in 708/I308-09 (P1. XIIIa).35 Curiously enough it is signed by another artist from Kirmdn, Mas'fid Kirmmni.

Might he be the grandfather of Zaki b. Muhammad ? If indeed we are dealing with a family tradition, one might also suggest that " Ustid Muhammad " who signed the plaster plaque on the wall of the Masjid-i

Kirmmni was the father of Zaki and son of the Master of the Ashtarjdn mihrdb.

In certain details, however, differences in style are apparent. The mihrdb of the Masjid-i Kirmani tends to introduce greater naturalism into the representation of flowers, best observed in the spandrels of the niche and also in the rectangular panels on the walls (Pls. XIb and XIIIc). In the area of abstract

vegetation the carving appears more flattened out than in other Ilkhanid mihrdbs (Pl. XIIIb). Even in

comparison with the stucco decoration of the Old Mosque this can be seen (P1. VIb). The tendency toward greater naturalism and two-dimensionality is characteristic of late I4th century decoration.36 The Ashtarjan mihrdb and the carvings in the Old Mosque belong to an earlier generation.

The rectangular area of the Masjid-i Kirmini is divided into five bays. A lighted cupola formerly rose over the wide central bay and the lateral bays were covered by transverse vaults (Pls. XIV and XVb). The terminal bays were roofed with half-domes concealed behind plaster muqarnas (P1. XIVb).

32 W. Ivanow, loc. cit. 33 Drawing of a detail from the mihrdb in Survey..., p. 1364,

fig. 506. 34 D. Wilber, op. cit., p. 75.

35 Now in the Mus6e Iran BAstAn, Tehran. 36 Compare the mosaic faience decoration of the madrasa attached

to the Mosque of Isfah~ n (1366-77), " A Thirteenth Century Funerary Mosque ... ", fig. x6.


The transverse vaults represent the next stage in the development of this important technical advance after the form in which they are found in the Old Mosque (Pl. Va). This later stage can be seen in a series of monuments beginning around the middle of the i4th century and continuing through the middle of the 15th, particularly in the area of Yazd, Kirman, and Isfahdn.37 The closest parallels are found in the madrasa attached to the Mosque of Isfahdn, dated 768-778/1366-77 (P1. XVI).

On stylistic grounds the vaults of the Masjid-i Kirmani should therefore be dated to around 1360. The authorship of the plasterwork indicates an estimated two generations removed from the mihrdb at Ashtarjin dated 1308-09 or approximately the same date as the vaults. One can therefore assume that the Masjid-i Kirmani was built just after the middle of the i4th century.

The room flanking the portal on the right (IVa) is identified by the " Appendix " as the Gunbad-i Safid, the " white dome." Today the chamber is also known as the " Masjid-i Rivaq", or the " mosque of the portal".38 There is no evidence today that the room ever contained a mihrdb, although in the place where one would expect to find a mihrdb, there is a window which does not appear to be original. The room contains several tombs, one of which is dated 1066/ 1655-6.

Much smaller than the Masjid-i Kirmani, the Gunbad-i Safid is a square with deep recesses on the north and south and shallow ones on the east and west. The recess on the south is actually a passageway between the portal and the chamber. The four arches bordering the square support a star-vault formed by intersecting plaster ribs (P1. XVIIa). The spaces between the points of the star constitute a sort of drum which is pierced by windows.39

Regarding the Masjid-i Kirmani and the Gunbad-i Safid, the " Appendix " appears to contain a contradiction. According to the text the two chambers and the re-decoration of the Gunbad were ordered by Ghiyds al-Din Muhammad b. Muhammad b. Muhammad b. Abi Bakr Kurt in the year 730/1329-30. This is not possible, for Ghiyds al-Din, Malik of Herat, died in 728/1326-7. Furthermore, it is his son Mu'izz al-Din Muhammad, whose kunya was Abi'l-Husain, who is named in the inscription (No. I) as renovator of the Gunbad. Therefore, it is difficult to determine which part or parts of this passage are in error. If we substitute the name and dates of Mu'izz al-Din (1331-70), the indications are that the campaign to restore the Gunbad included also the construction of the two chambers flanking the portal. The date of the two chambers would be the date as given in the inscription, or 1362-3, which accords with the stylistic dating of the Masjid-i Kirmini.

From the point of view of the history of architecture, the foundation of a pair of rooms flanking the entrance portal is of major significance. It is indicative of an impulse that was to dominate Timfirid architecture in the i5th century, the drive toward symmetry and logic. This impulse apparently did not exist in strength at the time the portal was begun, but made its impact felt a few decades later. The portal conceived as a solitary unit, 40was transformed into a virtual entrance complex in the 136o's. By the 15th century the entrance complex had become a standard feature of madrasas and similar buildings. The entrance complex, which is generally considered a motif of Timfirid architecture, must therefore be seen as a feature that was in fact born much earlier and only came to fruition in the hands of the Timfi- rid architects. A similar comment has been made about the vaults in the Masjid-i Kirmdni and their successors of the Timfirid period. It was the techniques developed here and elsewhere in Iran in the

i4th century that led to a revolution in the concept of interior space, characterized by the use of arches (voids) rather than walls (solids) for supports.

The Khdnaqdhs of Timiir (V) (Fig. 5) The " Appendix " situates two kh/naqdhs built by Timir outside the shrine on the east. At present

there are no Timtirid remains in this area, which is now occupied by a gate house and facing it, a

37 Wilber has described the technique as " the covering of a rectangular area by a series of cross arches, with each cross arch then joined to its neighbor by transverse filler vaults of modified barrel profile " (op. cit., p. 58). The development of transverse vaults and their role in Timfirid architecture is discussed in Gazur Gah, pp. 54-6.

38 In the passageway between the portal and the room proper are

reported to be two tombs belonging to the " daughters ", perhaps of Shaikh Ahmad.

39 Cf. Survey ..., pl. 295. 40 The aiwLn overlooking the tomb had a certain symbolic

significance and would have in itself sufficed as a meaningful architectural unit, viz., Gazur Gah, pp. I 19f.


covered cistern. They appear to be dated by an inscription containing the name of Ndsir al-Din Shah QajIr and the date 1270/1853-4, although travellers report their having been constructed by Shah 'Abbas I.41

V

SVIII V

V- Vom

V Via

I..L

QIb ah

VVi

Fig. 5. Structural History of the Shrine-complex at Turbat-i Shaikh Jdm: 15th century.

Key: L Gunbad (1236) ; II-IV 4th century strucuctes; V. Khdnaqdh of Tfmrr (c. 1385); VI. Madrasa of Ffrizshdh (i44o-1); a. Gunbad-i Sabz, b. vestibule, c. courtyard (projected); VII. New Mosque (II); VIII. Madrasa of Amir Shdh Malik (1442-3).

'1 N. Khanikoff, op. cit.

THE CHRONOLOGY OF TURBAT-I SHAIKH JAiM 39

The Madrasa ofFirMizshdh (the " Gunbad-i Sabz ") (VIa-b-c) (Fig. 5) The Madrasa and the Gunbad-i Sabz (" Green Dome "), according to the " Appendix ", were

situated on the north. The great tiled dome behind the north wall of the forecourt is still known today as the " Gunbad-i Sabz " (VIa) (P1. XVIII). Adjoining the dome chamber on the east and sharing the same facade and intervening walls is a smaller domed hall (VIb). The complex was re-measured because of certain disparities in the plan drawn in 1938 (Fig. i). The revised sketch-plan (Fig. 6) illustrates structures on the north that had been omitted from the earlier plan (" north " meaning in our terms " northwest " on the sketch-plan). The two existing structures will be shown to represent part of a larger building no longer in evidence but once the " Madrasa of Firiizshih."

Fig. 6. Sketch-plan of the Madrasa of FirzzshAh (VIa-b).

Outside the smaller room (VIb) are the remains of an aiwdn which was entered from a doorway in the north wall of the room (Pl. XIXb). West of this aiwin outside the Gunbad-i Sabz are two niches which resemble the niches of a courtyard facade (P1. XIXa). Between the niches and the aiwan and visible only from the roof is a circular well, intended for a staircase that was never built. It was entered from the niche on the east. Just west of the niches a short wall projects on an oblique angle. This appears to be the pier of an arch that would have formed the corner angle of a courtyard facade like that of the

Timirid madrasa at Khargird.42 The angles in the wall west of this projection make little sense unless perhaps construed as part of an interior lying behind the corner wall of the courtyard. The arched niche

42 E. Herzfeld, " Damascus: Studies in Architecture-II (Madrasa al-Ghiydthiya) ", Ars Islamica X (1934), fig. 42.


south of the window in the Gunbad-i Sabz (P1. XX b) leads nowhere at present, but might have been intended in the original plan as an access to the chamber.

The south side of the existing complex is composed as a facade, divided into arched panels with mosaic faience revetment (Pls. Ia and XVIIb). The door to the small room (VIb) occupies a panel that projects above the facade, identifying it as the main entrance to the complex. The facade makes a right angle where the Gunbad-i Sabz joins the older Gunbad-i Safid (IVa). The two buildings do not in fact join, but are a short distance apart, linked only by the narrow wall of the facade (P1. XXb, far right). This facade must have covered the original facade of Section IVa, which probably resembled the existing facade of Section IVb (Pls. Ia and XVa). The second panel north of the entrance portal (IIIa) contains a glazed tile with the following inscription:

Inscription No. 5: The work of the weak slave, Ustd Hi•ajji

Mal.mfid, the Ornament of the Jami' of Shirfiz, may Allah pardon him,

in the year 844/1440-1.

This inscription, with its important reference to the architect attached to the Mosque of Shiraz, has generally been thought to refer to the room behind it, i.e. Section IVa.43 Inspection of the masonry and the lines of construction showed this to be impossible.

The vaulted interior of the Gunbad-i Sabz (P1. XXI) with its intersecting arches and transitional faceting is technically related to the dome chamber of the New Mosque, to be discussed below (P1. XXIV) and may also be compared with that of Tayabid (dated I444-5).4 A mihrdb stood in the west wall. The smaller chamber is a square with recesses on the east and west and has a modest mihrdb (P1. XXa).

The two rooms, the facade, and the unfinished structures to the north were part of a larger building that never saw completion. The parts that were built were its entrance vestibule (VIb), modified to serve as a chapel, and the showy corner room (VIa), perhaps intended as the mausoleum of the founder. The aiwan was to be the axial aiwan opening on a courtyard, with two niches flanking it on either side. The corners of the courtyard were to be cut by oblique walls. The plan which evolves from this discussion, reconstructed in Fig. 6, is that of a madrasa. It is suggested here that this was the Madrasa of Amir Firaizshdh, referred to in the " Appendix ". Amir Firfizshah died in 848/I4444-5.45

That the Madrasa did in fact exist is confirmed by a Qur'an now in the shrine, stamped as vaqfJ'of the " Library of the Madrasa ofFirizshh Jalil, Badr

al-Sult.ni." Furthermore, the stylistic dating and the date in the inscription on the facade corroborate the information related in the " Appendix ". There the date of construction is given as 846/1442-3, whereas in fact the inscription gives a date only two years earlier. The discrepancy is perhaps the difference between the dates of inception and completion.

The New Mosque (VII) (Fig. 5) The New Mosque was located on the west side of the shrine and can be identified as the large cruci-

form sanctuary with pillared oratories standing beyond a small rectangular courtyard (Pls. XXII- XXIV). Its east rivdq impinged on the Old Mosque and part of it had to be destroyed. At this time also the Mongol buildings on the north (IIIb-c) may have been removed. The doorway which replaced the mihrdb of the Gunbad would have served as the entrance to this mosque.

The retaining walls of the courtyard, the arcades of the rivdqs and oratories flanking the dome chamber, and the decoration inside the dome chamber are relatively recent. A staircase was built against the north retaining wall to allow passage from the level of the courtyard to the higher ground outside the mosque.

43

Ij.-jji Mahmiid is the last architect of the " School of Shiriz "

known to have worked for the Timfirid court at Herat, the most famous figure being Qavim al-Din, who built the Mosque of Meshhed, the " Musalld " complex at Herat, and the Khar- gird Madrasa (cf. Gazur Gah, pp. 6o-2).

44 M. T. Mustafdvi, " Le Masdjid-e Mawlind de Tdiyab~d ": Athdr-elIran 111/2 (i947), pp. 179-99.

41 The biographical notices on Amir Firfizshih will be discussed below.


The only original structure appears to be the sanctuary (Pls. XXII-XXIV). Older photographs taken before the most recent repairs reveal the typical Timfirid mode of construction. The great arches which intersect in the corners have faceted transitions, descending down into the backs of the niches and ascending up to the dome (Pls. XXIII and XXIV.) This was covered by a network of plaster ribs and ornamental borders. In the west wall of the sanctuary is a modest mihrdb niche, perhaps at one time more elaborately trimmed. Stylistically, the vault is best compared with that of the Masjid-i Maulana at Taydbid (848/1444-5)*46

According to the " Appendix " the New Mosque was also built by the Amir Jalal al-Din Firfizshah in the year 1442-3.

The Madrasa of Amir Shdh Malik (VIII) (Fig. 5) According to the " Appendix " the Madrasa of Shah Malik was situated on the south, a site now

occupied by a modern structure housing a religious institution associated with the shrine. The date for the construction of this Madrasa (846/1442-3) presents a problem, for Shah Malik, a well-known figure in Timiirid history, died in 829/1426. Having served Timfir faithfully, he was appointed tutor to Ulugh Beg in 1411 and became one of his most trusted generals. He was also a great public benefactor and sponsored many charitable works.47

Another possibility is that the " Appendix " substituted the name of this better known figure for that of an obscure individual who is known only from an inscription on the Masjid-i Shah in Meshhed, the Amir Malik Shah.48 The inscription is dated 855/1451, indicating that the Amir Malik Shah could have constructed a building at Turbat-i Shaikh Jam some nine years earlier.

History of the Shrine-Complex, i3th to 15th Centuries The earliest foundations recorded at the tomb of Shaikh Ahmad were laid just over a century after

his death. It is probably not coincidental that the sources record an order for a general " clean-up " campaign in Khurasan several months after the date of the Gunbad, June 1236. During this year the Mongol ruler Ogedei called for the repair of many public buildings throughout Khurasan.49 This year marked the rebuilding of Herat after two devastating sieges by the Mongols. The vilayet ofJam, which was then controlled by the descendants of Shaikh Alhmad, benefited from this revival of Khurasan, and the erection of a funerary mosque beside the tomb of Shaikh Ahmad represented the first stage in the expanding influence of his cult.

If the construction of the Gunbad is related to the revival of Khurasan, then the subsequent growth of the shrine can be shown to reflect the favourable political and economic climate that the domination of Khurasan by the Maliks of Herat provided. The pacification of Khurasan around I320 by Ghiyis al-Din gave incentive to the building of a magnificent oratory (the " Old Mosque ") adjoining the domed funerary chapel.

According to Fasilhi, in the year 720/1320-21 the Malik Ghiyas al-Din Muhammad ordered the construction of a " tadq va-sufa," a building with a dome and arches.50 In this year he also donated considerable funds for the repair of the Mosque of Herat and other institutions in gratitude for his victory over all his opponents in Khurasan, particularly Yasd'ur.51 The description of the building and the date fit best with the evidence from the Old Mosque, belonging on stylistic grounds to the first third of the 14th century. That both the Kurt Malik and the mutavalli of the shrine,

Ra.i al-Din Ahmad

(mentioned in the " Appendix "), should be attributed with its construction is not puzzling, for in the inscription in the Gunbad (No. I), the Malik Mu'izz al-Din as well as Ibn Mutahhir, who actually carried out the order, are named.

46 See note 44, above. 47 'Abd al-Razzlq al-Samarqandi, Ma.tla' al-Sa'dayn, ed. Muham-

mad Shafi' (Lahore, I946), p. 307; V. V. Bartol'd, Four Studies on the History of Central Asia, trans. V. and T. Minorsky, II, Ulugh Beg (Leiden, 1962), pp. 56 ff.

48 'Abd al-.Hamid

Mauldvi, " Masjid-i Shah ya Maqbara-'i Amir

Ghiy.5 al-Din Malikshah ", Honar va Mardom, no. 74-5 (1968), PP. 75-92.

49 B. Spuler, Die Mongolen in Iran, 2nd edition (Berlin, 1955), p. 155; Saif b. Muhammad b. Ya'qfib al-Haravi, Tdrikh- Ndma-'i Hardt, ed. Muhammad Zubair al-Siddiqi (Calcutta, I943), p. 169 (hereafter: al-Haravi).

50 Op. cit., III, p. 30. 51 al-Haravi, p. 765.


The financial backing for this project probably came, however, from the coffers of the Malik himself and presented a token repayment for services rendered during the menacing campaigns of Yasd'ur. The Shaikh al-Islam Shihdb al-Din, then an old man of seventy-two years, had adamantly refused him all cooperation although the citadel had been besieged and all the livestock of the vilayet confiscated.52

After the subjugation of Yasd'ur wealth seemed to pour into the vilayet. Ibn Battiita reported in 1337 that the madina ofJ im was free from taxation and was owned by the descendants of the Shaikh.53 During this period two other buildings went up at the shrine, a khdnaqdh built by Shihdb al-Din himself and a madrasa built by the vizier of Khurasan, both before the year 1338-9. Several sets of carved wooden doors were made for the shrine, one dated 1333, and a beautiful inlaid silver casket for Qur'dns was placed in its treasury.54

The equilibrium of Khurasan was once again upset, now by the Sarbadar revolt in 1337-8 following the collapse of Mongol power. The old Shaikh al-Islim died and was buried near his khinaqdh. Either somewhat before his death or shortly thereafter his son Mutahhir began laying the foundations of a monumental portal which was to serve as entrance to the Gunbad and also, by virtue of its imposing character, was to symbolize the power and prominence of the cult. Work came to a halt with his death around 1350.

A revolt by the Shaikhs of Jam in 752/1351-52 against the new Malik of Herat Mu'izz al-Din IHusain55 does not seem to have permanently damaged relations between the Malik and the Shaikhs, for in 1362-3 he sponsored the most ambitious programme yet to be carried out at the shrine. The portal was to be completed, two beautiful chambers were to flank it on the north and south, and the old dome chamber was to be repaired and given a face-lift. Mu'izz al-Din is known to have undertaken many charitable works in Herat and environs, but he is especially noted for his interest in the vilayets of Jam and neighbouring Bakharz.56 The work was supervised by a member of the Shaikh's family, the grandson of Shihab al-Din Isma'il, Ghiyas al-Din (Ibn Mutahhir). Mu'izz al-Din Kurt, continually menaced by the Sarbadars, died in 1370. Soon thereafter his dominions passed into the hands of a new force on the horizon, the armies of Timiir.

Khurasan was Timfir's first objective in Iran. A propos of his famous visit to Shaikh Zain al-Din of Tayibdd in 1381 he called upon the shaikhs ofJim and paid his respects to the tomb of Shaikh Ahmad.57 The literary sources do not mention any further interest in the shrine of Turbat-i Shaikh Jdm, except for the source which we have cited above (the " Appendix "), attributing Timir with the construction of two khdnaqdhs outside the shrine on the east. This is certainly within the realm of possibility and was perhaps a result of his visit with Shaikh Zain al-Din, an ardent devotee of Shaikh Ahmad.58

In 1408 (Muharram 81 I1) a Qur'an dated Shavval 724/September 1324 was made vaqfof the shrine

by Qutb al-Din Muhammad b. Isma'il b. Ahmad b. Isma'il b. Muhammad b. al-Mutahhir b. Ahmad Jami. The vaqf-ndma of this Qur'an, now housed in the treasury of the shrine, lists some of the buildings in which the Qur'an was " to be read and copied from ". These were:

the Masjid al-Jami' in Turbat-i Jam, the Qubba (i.e. the Gunbad, I), the Rivdq (IIIa), the Noble Rauia (the tomb), and in its vicinity the khanaqdhs and madrasas.

Thus, the list suggests a rather prosperous picture of life in the shrine-city of Shaikh Ahmad at the beginning of the 15th century.

During the first three decades of the century the Timirid princes continued to make pilgrimages to Turbat-i Jam, often in conjunction with visits to Meshhed and Tayabad, which had become a shrine following Shaikh Zain al-Din's death in 1389. But the royal family apparently did not add any new

52 Ibid., p. 691; cf. also pp. 68o, 773. 53 Ribhla (Beirut, 2960), p. 387- 54 Dated Rajab 708/Dec. I308, made by HIasan-i Yahyd Kirmini;

it is now housed in the Gunbad. "5 F. Tauer, Cinq Opuscules de

.Hdfiz-i Abrai concernant l'Histoire de

l'Iran au Temps de Tamerlan, Archiv Orientdlni, Supp. V (1959), P. 37-

6 Habib al-Siyar, III, p. 380. 57 F. Tauer (IjHfiz-i Abrii), op. cit., p. 62; V. V. Bartol'd, op. cit.,

pp. 20o ff. 58 'Abd al-Rahmrn b. Ahmad Jami, Nafahdt al-Uns, ed., Mahdi

Tauhidi Por (Tehran, 1336/1957-8), p. 498.

P1. Ia. Courtyard with tomb of Shaikh Ahmad (in front of entrance portal).

Pl. Ib. Portal screen from rear (west).

P1. HIa. Interior of the Gunbad (I).

P1. IIb. Decoration in crown of the dome (I).

Pl. IIIa. Squinch in northwest corner of Gunbad, showing dated inscription of 763 A.H. (I).

Pl. IIIb. North wall of Gunbad, above portico.

P1. IVa. General view of the Old Mosque from the south (II).

Pl. IVb. Remains of arches from bay on west of the Old Mosque (II).

P1. Va. Upper arches in nave aisle west of dome (after Diez) (II).

Pl. Vb. North bay of transept, looking east (II).

Pl. VIa. Nave arcade west of dome, north wall (II).

Pl. VIb. Stucco from soffit of nave arch (now in Musde Irdn Bdstan, Tehran) (II).

Pl. VII. Nave arcade west of dome, south wall (II).

P1. VIlla. Niches in the entrance portal (Illa).

Pl. VIIIb. Painted stucco muqarnas in niche of entrance portal (IIIa).

Pl. IXa. Inscription of Shah 'Abbds I on the entrance portal (IIIa).

P1. IXb. Stucco muqarnas in the entrance portal (IIIa).

P1. Xa. Courtyard north of Gunbad, east side (III b-c).

P1. Xb. Courtyard north of Gunbad, south side (III b-c).

P1. XIa. Mihrib in the Masjid-i Kirmani (IVb).

Pl. XIb. Detail of mihrdb (IVb).

P1. XIIa. Detail of mihrib (IVb).

Pl. XIIb. Inscription in soffit ofmihrdib (Insc. No. 3) (IVb). P1. XIIc. Stucco inscription frieze (IVb).

Pl. XIIIa. Mihrib from the Shrine of Rabi'a Khtitun at Ashtarjdn (30o8-o9).

P1. XIIIb. Detail of mihrib (IVb). P1. XIIIc. Decorative panel in the Masjid-i Kirmani (IVb).

P1. XIVa. Masjid-i Kirmdna, transverse vault (IVb).

Pl. XIVb. Masjid-i Kirmdni, terminal bay (IVb).

P1. XVa. Decorative niche in facade outside the Masjid-i Kirmdni (IVb).

P1. XVb. Masjid-i Kirmtni, east wall (IVb).

Pl. XVIa. Transverse vault in the madrasa at Isfahan (1366-77).

Pl. XVIb. Mosque in the madrasa adjoining the Mosque of Isfahan (1366-77).

PI. XVIIa. Masjid-i Rivdq (IVa), north recess.

Pl. XVIIb. Facade of the Madrasa of Firfizshdh (VI).

Pl. XVIII. Dome of the Gunbad-i Sabz (VIa).

P1. XIXa. Niches north of Gunbad-i Sabz.

P1. XIXb. North side of Gunbad-i Sabz.

P1. XXa. Mihrab in " vestibule " (VIb).

Pl. XXb. Gunbad-i Sabz from the west (VIa).

P1. XXIa. Vault in the Gunbad-i Sabz (VIa).

P1. XXIb. Vault in the Gunbad-i Sabz (VIa).

P1. XXIIa. The Shrine-complex from the south.

Pl. XXIIb. Courtyard of the New Mosque (VII).

P1. XXIII. West side qf sanctuary with miIhrib (VII).

P1. XXIVa. Vault of the sanctuary (VII).

Pl. XXIVb. Intersection qf arches in corner of the sanctuary (VII).


construction. It was not until the I440's that new buildings rose on the site. This time the patrons were not members of the ruling family but the high officials and amirs.

The major works belong to the AmirJalal al-Din Firfizshah, who served Shah Rukh as his chief amir for a remarkably long period of thirty-five years (14o7 to 1442), wielding considerable power and man- aging to accumulate great wealth and property.59 He had a reputation for philanthropy and had erected many "madrasas, khdnaqdhs, ribdts, and cisterns ".60 Jalal al-Din's first project at Turbat-i Jam was probably the New Mosque, a magnificent addition to the existing complex and perhaps an indication of the growth of the cult. His madrasa was begun around 144o but work was halted before it reached completion. This may have been due to the disgrace of the Amir in 1444-5 or to his death which followed in the same year.

Textual sources suggest the construction of other buildings here in the i5th century, a madrasa built by an obscure amir or by Shah Malik, and a crypt (... ddba=sarddba) erected by the Amir Ha-jji YasufJalil where he was buried in 844/1444-5.61 This lesser amir may in some way be connected with Jalal al-Din (called "Jalil " in the vaqf stamp, perhaps a hereditary title), and the Gunbad-i Sabz (VIa) could be the mausoleum built over this crypt. Excavations below the floor of the dome chamber might confirm this.

Although subsequent generations repaired and redecorated the shrine many times, it is clear that with the reign of Shah Rukh the architectural history of the shrine comes to a close. The most significant repairs were undertaken in the early 17th century by Shah 'Abbas I, and several pavilions were added in the Qafjar period. The life-span of the architecture of the complex therefore seems to stretch from the very beginning of Mongol rule in Iran to the middle of the Timfirid period, some two hundred years.

In retrospect it is indeed curious that a full century passed between the death of Shaikh Ahmad and the construction of the first monumental building at his shrine. In the 12th century the tomb alone, raised on a platform and surrounded by a balustrade, was sufficient. Why then, was it necessary to erect a funerary mosque beside it a hundred years later? Perhaps the need was now felt for some form of " architectural glorification " of the tomb. Perhaps the impulse which had earlier been suppressed could no longer be restrained. New social and economic forces argued for the creation of a more impressive setting and one which also fulfilled certain functional needs. Had religious sentiment not mili- tated against the building of a mausoleum over the tomb, possibly a monument might have been erected here much earlier. Or perhaps the vision of the destiny of the cult had simply not yet crystallized.

The decision to erect a funerary mosque in the I3th century was of major importance. Firstly, it established the lines for future architectural development, assuring that structures would grow up surrounding the tomb rather than covering it. Secondly, it initiated a symbiotic relationship between the secular office of the Maliks of Herat and the shaikhs of the shrine. Each phase of construction seems to have involved the cooperation of both. This was a reflection of the political realities, wherein the shaikhs of Jm served as allies of the Kurt Maliks, mediating for them and showing loyalty in the face of opposition, as well as providing spiritual benefits for the Maliks. Was this the peculiar virtue of the parties concerned or was it not part of a wider phenomenon ? It should be borne in mind that the I4th century saw the growth of a number of " little cities of God "-Bistam, Natanz, Qum, Ardabil, Meshhed-some of which later developed into the great Iranian shrine-cities.

Whatever the nature of this phenomenon, with the shift of power in Herat from the Kurt dynasty to the heirs of Timfir this relationship was destroyed. Shah Rukh did not tolerate minor semi-independent " amirates ", be it even in the guise ofa " city of God "

Construction in the 15th century at Turbat-i Shaikh Jam follows the pattern which developed in other areas of the Timirid realm at this time. In the major cities the royal family sponsored the official monuments, but in the countryside the officials, the viziers, the generals built up a small but splendid " chain " of charitable works. Such were the monuments erected by the commander in chief of Shah Rukh's armies, AmirJalal al-Din Firizshth.

5* V. V. Bartol'd, op. cit., p. 84; 'Abd al-Razzaq, op. cit., p. 750. 0so Ibid., p. 840; his daughter founded the 'Ishrat-Khana (1464)

in Samarqand, viz. G. A. Pugachenkova, "'Ishrat-Khanah and

1

Ak-Saray, Two Timurid Mausoleums in Samarkand ", Ars Orientalis V (1963), pp. 177-89.

61 'Abd al-Razzqq, loc. cit.


Text of the inscription in the Gunbad at Turbat-i Shaikh Jam

(West)

A.,-&[U [.- ......... ....C

(South)

u LL L;Lx;L;J) ; a &J4~ C-ILcl Uj~Is~f ck 1 c~a;~ . c~r ~ L 41 ~iJ jJ( ! C~( ! LP;t c~ ! kij6j7E~

(East)

qu]s~r fk'CS Jc~ j S*J r ;Js; ~t C fj 9z L

(North)

.. * ?

*?•r •L. T r

. . J; ,

[.]c , j [. ]

.. . , . jo

,.e* 4Jzib 4 4,

THE FORTRESS OF KHAN LANJAN

By S. M. Stern, E. Beazley and A. Dobson

I: KHAN LANJAN IN HISTORY, by S. M. Stern*

Alanjan or Lanjdn was the name of one of the districts of the Isfahan region watered by the great river of Isfahan called in those days the Zinda Riidh or Zarin Riidh, the modern Zayanda Raid. A little town in the district was called " the Inn of Alanj~n ", probably because it was the first stage on one of the roads leading southwards from Isfahan. Geographers from the third Islamic (ninth century A.D.) century onwards mention the district, which they praise as a particularly fertile part of the valley of the Isfahan river, and also the town, which appears in the texts in a whole gamut of phonetical evolution: Khan Alanjan, Khan Lanj n, Khalanj~n, Khfilanjan. Some authors simply say "the Khan ". There is no need to linger over the passages of the geographers, since they have been summed up in the familiar treatises on the historical geography of Persia by Schwarz and Le Strange.1 Neither the district nor the town present a problem of identification, both having preserved their names to this day. The region of Lanjdn stretches on both sides of the Zdyanda Rfid upstream from Isfahan, from before the northward loop of the river some 50 miles above Isfahan, to its eastward loop near the Bridge of Wargin.2 The village of Khilinjdn in the south of the district, on the right bank of the river, perpetuates the name of the older township of Khan Alanjin. Some old historians and geographers, however, also mention a fortress of Khan Alanjan or Khan Lanjin,3 which is the subject matter of the present study.

The site of the castle has been identified by Dr. C. O. Minasian. Before setting out on a journey to Iran in 1961, I asked Dr. L. Lockhart of Cambridge whether he knew the site of the famous fortress of Shah Diz near Isfahan, where the Isma'ilis, or Assassins, defied the Saljtiq sultan for twelve years. He

* Editors' note. This article was promised for Iran by Dr. Stern just before his sudden and much-lamented death. The type- script was found amongst his papers in a state largely ready for publication, but a certain amount of subediting by ourselves has been necessary.

1 P. Schwarz, Iran im Mittelalter nach den arabischen Geographen pp. 632-6; G. Le Strange, The Lands of the Eastern Caliphate, pp. 206-7. They are, however, mistaken in calling the district Khanlanjdn; it is called in the sources Alanjin. Khan Alanjdn or Khan Lanjdn is the name of the town. In the MS. of the Persian translation of al-Mifarrukhi's " The Glories of IsfahAn " (the book, originally written in Arabic in the eleventh century, will be repeatedly quoted in the course of this article) the name is vocalized Ulanjdn (JRAS [1901], pp. 439, 440). The MS. was written in 889/1479, in Isfahdn itself. It is difficult to say how much weight should be given to this vocalization. I write Alanjin, as a conventional form-those willing to accept the authority of that MS. may substitute UlanjIn.

2 In the Safawid period there were two districts, Alanjdn (apparently the southern part of the present district of Lanjin and Lanjin (the adjacent northern part); see A. K. S. Lamb- ton, " The Regulation of the Waters of the Zdyarida Rfid", BSOAS IX (1937-9), pp. 663-73, passim. (The text analysed by Professor Lambton seems to contain an extensive list of the villages of the valley of the Zdyanda Rfid from the Safawid period, the publication of which would presumably be instructive.) The relation of the forms Alanjin and Lanjdn is obscure. At least in the Safawid period they are not merely phonetic variants, but refer to two different districts; we do not know whether this was the case also in earlier periods. About the administrative division as it was in the nineteenth century we

are informed by A. Houtum-Schindler, Eastern Persian Irak (London 1896), pp. 126-7: the bulfik of Lanjan consisted of five divisions, Lanjalanj, Gargan, Usturjan, Ushyin and Aydu- ghmish; Houtum-Schindler also lists the principal villages of each division. Lanjalanj may be the successor of Alanjin (Lanj-Alanj). For the twentieth century see the comprehensive geographical dictionary Farhang-i Jughrafiya'i-yi Irdn, vol. X, 215; cf. also p. 175; according to it the name Lanjndit (plural of Lanjin) is unofficially applied to the baksh officially called Falawarjin (after the village of Falawarjin = Pul-i Wargan, " Bridge of Wargin "), which consists of the divisions of Aydughmish, Ushyin, Ushturjdn and Garkin (Lanjalanj has disappeared). In modern maps there appears not far from Khfilinjin a place called Linj (which is also listed in the Farhang, vol. X, 175, as belonging to the division of Ushyin), adding one more toponym formed from the same " root ".

3 According to Houtum-Schindler, the village belonged to the division of Usturjdn; according to the Farhang, vol. x, 81- where there are some details about the village-to Ushydn. If E. Herzfeld writes (Archaeological History of Iran [London 1935], p. Io6) that the pilgrimage place of Pir Bakrdn is " in Linjan near Isfahan ", he probably means " in the district of Linjin (Lanjdn)." D. N. Wilber's statement that Pir Bakrdn is " on the outskirts of the small village of Lanjdn " (The Architecture of Islamic Iran, the Ilkhanid Period (Princeton 1955), p. I21) is inaccurate.

45


told me that Dr. Minasian, who from a long residence in the city had acquired a thorough familiarity with the topography of its surroundings, had realised (over a decade before) that the fortress described in the chronicles must have been situated on the Kiih-i Stifa. On this mountain, which overlooks Isfahan from the south, there are extensive ruins, among which he used to climb as a child.4 During my stay in Isfah~ n I was taken by Dr. Minasian-whose hospitality is gratefully remembered by many a visitor-to see these impressive ruins for myself. The identification with Shah Diz seems certain, and it is hoped that a detailed description of the ruins will one day be published.4a Dr. Minasian had yet another piece of information up his sleeve-he had also identified the site of the fortress of Khan Lanjan, which

Gulpdyg n THE COURSE OF THE ZAYANDA RUD

0 10 20 40

eKhbnsir I I I

/M/ LES (Old names in brackets)

FA R DA N

A/lternative d Site of

(.R 1/DBAR.?) IS FAH AN

(,h"hil MARBIN

Chashm *Barda

VP.,,?r• , 9, Safiruzoa. o

S/Ah - Kh-iBuzee Buz Khlonjan ZARDA KUH (Khn

4S47

V-t

is mentioned together with Shih Diz in the history of the Assassins of Isfahan. The mountain is called Gale (=Qal'e) Bozi, " the Goat's fort ", and was first visited by Dr. Minasian in 1950. We proceeded to the site together, and inspected the lower ruins (high enough for an indifferent mountaineer such as myself). The reader will see from the description of the ruins how extensive they are, and since no other ruined fortress is to be found in the neighbourhood, Dr. Minasian's suggestion that Qal'e Bozi represents the ruins of the fortress of Khan Lanjan is as likely to be correct as his identification of Kiih-i Safa with Shah Diz.

In 1965 the site was visited by an expedition, the results of which are incorporated in the section

following mine. My part in the study is to discuss the historical evidence for the fortress of Khan

' The only previous attempt at a localization of Shah Diz known to me is by Schwarz, Iran im Mittelalter, p. 657, who seeks it on the Shah KfIh mentioned by Chardin, i.e. the great mountain range to the south-west of Isfahan. The identification has nothing to recommend it beyond the occurrence of the word "ShTh " in both names. Dr. Minasian's identification left a

trace in print, on the sketch-map on p. 475 in L. Lockhart, The Fall of the Safavid dynasty and the Afghan occupation of Persia (London 1958), where the summit of the Kfih-i Sfifa bears the legend: " ruins of ShAh Diz ".

Ua See now C. O. Minasian, Shah Diz of Ismdeflf Fame, its Siege and Destruction (London 1971, in press).

THE FORTRESS OF KHAN LANJAN 47

Lanjan. I hope not to have missed anything essential as far as the early period is concerned, but there

may be evidence about the fortress in more modern times which is unknown to me. Before discussing the earliest mention of the fortress which occurs in a geographer of the middle of

the fourth/tenth century, we may quote a passage referring to the fictitious role of a castle which may be ours. Al-Mdfarrukhi, the eleventh century panegyrist of Isfahan, writes-following, I think, Ijamza of Isfahan who wrote a century before him--that the famous Sitsnid King Bahram Gfir came from the

village of Rtisan in the district of Lanjmn,

and used to stay in a castle opposite that village.5 Because I have no further information about the village of

R.ismn, nothing certain can be said about the castle; but since at the time of IHamza the castle of Khan Lanjdn was the famous fortress in the region, I think it is not too adventurous to suggest that it is meant here. Other authorities say nothing about Bahram Giir's connection with the Isfahan region, so that it is obvious that the whole story is an invention of IHamza, who was notoriously a great local patriot. The same is true of such miscellaneous pieces of information (reported by al-Mdfarrukhi on the same page) that Mihr Yazdan, allegedly a king of the

period between Alexander the Great and the Sasanids, came from the district of Alanjdn and was the builder of the fortress on the top of the castle of Margbin;6 that the famous Queen of Chosroes, Shirin, also came from the district of Alanjan; that the Pharaoh Dhii'l-Awttd came from the village of

Khizdn in the district of Marbin;' and that Azadwar, daughter of Bfzingir, Bahrim Gtir's wife, was from the village of Ajih in the district of

Bara'mn. The first reference to the fortress of Khan Lanjan is to be found in the geographer Ibn Hawqal, who wrote after the middle of the fourth/tenth century. In the fuller text preserved in the Istanbul MS. and

published by Kramers he has a long passage on the province of Isfahan containing interesting information otherwise unknown.s I reproduce what he says about the river of Isfahdn, since it will come in useful in the course of our discussion:

The river Zaranrfidh9 rises at Jdndn at the foot of a mighty and lofty mountain, from the eastern side of which rises the water of Isfahin, from the western side the water of al-Ahwdz, called Manin1o at its rise. At its origin, the Zaranrfidh is composed of two different rivers; the one comes from Ji•nn, the other from Khankdn" from a district called Faridhin. This district has many estates and wide and fertile rural areas, which export various goods and foodstuffs, such as honey, butter, raisins and all sorts of grain. It has herds of sheep and cattle, and vies in wealth with the places most famous for fertility, variety of products and pleasant- ness of life. This district is some twenty farsakhs from Isfahan. This river joins the river of

Jdmnn near al-

Rfidhbar, whose fertile lands, which produce a wide variety of crops, stretch away without interruption. In times of old this district was controlled by brigands and bandits, and its water used to be diverted towards Khan

Aldnjmnl2 and absorbed there. Khan Alanjan is a small town, fertile and rich in products, in the midst of a most

pleasant district and rural area, with abundant water and trees, and delicious peaches. It has a mighty fortress which serves as a store place for their amirs and overlooks Khan

Almnjin and its districts almost as far as Isfahan.

Between it and the city there are seven farsakhs. Some of this water flows out to the rural area of Mahrbin, where there is a high hill like a mountain, with a fortress on top, in which there is a fire-temple. It is said that

5 Mahdsin Isfahdn (" The Glories of Isfahan ") (Tehran 1933), p. 22.

6 The geographers and historians name various ancient kings as the builders of the castle of Marbin, the modern Atashgah (Fire-temple ") near Isfahan ; cf. Schwarz, pp. 630-7. For the ruins of the Atashgdh cf. the article of M. Siroux in Iranica Antiqua (1965), PP. 39 ff. See also below, p. 48, for the curious information provided by Ibn Hawqal.

' Khfizdn, which is also mentioned by the fourteenth century geographer IHamd Allah Mustawfi, Nuzhat al-Qulab, p. 50, is one of the three villages which constitute the agglomeration of Sidih, " three villages "; the others are Fariashdn and Warnfis- fSdar~n; cf. Houtum-Schindler, p. 126 and Farhang-i Jughra- fiya'f-yi Iran vol. X, o107. According to the Farhang there are in

Khfizan some ancient ruins; as far as I know these have not yet been examined.

8 Kitab .Sfrat al-Ard.

(Leiden 1939), P. 365- 9 " Zaranrfidh " is the Arabic form of Zarin Rfidh.

10 This is the Kiriin, which rises on the western slope of the Kfih-i Rang. I did not find the name Mandn elsewhere; Kramers suggestion to read " Janan " is obviously wrong.

1x The reading is uncertain; Khxk'n in the MS., where the second letter (marked here as x) could be b, t, th, n ory. According to al-Qazwini (thirteenth century), 'Ajd'ib al-Makhlaqdt, p. I8o= Athdr al-Bildd, p. 198 (both in the editions of Wistenfeld), the river rises from a village called Bandkdn; this is found in different spelling in authors dependent on al-Qazwini (Ibn al- Wardi, 'Ajd'ib al-Makhlfiqdt [Cairo, 1939], p. 138: Mdkan; Muhammad Murdd b. 'Abd Allah's Persian translation of al-Qazwini, Sayr al-Bildd, MS. Oxford 400, fol. 263v: Bdtakdn- both authors are quoted by W. Ouseley, Travels, vol. III, I3). The forms taken together attested an undotted record con- sonant of the name, and it is possible that the same place is meant which is named by Ibn Hawqal.

12 So the MS. ('lnj'n); Kramers unjustifiedly corrects this form throughout into Lanjin.


its fire is one of the very old fires. Some Zoroastrian wardens are in charge of this fire; they are very rich since they produce and prepare liquors which are held in high esteem by the Zoroastrians, so that buyers abound and good profits are achieved.

The Jdndn branch rises from a mountain from the other side of which rises the river of al-Ahwaz, i.e. the Karfin. Thus the mountain is the Kfih-i Rang in the Zarda Kfih, and the Janan is the upper course of the Zdyanda Raid. Jindn is the correct reading, not Khandn, as Kramers reads the unpointed word of the MS. This results not so much from the fact that Jandn is also the spelling found in al- Mafarrukhi13 (since it does not matter much where a scribe puts a dot) but from the survival of the name: " The principal source of the river is the Chashmeh i Janan, on the eastern slope of the Zardeh Kuh. After a run of about I I miles it receives the waters of the Chehel Chashmeh, and is then called Jananeh Rud ".n

The other branch, says Ibn IHawqal, comes from the district of Faridhin. This is the district still called Faridan, lying to the south of Khansar; some scholars think that it preserves the name of the Median province of Paraitakene well known to the Greeks.15 The name of the village in which Ibn IHawqal places the source of this branch of the river is uncertain and unidentifiable. There are two feeder streams of the Zayanda Rid coming from Faridan, as can be seen from the passage with which Houtum-Schindler continues his account of the river: " Further on it receives the Khurseng river from Feridun on the north and the Zarinrud from Chaharmahall6 on the south, and is then known as the Zendehrud. It then flows south-east towards Isfahan, receives from the left the overflow drainage from Tiran and Kerven, and waters the districts Lenjan, Marbin, Jei, etc. " With this A. K. S. Lambton's account of this stretch may be compared :7

" There the Zayanda Rud is joined by a tributary stream called the Peldmtson, which drains the bolak of Faridan, and contributes a tenth of the volume of the water of the Zayanda Rud. The river then waters some ten villages of the bolllk of Faridan." The first feeder stream can easily be identified on the map,1s though no name is indicated: it flows in a due south direction from Faridan, and reaches the main stream a few miles below the Chihil Chashma. The other, called MurghTb, is much more important; it flows in a wide valley past 'Askaran and Tirin and reaches the main stream at the bridge of Wargan near Isfahan. Which of the two is meant by Ibn

.Hawqal? He

says that the two branches met near al-Raidhbdr. This name, found in many parts of Iran, means " river-valley ". The Roidhbar of Isfahan is also mentioned in the geographical dictionary of Yailqt, but without a precise localization. Ibn IHawqal's description of al-Rfidhbar as a fertile district would seem to favour its location at the confluence of the Zayanda Rid and the Murghab in the wide plain round the Bridge of Wargan.

Indeed, in referring to the battle between the Buwayhid and Sdmdnid armies (which will be described in detail below), Miskawayh (ed. Amedroz and Margoliouth, ii, 136, transl. v, 142) says that it took place " in Rfidhbar near (min) Khan Lanjan ", which confirms this location, and excludes the alternative of seeking Rtidhbar at the confluence of the upper Zayanda Rid and the Khursang (which also comes from Faridan). That Ibn IHawqal mentions Rtidhbir before Khan Alanjin does not mean that the former is upstream from the latter, since the place in which Khan Alanjin is described is obviously due to the author's desire to deal first with the two branches which form the river of Isfahan. On the other hand it is curious that in IHamd Allah Mustawfi's paragraph on the river we find a similar order: " Zinda Rtid of Isfah~in. Its waters rise in the Kflh-i Zarda and other ranges of Greater Liir, in

13 Al-Mdfarrukhi, Malhdsin Isfahdn, p. 48; HIjfiz-i Abrf (fifteenth century), MS. Oxford Persian 33, fol. 48v (" The river has its spring at a place called Fountain of J nan "-the passage was quoted by Ouseley, loc. cit.).

14 Houtum-Schindler, p. I7. The fountain of JinZn is not indicated on the maps; the Chihil Chashma (" Forty Fountains ") is, however.

15 J. Marquart, Untersuchungen zur Geschichte von Iran, vol. II (Leipzig 1909), PP. 32-3. For Paraitakene see also the article under this word in Pauly-Wissowa, Realencyclopaedia der klassis-

chen Altertumswissenschaft, Supplement, vol. X (does not mention Faridan; contains some inaccuracies).

16 May this be the small stream passing by Barda ? 17 In the article quoted above (p. 45 note 2), p. 664. Does the

Peldmison of Lambton equal the Khurseng of Houtum- Schindler? Or are the two names applied separately to the two affluents indicated on the maps as coming from the north and reaching the Zdyanda Rfid below the Chihil Chasma? The western one, however, looks insignificant.

is On the assumption that Pelim~son = Khursang.

THE FORTRESS OF KAHN LANJAN 49

the Jiiy-i Sard district, and thence comes to Firiiztn and Isfahan."19 FirfizSn cannot be located with

certainty, but according to Ibn Battfita it was near Ushturjan,20 and its name may survive in the modern village of Safiriizdn. It was certainly upstream from the Bridge of Wargan, so that if Riidhbar is located at the confluence of the Zayanda Rtid and the Murghdb, it is inaccurate to say that the river comes from the Rtidhbdr district to Firfizin. We have to assume that IHamd Allah was guilty of a slight inaccuracy.

From Ibn IHawqal we learn that the fortress of Khan Alanjin was in his time-sc. the middle of the fourth/tenth century-a prominent feature in the Isfahan region and served as stores for " their amirs ", i.e. presumably the Buwayhid governors of Isfahan. By " stores " he probably meant provisions and treasures, to be kept in a safe place for emergencies.

Another text of the period speaks of the fortress in connection with a historical event. Khan Lanjan was the scene of two battles between the Buwayhids and invading armies sent by their rivals, the Sdmanid amirs of Transoxiana and Khurasan. The first occurred in 340/951, and though the fortress is not mentioned, I shall discuss it briefly since I can shed some light on its topography. The Sdmanid general Ibn Qardtakin occupied the greater part of the Buwayhid province ofJibdl, and with it Isfahan. The Buwayhid ruler Rukn al-Dawla advanced towards Isfahan from Hamadan via Jurbddhaqdn (modern Gulpdygdn), and Ibn Qaratakin left Isfahan to meet him. I quote the description of the battle by Miskawayh:21

Ibn Qardtakin departed in the direction of a desert near Isfahan and on leaving it, encamped on the Zarin Rfidh in order that Rukn al-Dawla, by the time he came up with him, should have traversed the desert with his troops, who would then be fatigued and thirsty and be unable to get at the water. Rukn al-Dawla decided to turn off in the direction of Khan Lanjin, in order to keep to the line of the villages which lay on the Zarin Rfidh, so that water might not be lacking. When news of this reached Ibn Qaratakin, he abandoned his position, and went to cross Rukn al-Dawla's line of march, for fear of being taken in the rear. The armies met at a place called Riidhbar, where they were separated by the Zarin Rfidh, which however was low, and inter- fered with the passage of neither cavalry nor infantry, owing to the summer season. The engagement lasted seven days, and was at its fiercest on the sixth; on the seventh day Ibn Qaratakin took to flight.

It is clear in general what happened, although the detailed interpretation of the text is bedevilled by the uncertainty about the location of Rfidhbir, and by another difficulty. Ibn Qaratakin wanted to intercept Rukn al-Dawla and " departed in the direction of a desert near Isfahan ", i.e. presumably in the direction of Gulpaygan, north-west from Isfahan. But what is meant by the phrase " encamped on the Zarin R-idh "? Perhaps he took up positions on the left bank of the river, somewhere between the Bridge of Wargin and the bend of the river near Khtilanjdn. Rukn al-Dawla coming from Gulpaygan did not march straight to Isfahan, i.e. in a north-west direction, but turned due south in order to reach the river somewhere near Khan Lanjan, and presumably crossed over to the right bank and marched there towards Isfahan. Upon this Ibn Qaratakin turned towards Isfahan in order to prevent Rukn al-Dawla from reaching the city before him. If this is the correct interpretation, Rtidhbir must have been at the confluence of the Murghab and the Zayanda Rfid, and the battle must have taken place there, with Ibn Qardtakin reaching the place on the left and Rukn al-Dawla on the right bank. The question remains, why did not Ibn Qaritakin cross the river beforehand and intercept Rukn al-Dawla ? Does this mean that the location of Riidhb~ir at the confluence of the Murghab and the Zayanda Riid can be definite? No, because some sense can be made of the account even on the assumption that Ridhbar lay much further upstream, at the confluence of the upper Zayanda Riid and the Khursang. Rukn al-Dawla, coming from Gulpaygan, turned off in a southerly direction when he reached Faridan, and by following, let us say, the Khiirsang tried to reach the upper Zayanda Rtid and thence the district of Lanjan. Ibn Qaratakin intercepted him at Rfidhbr--i.e. if our present interpretation is the correct one-at the confluence of the Khursang and the Ziyanda Riid.

x9 Nuzhat al-Qulab, p. 216. 20 Paris edition, II, 42.

21 Vol. II, 139-40; I follow, with minor changes, the translation of Amedroz and Margoliouth, vol. V, 146.


I must, however, end this tortuous argument about the position of Riidhb~r and the movements of the Sdmdnid and Buwayhid armies in A.H. 340, especially since the fortress of Khan Alanjdn is not mentioned here at all; I turn now to the events four years afterwards when the fortress is mentioned in 344/955-22 Isfahan was again captured by Sdminid armies when, under the command of Ibn

Mkamn, they crossed the great central desert of Persia and appeared unexpectedly in Isfahan. The governor of Isfahan, Rukn al-Dawla's son Abil Mansfir Buwayh (known under the title of Mu'ayyid al-Dawla), evacuated the city in great haste and with his family "stampeded in the most disgraceful style to Khan Lanjdn " and from there to Ribat Barkan, seven farsakhs (ca. 30 kms.) beyond,23 while Ibn Makin got possession of Isfahan. The vizier Ibn al-'Amid hastened to the rescue from Arrajin with a detachment of Bedouins and a handful of Daylamites, and found that the baggage of the amir had been captured and he and the womenfolk barely escaped captivity. Ibn al-'Amid gave battle to Ibn Makan in Khan

Lanjmn, defeated him and took him prisoner. He then " had Ibn Makan and his officers conveyed into

the fort of the Khan " and proceeded to Isfahan. This is the story as told by Miskawayh, who had heard it " many a time " from Ibn al-'Amid himself.

He says no word about the participation of 'A<dud al-Dawla son of Rukn al-Dawla, and brother of Buwayh (the governor of Isfahan) who had been independent ruler of the province of Fars, with its capital Shiraz since 338/949, when he was only thirteen years old. In an inscription, however, 'Adud al-Dawla claims the victory for himself. What seems to have happened is that on the news of the Samdnid invasion he set out to relieve

Isfahmn, but found on his arrival that the enemy had already been

defeated. But he was not to be denied the glory; acting on the principle that the glory for victories gained by lesser mortals by right belongs to princes, he proclaimed himself the victor over the Khurasa- nians. His boast is recorded on one of the two famous inscriptions which on his return from Isfahan he ordered to be engraved among the ruins of Persepolis, on the southern doorway of the main hall of the palace of Darius;-a remarkable item in the series of countless graffiti left, alas, by many a less famous tourist of our own times :24

In the name of God. The illustrious amir 'A<dud al-Dawla Fannd-Khusraw, son of al-HIasan, was present here in the year 344 when he returned victoriously from Isfahan, after having taken prisoner Ibn Matkn and defeated the army of Khurdsdn. He ordered that someone should be summoned to read the inscriptions on these monuments.

The other inscription gives some details about the epigrapher called in to decipher the inscriptions for the royal visitor.

The amir Abfi Shuji' 'A<dud al-Dawla, may God sustain him was present here in Safar 344, and the inscriptions to be found on these monuments were read to him. They were read by the secretary 'Ali b. Sari. Written by Sa'id, the mobad from Kazarfin.

21 Miskawayh, vol. II, 159-61, (transl. vol. V, 170-2), whence briefly, Ibn al-Athir, vol. VIII, 383-4.

2' Khan Lanjan was the first stage on the road (which followed, the right, eastern, side of the river) from Isfahin to Khaizistan, Ribat Barkin (or BarjAn) the second: Ibn Khurradqdhbih, p. 58, x.I ; Qudima, p. 197, 1.I I (read Barkdn); al-Maqdisi, p. 51,

I.i6, p. 458, I.II; YAqfit, s.v. " Barjan

" (i, 199); cf.

Schwarz, p. 635. It must have been situated somewhere near the modern Fara Dumbeh of the maps (Paradomba in Schwarz).

24 Ripertoire chronologique d'epigraphie arabe, no. 1476; the other

inscription to be quoted presently is no. 1475. The text of the

inscription mentioning the victory over Ibn Mdkin was very imperfectly read by the earlier authorities followed in the

Reperto;re. I have copied the text from the original, but later found that there is an excellent photograph in E. F. Schmidt, Persepolis (Chicago 1937), vol. I, plate 158 A, and that in A.

Godard's article on IsfahAn in Athdr-6 Iran II, 9, there is an improved text, in which the names missed by former decipher- ers are correctly rendered, though some new mistakes have been introduced in exchange. The following is the correct text: Bismi'lldh. Hadarahu'l-amrr/ al-jalil 'Adud al-Dawla/Fannd- Khusruh b. al-Hasan sanat arba'/ wa-arba'fn wa-thaldth-mi'a ft munsarafih/ muzaffaran min fat4 Isbahan wa-asrih/ Ibn Mdkdn wa-kasrih Jaysh/ Khurdsdn wa-ahdara man qara'a md/l ft hddhihi'l-

dthdr min al-kitfiba. Incidentally, Miskawayh's statement (vol. II, 192) that 'A<dud al-Dawla received this title only in 351/962 is disproved not only by these inscriptions, but also by his coins which bear it after 339/950-1. It is surprising that this erroneous piece of information is repeated by recent authors such as H. Bowen (Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed., s.v. " 'Adud al-Dawla ") and J.Ch. Bfirgel (Die Hofkorrespondenz 'A~dud ad- Daulas [Wiesbaden 1965] p. 8).


Zoroastrians and recent converts from Zoroastrianism, such as the secretary 'Ali b. Sari probably was, could know enough Pahlavi to be able to decipher the inscriptions from the Sasanid period in Persepolis. But it is probable that the interpreter was not deterred from attempting also the cuneiform inscriptions, and we may imagine-from the many specimens in Arabic literature of the contents of ancient inscriptions " deciphered " during this period the wise sayings about the transitoriness of earthly glory which, 'Adud al-Dawla was assured, were the purport of those mysterious letters.

It is with the greatest reserve that I suggest that the remarkable coins minted by 'A<dud al-Dawla in Shiraz in this year might also have been meant to celebrate the victory.25 The main inscriptions do not show anything unusual: they bear the normal inscriptions of'Adud al-Dawla's coinage, with his father's (Rukn al-Dawla's) name on the obverse and his own on the reverse and though the Koranic verse (xxx, 34) contains a reference to victory (" on that day the believers will rejoice in the victory given by God "), this is a regular feature on the coins of this period. Our coin has, however, a particular ornament, namely a slightly concave hexagonal ribbon which includes on the obverse side the date and on the reverse the regular Koranic verse (ix, 33). The segments between the ribbons and the outer circle are filled on the obverse with the regular verse, xxx, 34, but on the reverse with a series of slogans: " With victory and triumph, with good fortune and empire and luck and happiness ".26 This inscription in itself is not a special commemoration of the victory over the Samanids, since it is traditional in the Shiraz mint from a period prior to the Buwayhids;27 but the prominence given to it by the unique ornament may have the purpose of making the issue a memorial to the victory.

It is from the middle of the fourth/tenth centuries that we have the references to the castle of Khan Lanjdn in the geographer Ibn Hawqal and in the historians in connection with the events of the year 344; we next encounter it at the end of the fifth/eleventh century as a base for the Isma'ilis. In between these two points we hear of the town of Khan Lanjan, but not of its fortress.28 The Isma'ilis got possession of the fortress at the time when, as one part of their bid to undermine the Saljiiq empire, they captured a number of fortresses of strategic importance in various parts of Iran (the other part being terror spread through the assassination of outstanding personalities of the ruling establishment). Ibn al-Athir has preserved an account of the circumstances under which the fortress of Khan Lanjin was captured by them.29 It used to belong to Mu'ayyad al-Mulk, son of the great Saljiq vizier Nizam al-Mulk, from whose possession it passed into that of the amir Jdwuli Saq~wu. An Ismi'ili made friends with the Turkish commander of the fortress, and invited him and the officers of the garrison to a banquet; when they were drunk, the Isma'ilis occupied the fortress. Similar stories are told also about other fortresses, but there is no reason to treat them as conventional fables rather than more or less true accounts of the stratagems by which the Isma'ilis achieved their aim.

Khan Lanjdn did not remain for long in the hands of the IsmSt'lis. There is no information about its recapture by the Saljiiq authorities, but it must have happened before the siege of Shah Diz in 500/1I07. As is well known, the Isma'ilis' main stronghold in the region of Isfahan was the great fortress overlooking the city, called Shah Diz, " Royal Fortress " constructed by the sultan Malikshah, who built it on the mountain of Diz Kfih, identified by Dr. Minasian as the modern Kiih-i Siifa. This fortress was captured by the Isma'ilis in 488 / 1095, and held for twelve years until the sultan Muhammad laid siege to it in 5oo/ I o7. After some time the garrison agreed to surrender the fortress, on condition that, as our source says, " they be given in exchange for it the fortress of Khalanjan " where they could

t* A specimen found during the excavations of Susa was published by Allotte de la Fuye, " Inventaire des monnaies trouv6es A Suse ", Mimoires de la Mission archeologique de Perse (Paris 1928), p. I 7. no. 99 (with drawing). Another specimen was acquired by me in Persia. The Ashmolean Museum possesses a similar coin minted in next year, 345/956-7, cf. Ashmolean Museum, Report to the Visitors (Oxford 1967) p. 55 (with photograph). S. Lane-Poole, in Num. Chron. (1876), pp. 258-9, describes a similar coin from the year 34x, i.e. presumably either 344 or

345. 26 None of the specimens has an entirely legible text, but by combining them we can read the whole inscription: Bi'l-nasr wa'l-

gafar wa-iqbal wa-dawla wa'l-yumn wa'l-sa'dda.

27 A SaffArid coin of 297/909-lo has bi'l-nasr wa'l-zafar wa'l-yumn wa'l-sa'dda, i.e. the first and last two of the sixth elements of the 344-5 coinage. (Lane-Poole, Numismatic Chronicle [1892], p. 162). Buwayhid coins of the years 325/937 and 326/938 have bi'l-yumn wa'l-nasr wa'l-zafar wa'l-sa'dda, the same elements reshuffled (B. Dorn, Inventaire des Monnaies des Khalifes Orientaux [St. Petersburg i88I], p. 154; Ostrup, Catalogue des Monnaies Arabes et Turques [Copenhagen 1938], no. 123 ).

28 Ibn al-Athir, X, 217 (says that the town is five farsakhs from Isfahin).

29 Ibn al-Athir, X,3oo. (the distance from Isfahan is given here as seven farsakhs).


take refuge from the violence of the populace; they also stipulated a delay till the nawraz (end of March) when they would move into Khdlanjdn. This suggests that Khan Lanjan was no longer in their possession. The sequence of the narrative confirms this. The sultan soon realized that the Ismd'ilis merely wished to gain time, upon which he ordered the fortress of Khan Lanjin to be razed and the attack on Shah Diz renewed. After further negotiations the greater part of Shah Diz was surrendered but the " tooth " of the fortress, i.e. its highest point, had to be taken by storm on 2nd Dhi'l-H*ijja 500/25thJune 110o7.

I have no further information about the history of the castle of Khan Lanjan, though experts on the more recent history of Persia could possibly supply some. But perhaps I may end with discussing a point which concerns the history, if not of the castle, then of the town of Khan Lanjan. On the face of it, the episode in question belongs to the end of the fourth/tenth century, and concerns no less a person than Firdawsi. Indeed, it is commonly admitted that Firdawsi came to Khan Lanjan in 389/999 and dedicated an early version of his Shdh-ndma to its governor, Abil Bakr Ahmad b. Muhammad Isfahani.30 It has been suggested, however, by V. Minorsky31 that the text from which this is deduced is not to be interpreted in the sense that the poem was dedicated to the governor of Khan Lanjan by Firdawsi, but in the sense that the manuscript was written for him by the scribe. He is probably right, but the matter is not so simple as all that and has to be explained in some detail. MSS. (not the British Museum MS. alone, as Minorsky writes) contain at the end of the Shdh-ndma a few verses in the praise of the governor of Khan Lanjan, telling how the author of the verses was saved from drowning in the Zarin Roid. The day on which the governor " obtained the book " is given as Tuesday, 25 Muharram 389/17 January 999, corresponding in the Persian calendar to the day of Asman of the month of Bahman. The verses are found in the British Museum MS. or. 1403, copied in 841/1438 from a MS. written on I0 Muharram 779/49 May 1377 for a certain Khwatjd'Ali Shah. The other MS. (India Office Library, no. 878) was copied in the tenth century A.H. by Mahdi 'Ali Kashmiri.32 It is indeed improbable that the episode and the dedication, if they refer to Firdawsi, should be preserved in two copies of the poem only. It is true that if we accept the hypothesis that the verses are by a copyist, we have to postulate (a) that the two MSS. (those of the British Museum and the India Office Library) go back to a common ancestor (which on the face of it is not impossible, unless a study of the text of the two MSS. should exclude the possibility); (b) and that this common ancestor, in which the date of the episode in Khan

Lanj n is dated to 389, (nuhum sal u-hashtdd bd si-sad ast) is itself copied from the manuscript of the scribe who enjoyed the hospitality of the governor of Khan Lanjan and who wrote the verses at the end of the MS. at some other date (e.g. 589 or 689), the later copyist changing this date into 389 (e.g. Panj-sad or shash-sad into si-sad) in order to make appear that the verses are by Firdawsi.33 This is rather complicated, but again, not impossible. The verse

Khudawand-i in daftar-am banda kard lab-i har murdd-am pur az khanda kard

speaks rather for, than against, the hypothesis that the verses are by a copyist, rather than by the author. It is true that Schefer translates it: " Ses bienfaits firent de moi, l'auteur de ce livre, son esclave. II fit sourire les lkvres de mes desirs "; but I think the correct translation is: " The owner of this volume

30 G. Le Strange, The Lands of the Eastern Caliphate, p. 207; Th. Naldeke, Das iranische Nationalepos, 2nd ed., pp. 25, 26, 27, 83. Le Strange's statement that Khan Lanjdn was " the place of

refuge of Firdisi, when he fled from the wrath of Sultan

Mahmfid of Ghaznah " is erroneous in any case, since Fir- dawsi's connection with Mahmfid belongs after 389/999. Schwarz, Iran im Mittelalter, p. 633, also speaks of Firdawsi

fleeing from Mahmfid to Khan Lanjin.

31 In his translation of the

.Hudfd al-'Alam, p. 383, no. 2: " This

KhAn Lanjin has been wrongly taken for the place of refuge of Firdausi, cf. Le Strange, 207. In fact the details found in the MS. Br. Mus. Or. 1403, described in Rieu's Catalogue, ii, 535,

refer not to Firdausi but to the scribe (who apparently wrote in 779/1377)." N.B. the MS. Or. 1403 was written in 841/1437-8, and it is its model which was written in 779/1377-

32 The Brit. Mus. MS. is described in Rieu's Catalogue, vol. II, 535. that of the India Office Library in Eth6's Catalogue, vol. I, 533. The verses have been published from the British Museum MS. by Ch. Sch6fer, in an appendix to his edition of Ndsir-i Khusraw's Safar-ndma (Paris 1884), pp. 298-302.

83 It is impossible to adapt Minorsky's suggestion and refer the episode to the scribe who wrote in 779 the model of the British Museum MS., since that scribe wrote for Khwaja'Ali ShTh.


made me his slave, etc."34 In other passages, too, Schefer's rendering, which implies that the author of the verses is Firdawsi, is inaccurate. Nevertheless, I do not feel that as the evidence stands at present one can-even if one is inclined to attribute the verses to a copyist-quite definitely exclude all possibility of attributing them to Firdawsi.

2. THE CASTLE AND ITS SITE, by Elisabeth Beazley and Andrew Dobson.35 The Fortress of Khdn Lanjdn lies seventeen miles as the stork flies to the south of Isfahin. The

castle crowns the tip of a long mountain ridge round which the Zdyanda Rfid flows on its way to the city. It thus dominates the curve in the river and the broad fertile valleys which it irrigates.

The mountain is utterly arid and inhospitable. It contrasts strangely with the man-made landscape laid out below: hazy green poplar plantations and brilliant patches of rice fields which in turn give way abruptly to dust and stone wherever irrigation ends. These valleys have probably long been a very valuable source of food in that parched country; anyone wishing to oppose the authority in Isfahdn would be in a strong position if they could control them. They have flat bottoms, typical of the Zagros, whilst the mountains rise sheer like cliffs from the sea making splendid natural defences which only need to be fortified intermittently.

The main impression given by the castle is of a high promontory, long and very narrow, dropping away at its tip to a relatively accessible lower fortress. We were not involved in archaeological work but were simply exploring with the aim of making a surface record. It is therefore not possible to date any of the buildings, but the bulk of the glazed pottery (see Part 3, below) suggests that its most important period was around 12o00 A.D.; the earliest pottery is ninth and tenth century. Some of the structures (particularly those of the Lower Fort) were used quite recently. The castle builders are not known. We were not a climbing team; an expedition equipped in this respect would almost certainly find further routes and probably more fortifications. Even towards the end of our work on the mountain we were finding walls which we might have spotted on the first day. Except at dawn and dusk the intense glare reduced everything to the same pale dun colour and the masonry, where it was not mud plastered. was of local stone, so that it was well camouflaged.

The whole fortified area is I,460 feet long and I,140 feet above the valley at its highest point (datum was taken on the road to the southwest immediately below the High Citadel). The ridge (P1. Ia) is often a hog's back, and is in places as narrow as ten feet in width: having climbed one side, it often seemed only too easy to be instantly involved in the opposite descent. But in order to understand how the castle worked, how communications were maintained within the fortifications, stores carried and troops moved about, it is necessary to stress that the actual climbing was seldom difficult provided that the consequences of a slip could be disregarded. Footholds had been cut wherever the natural rock did not provide them. The medieval inhabitants presumably felt much as did Hassan, our excellent guide. Dressed in baggy Bakhtiari type trousers, with his feet only halfway into his loose slippers, he sauntered along the precipices without a care. It was his attitude that made plain how efficient Qal'e Khin Lanjan could have been as a base for a private army, which might perhaps have been composed of his forebears.

34 Firdawsi's authorship of the verses could still be defended and the phrase explained that he presented to the governor of Khan Lanj n the volume containing an early version of the Shdh- ndma; but I find it rather improbable that he would refer to a presentation copy of his own poem in these terms.

35 The Expedition is most grateful to friends in Isfah~ n for their generous help and advice, in particular to Dr. C. Minasian who discovered the site in I95o and who gave us much valuable advice, and to Mrs. Minasian for her kind hospitality; to Prince and Princess Asghar for their hospitality in lending us their garden and shooting lodge as a base camp; and to Prince Massud and Mr. Mandy of the British Council in Isfahan.

Lastly, we are greatly indebted to Prince Asghar for flying us over the Castle in his private aeroplane and so patiently circling while it was examined and photographed. The Expedition was directed by Mr. Peter Willey. The Survey was directed by Miss Elizabeth Beazley with Messrs. Andrew Dobson, Anthony Letts and Christopher Warren (surveyors), Miss Mary E. Burkett (pottery and photography) and Mr. Ivor Newby (photography and transport). The Countess Jellicoe and Messrs. Adrian Bullock and Nicholas Stainforth were also members of the expedition, and Mr. Tabrizi represented the

Irdn Bdstini Museum. The site was surveyed in 1965.

. + ~ ~. V\V

'. hll

,h

B\ 1 1 00/

THE FORTRESS OF KHA?N LANJAN

T - - -.mR. ,-- :'.-- ' .PL

~~ WITH ROCK-CU! FOOTAMMI WHO LDS SURVEYED "95 : FL56" T BAZNLEY ANDREW DOWON AWWHNY LEMT CNRIIOPffgWNM N

Keyfor drawing of the Fortress of Khdn Lanjdn A. North West Approach B. Blockhouse C. Great cistern (with gatehouse over?) D. Lookouts E. Curtain Wall F. East redoubt G. Turrets commanding steps in vertical groin H. West redoubt I. South Spur J. South East gate K. Route along North face to central fortifications

L. Mule track climbing scree M. Main route to High Keep: footholds cut in North face N. High keep O. Ridge falling to col, 500 ft. to the North-west. P. Entrance (now buried in scree) Q. Bailey R. Denuded mud brick buildings S. Keep T. Collapsed buildings U. Rock outcrops V. Well

Levels are taken from a datum on the road in the valley immediately below and to the Southwest of the High Citadel.


THE HIGH CITADEL: (Pls. Ia, Ib, IIb). This is the area of the summit ridge, here running NW- SE; it measures 291 feet along its axis and is 53 feet across at its widest. The cliffs to the northeast and southwest are almost sheer and fall away between 5oo and 700 feet. A possible approach from the main mountain (northwest) is barred by a wall, 8 feet thick and approximately 30 feet high which continues along the northeastern edge of the summit. It has three half-round turrets; a central one commanding the ridge and two on the flank.

Keep: A rectangular tower (30 x 18 feet overall) straddles the Citadel at its highest point. Wall thicknesses: outer facing, 5 feet, inner facing 3 ft. 6 in. They now stand some 13 and Io feet above the rock; the building is filled with rubble to within 8 feet of the top. The walls are of rubble brought to courses, approx. 9 in. deep and shallower. Externally they are plastered in mud; internally they are covered with four layers of gypsum-type plaster. The inner corners are coved. The building was probably two-storeyed. A rectangular opening approximately 2 ft. 6 in. square provided a look-out to the northeast. If it had not been for this window and the impracticability of filling a cistern in this position, the excellence of the plaster would have suggested that this building was a storage tank. But such plaster- ing seems to have been typical of the builders; it was found in several other parts of the castle. It is very similar to that used in the locality to-day; the raw material is often found in a layer three feet below the ground.

The summit level extends another 85 feet to the southeast before dropping some Io feet to another platform, walled to the northeast for its entire length, with one turret midway. This wall retains the platform.

Approaches: The main approach is from the col between the Central fortifications and the southeastern end of the High Citadel. The route has footholds cut in the rock and clings to the northeastern face until it enters the Citadel at its southeastern tip where the ridge has narrowed to about I o feet. It is guarded by a small rectangular blockhouse (?) near the foot of the climb.

There may have been a route by ladders over the northwestern wall; other approaches may exist along the cliff faces but reconnaissance here was impracticable.

Function: The Citadel was probably chiefly used as a look-out post. It commands views of some ten miles to the south and six miles in other directions except to the northwest, where the mountain ridge, which rises higher than the High Citadel, obstructs it. It also commands the Central Fortifications, several points of which are blind from each other. The High Keep itself was probably used as a last refuge, but the lack of traces of other building suggests that the High Citadel was never intended to be garrisoned except as a last resort.

THE CENTRAL FOR TIFICA TIONS (for notes on buildings see end of section). The Central Fortifications (P1. Ia) guard the main approach to the High Citadel and provide the

garrison buildings which serve it. From the northwest the path climbs below a cliff spur past a substantial blockhouse; it climbs on below the steep cliff face of the High Citadel to the Great Cistern, an immense structure which may have also carried a gatehouse. Both it and the Blockhouse command the whole of this approach. Here it enters the castle proper. The path is also dominated by two small rock- cut platforms (look-out posts ?) on an opposite spur.

The whole of the lower central section is defended from the west by a system of curtain walls and turrets (mostly buried in scree) behind which there are remains of building walls (quarters?). This loose scree sloped steeply down to a cliff edge, so the remains were not examined at close quarters.

Climbing on up to the col between the High Citadel and central ridge the route passes the remains of another protective wall. On the northeastern cliff face a strong Redoubt commands the central position overlooking the East valley.

Other walls and turrets protect the central section of the ridge. A groin at the junction of the South Spur and the highest point of the central ridge is particularly well protected by turrets. There was almost certainly access at this point from a route leading along the northeastern flank of the inaccessible hog's back from the Lower Fortress.

On the South Spur a rectangular building commands the valley to the southwest.


Block House This is a long stone structure, plastered internally, built against the cliff face, 6o0 x 2I feet o.a. It has walls three and four feet thick standing to 12 ft. 6 in. An opening 4 ft. I in. wide, at floor level, with the floor scooped out in a semi-circle behind it, would conveniently have allowed boulders to be rolled on to the path below (see the main access to Central Fortifications). The scoop- out of the floor is lined with fired bricks (2 in. x 13 in. x 13 in.) set in white plaster. A block of stone (buttress ?) 9 ft. 3 in. wide and 7 ft. 6 in. deep projects centrally in front of the building.

The Great Cistern is an immense basin below the High Citadel at the entrance to the Central Fortifi- cations. Rubble walls over nine feet in thickness act as fill between it and the cliff face and form retaining walls on the free sides. It is 44 feet across, curved in plan with a retaining wall across the front which is built in layers, two, two, three and fifteen feet thick respectively. The inner leaf was plastered on both sides. The back is curved round to the side walls, and the floor too is curved and slopes like a small amphitheatre. There is now access through a hole in the front wall from which water may have been taken. A small rock-cut channel behind the cistern feeds a hole in the rear and would have taken part of the catchment from the cliffs below the Citadel. It is a strange structure. Its strategic position and the enormous rubble foundations on either side of the cistern (not entirely necessary for the buttressing of the tank) suggest that it may have contained other rooms which are now gone, and may perhaps have been used as a guard house.

The East Redoubt: A rectangular stone building in fairly good condition, 25 ft 6 in. x 20 ft. 8 in. internally with plastered walls 7ft., 2 ft. I in., 3 ft. 9 in. and 3 ft. 5 in. thick, commands the valley from the northeastern face of the col. It has an entrance 2 ft. 5 in. wide; four steps lead down into the building.

West Redoubt: On the South Spur a slightly similar building in poor condition commands the southwestern valley. It is 28 ft. long and has one turret.

THE LOWER FORTRESS (Pls. IIa, IIc) is the most intelligible part of the castle and excavating it

might well be architecturally rewarding. It is connected with the main ridge by a narrow col across which a protecting wall has been built. Remains of a gate-house (?) and remains of what were probably two entrances (one for pack animals and one stepped for men on foot) are visible.

The rock which forms the Fortress is 31o feet long and I I I feet across at its widest point. Where the natural cliffs give inadequate protection, stone walls have been built round the perimeter so the whole forms a Bailey. These walls are of rubble, usually brought to courses and plastered with mud; they are

mostly denuded to the ground level of the Bailey and standing to a height of twelve feet as retaining walls. Corner and intermediate turrets, average diameters seven to nine feet, are not all bonded into the main wall so were presumably later additions.

The Keep, which is in the middle of the southwestern side, stands higher than the walls and commands a splendid view of the valley. It was probably the residence of the ruling lord in relatively peaceful times (see below).

Within the Bailey there are traces of five groups of buildings. Group one, commanding the main entrance (the entrance itself is now lost under scree). These are built into the rock and are mostly filled with debris. Rubble walls 5 ft. 9 in.-4 ft. 6 in. thick. Group two, west of the keep: very denuded remains of mud brick walls from a considerable building complex. Group three, opposite the Keep on the northeastern face. A long rectangular building, off square and 39 feet x 9 feet (average) internally. The wall which is parallel and adjacent to the curtain wall stands up to four feet above ground. It is of curious

cavity construction, with all faces plastered (average plaster thickness: I in.). Finished thicknesses, 3 ft. 8 in.: inner wall I ft. 8 in., cavity 11 in., outer wall I ft. 10o in. Probably a storage building, see Ibn IHawqal's description, above, p. 47. Group four, the Keep. This is of good rubble brought to courses, plastered externally with mud plaster and internally as above, but without cavity walls. The outer walls, turret (5 ft. 5 in. diameter o.a.) and rectangular tower (Io ft. Io in. wide), are

considerably battered in section. The remains of two partition walls (3 ft. 4 in, thick) are visible.

Group five, east of the Keep. Denuded mudbrick appears as " paving " on the slope of the Bailey Presumably this" paving "is the vaulted brick roofs of buildings which have caved in.


Water supply: No cistern was found (unless the building mentioned as forming Group three above could have served this purpose). The rock-cut well, now dry but containing a green tree, lies below the south tip. No springs were found.

Approaches: These exist for pack animals up either side of the col, but the east side seems to have been the main approach. A mule track runs immediately below the crags of the Citadel rising to this col at a gentle gradient. There was almost certainly a route from the gate to the entrance in the groin on the east face of the Central Fortifications. Only the first part of this route could be followed, but there seem to be rock-cut steps in the northeastern face of the ridge which would connect with those in the groin.

APPENDIX

The surface finds of pottery, by M. E. Burkett

The remains of pottery were scattered below the fortifications all round the spur of mountain upon which these buildings were situated. Most sherds were found to the northeast under the precipitous cliff below the Central Fortifications: there is no access to the ridge here, so apart from the occasional shepherd taking his flock round the high screes, no-one is likely to wander over these slopes. The present approach is from the southwest: surface sherds there may easily have been taken by visitors. Directly under the Central Fortifications and high up under the rock face were two splendid strips of scree upon which the bulk of the earliest pieces was found. Traces of building materials, i.e. mud bricks, fired bricks and entire dressed stones, as well as wall plaster and other rubble, had also fallen here.

The bulk of sherds from all parts of the scree comprised:

(a) Buff clay ware with black painted designs under a clear turquoise glaze. (b) Rather coarse buff ware, with cobalt lines roughly crossing inside and sometimes outside, under a clear glaze. (c) Green and yellow splashed, sgraffiato ware of the ninth to the eleventh centuries A.D.

Some interesting lustre sherds were also recovered here, mostly pieces of copper and brownish lustre of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries A.D.; amongst them were fragmentary pieces of writing, both incised and reserved. A few examples were decorated with bands of foliage and spirals reserved in lustre yellow and red. A small number of Chinese celadon sherds were picked up, together with two sherds with overpainted designs.

Most of the sherds were very small and it was not possible to estimate the shape of the pot from which they had come, but the lustre ware was fine and though usually of buff clay one or two were of finer whitish clay. There was one larger piece of Kdshdn ware of the early thirteenth century with painted blue and black sprays of foliage under a colourless glaze.

There were very few pieces of metal; one small piece of a buckle and a fragment of bracelet or necklace were the only traces of bronze. Three small beads of lapis lazuli, onyx and cornelian were found on the scree below the Central Fortifications.

Pl. Ia. The Fortress of Khin Lanjdn: High Citadel and Central Fortifications.

Pl. Ib: The Fortress of Khan Lanjan: the High Citadel photographed from the air.

P1. IIa: The Fortress of Khin Lanjan: The Lower Fort from the Central Fortifications.

Pl. IIb: The Fortress of Khan Lanjdn: the High Citadel. P1. IIc: The Fortress of Khdn Lanjdn: Walling in the Lower Fortress. Note cavity construction with inner as well as outer faces plastered.

THE LAST SAFAVIDS, 1722-1773

By J. R. Perry

In 1722 the 22o-year-old Safavid empire had been on the decline for the best part of a century, ever since the death of Shah 'Abbas the Great. For the last half-century of this period it had indeed been little more than a hollow corpse, devoured underneath its rich and prestigious exterior by contrasting excesses-the cruelty and caprice of Shah Sulaiman and the piety and pacifism of Shah Sultan Husain. Both monarchs were distinguished by an extreme lack of interest in affairs of state, yet somehow the sagging edifice remained propped up by the monumental achievements of its founders, until the invasion of the Ghalzi'i Afghans under Mir Mahmtid within the space of eight months demolished it forever as a political reality.

The history of the next three-quarters of a century is conventionally divided into the Afsharid, Zand and early Qa5jar periods, reflecting the three islands of strong and comparatively rational government created from successive morasses of anarchy by Nadir Shah, Karim Khan and Agha Muhammad. The convention is justified, for this tragic period of Iranian history more than any other produced from a welter of conflicting interests a series of forceful individuals who took it upon themselves to remould their battered country on their own terms. As a result, Iran might appear in the space of some seventy- five years, and with the services of a variety of brokers, to have contracted out of the dynasty that rescued her from her Dark Ages and entered into partnership with the dynasty that introduced her to the twentieth century. The convention thus tends to obscure certain features common to the period between late Safavid and early Qajir times and to distort the process by which this undoubtedly considerable change was brought about.

The best vantage-point from which to restore a just perspective would appear to be an appreciation of the survival of Safavid concepts of the Iranian state as these were acknowledged, promoted, opposed or eliminated by those who directed political forces after 1722. A cursory study of almost any Persian chronicle of the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century will show how impossible it is to appreciate the Afsharid, Zand and early Qajar periods without a basic familiarity with, and constant appeal to, Safavid concepts and institutions: political reality changes at too swift a pace for traditional historiography, which in deference to popular convention, and at the risk of anachronism, perpetuates the same terminology for territorial divisions, military organisation, government officials and political processes. How far these surviving conventions corresponded to new realities must often remain in doubt; but it can in general be maintained that the geographical, religious and political lines laid down by the first three Safavid shahs defined and directed the national ethos in theory until increasing contact with the West in Qajar times forced certain substantial revisions of thought-i.e. for a century after the Afghan invasion. More specifically, so great was the prestige of the Safavid state itself that it survived its political demise in spirit, and intermittently even in name, despite the trauma of Afghan, Russian and Turkish invasion, and despite the fact that first Nadir Shah deliberately, then Karim Khan incidentally, created states which were in many ways fundamentally at odds with Safavid tradition. In this narrower sense, the Safavid state may be said to have survived for half a century-until the death of Isma'il III, the last Safavid puppet shah, in 1773-

This survival was manifested in two principal ways: in the rash of unsuccessful pretenders to the usurped throne, almost all of them spurious, who appeared at different times and places from the onset of the Afghan occupation through Nadir Shiah's reign and into that of Karim Khan Zand; and in the evident difficulties which not only historians but also contemporary leaders found both in adjusting their subjects' Safavid-centred preconceptions to the changing political situation and in themselves making due allowances for surviving Safavid prejudices. The process by which the Safavid ghost was gradually exorcised may be seen in the abrupt and premature reaction of Nadir Shaih's period and the

59


more subtly realistic reforms of Karim Khan. The details of this transition as reflected in actual government and administration must await further research; it is hoped that the following survey of the period as a whole, seen from the standpoint of the various Safavid pretenders-the spurious and the genuine, those who failed and those who ruled-in their relationships with the changing political scene, will help to illuminate a terrain still pitted with obscure patches.

I: $Safavidpretenders during the Afghan occupation It would be tedious to describe in more than summary form the known cases of Safavid pretenders

who, claiming to have escaped from beleaguered Isfahan in 1722 or from Mir Mahmiid's massacre of the surviving princes of the line in February 1725, obtained credence and support against the defacto government. Hazin claims that there were eighteen in all during the period of the Afghan occupation alone,x and a round dozen can be culled from the various histories of Nadir Shah and the Afsharids from biographies like the Fawd'id al-Safaw3yya of

Abu'l-.Hasan Qazvini2 and from Kiihmarra'i's sum-

mary,3 to cover the whole period up to 1776; this excludes the four genuine Safavid scions who at various times attained the throne, and who will be treated in sections IV and V as part of a different phenomenon.

Three of the first pretenders to appear after the fall of Isfahan all claimed to be Safi Mirza, second son of the deposed Shah Sultan

.Husain. One raised a force from among the Lurs of Kirmanshih in

I 134/1722 and succeeded in driving out the occupying Ottoman Turks from Hamadan; but five years later his allies the Lur chiefs turned against him and bribed a barber to despatch him in his bath.4 Yet another claimant, a man from the village of GarrS'I near Shtishtar, enlisted the support of the Bakhtyari at Khalilabad, near Burtijird, in II137/late 1724; he was accorded a royal litter and the dignity of " Safi Shah " by a gullible local chieftain, and with an army of 20,000 secured much of the Kfihgilii country between Shiishtar and Khurramabad. However, Shah Tahmasp and Nadir, then in Mashhad, sent a letter to the Bakhtyari chiefs denouncing him as an impostor and ordering his death, with which they complied in Muharram I 140/Autumn 1727.5 A third " Safi Mirza ", whose real name was Muhammad 'Ali Rafsinjani, likewise took Shtishtar as his centre of operations, appearing there in dervish garb in August 1729; but he was soon forced by the governor to flee over the frontier, where the Ottoman authorities in 1730 sent him to Istanbul in case he should prove useful in negotiations with whoever would replace the departing Afghans as ruler of Iran.6 As will be seen below, they were in fact able to use him in 1743 to foment discord on the northern frontier during Nadir's siege of Mosul.

None of these claimants is regarded as genuine by any historian. The real Safi Mirza, then aged 23, had for a few days been designated walh 'ahd during the siege of Isfahan, but as a result of opposition by ambitious court officials was passed over in favour of the weaker Tahmdsp.7 In this capacity Tahmasp escaped to Qazvin in June 1722, and Safi was presumably among the other Safavid princes in the palace when his father surrendered to Mahmiid on 2 Ist October, and most likely shared their fate when the Afghan ruler on 7th February 1725 massacred all the surviving Safavids with the exception of the deposed king and two young princes. Ironically, it may well have been a report of the activities of one of these pretenders, touching off a rumour that Safi Mirza had escaped from captivity, that provoked the nervous Mahmid to commit this atrocity.8

The only genuine pretender to raise the flag of resistance, apart from Tahmasp, was Mirza Sayyid Ahmad. He was also the sole serious rival to Tahmdsp and for three years the biggest threat to the Af- ghan invaders. His wide-ranging and action-packed adventures exemplify one of the archetypes of Iranian history, the dispossessed monarch as a heroic guerrilla leader fighting a forlorn rearguard action against invaders-the type of the Khwirazmshih, Jalil al-Din Mangubirdi, and the last Zand, Lutf'Ali Khin.

1 F. C. Belfour's translation of Muhammad 'All iHazin's Tadhk;ratu'l Abhwdl (London, 1830), p. 135; cited by L. Lock- hart in Nadir Shah, p. 13.

2 MS. in the Cambridge University Library, 00.6.41 (cf. Rieu, i, pp. 133-4).

3 Dhail wa Hawdshkyya, printed in Gulistina's Mujmal al- Tawarkh, ed. Mudarris Radlawi (Tehran, 1344), PP. 478-85.

4 Kfihmarra'i, p. 478. 6 Mirzd Muhammad Astaribidi, Jahdngushd-yi Nddiri (Bombay

I889), p. 2I ; Kfihmarra'i, p. 478; Lockhart, Nadir Shah, p. 13, and The Fall of the Safavi Dynasty, p. 30o I.

6 Lockhart, Nadir Shah, p. 48. 'Lockhart, Safavi Dynasty, pp. 148, I55-6. 8 ibid., pp. 207-8; Nadir Shah, p. 13.

THE LAST SAFAVIDS, 1722-I773 61

He was descended from Shih Sulaiman's eldest daughter, Shahrbanfi Bigum, who had married his paternal grandfather Mirza Da'iid Mar'ashi, mutawalli (superintendent) of the shrine of the Imam

'Ali Ridta at Mashhad.9 He had escaped from beleaguered Isfahan with Tahmasp but, convinced that such a frivolous drunkard as was the crown prince could never be a rallying-point for serious insurrec- tion, he fled southwards to Fars and with the aid of forged orders from Tahmisp gained the allegiance of the local amirs and their troops. In 1137/1724-5 he was besieged for six months in the fortress of Jahrum, and personally led many daring sorties. The siege was raised when news arrived of the murder of Mir Mahmiid, and the Sayyid moved on to the Fasa region, his army now grown to 6ooo men. He surprised and defeated an army sent against him by Tahmasp, capturing the commander and baggage, then marched on Kirman, defeated the governor and took over the town. Here early in I 139/ November 1726 he assumed the title of Ahmad Shah Safawi. Marching in force on Shir~z, he was met by an Afghan army at Pul-i Fast and, deserted by the governor of Kirman whom he had pardoned and made his wazir, suffered a heavy defeat. He fought his way out to Nairiz and with a small force headed back to Kirman, only to learn that his former Kirmani officers were now pledged to capture him for the Afghans. He then had to evade a further force sent by Tahmisp, and with few supporters left fled through Sistan and Baltichistan down via Bam and Narmashir to Bandar 'Abbas, where he captured Ashraf's governor and took the town.

With a relatively small force he again took the field against an army from Lar reinforced from Isfahan, and was forced to flee to Dirab. For eight months he was besieged in the fortress of

.Hasan5bad. Despite daily sorties, shortage of supplies and treachery from within brought about his downfall; his brother Mirzi 'Abd al-A'imma was captured by the Afghans while attempting to escape from the fortress through a tunnel, and Sayyid Ahmad surrendered. The leader of the Afghan force, Timilr Khan Kurd, guaranteed his safety and he was taken before Ashraf at Isfahin. Ashraf, who had justi- fiably been more apprehensive of the Sayyid than of Tahmdsp, at first treated him with respect, but later beheaded both the Sayyid and his brother on the banks of the Zayanda Rfid, near the Pul-i Khwajfi, towards the end of I 140/July-August 1728.10

None of the remaining pretenders of the Afghan period can boast such a stirring, albeit brief and tragic career. A certain Sayyid IHusain of Faraih is said to have accompanied the Afghan army, as a wandering dervish, on its march to Isfah~n; soon after the fall of the capital, his appetite whetted by tales of the second " Safi Mirza ", he set up in Janaki (south of Shahr-i Kurd) as the brother of Shih Sultan IHusain. The townsmen had a reputation for addiction to tobacco and bhang, and a considerable number of these dubious supporters pledged themselves to this latest would-be monarch before an Afghan force from Isfahan scattered them and killed Sayyid IIusain."1

Then there were at least three claimants to be Isma'il Mirza, another younger brother of Tahmasp: the most active of these, said to have been named Zainal, appeared in Lahijan, captured several towns and with a motley rabble armed, it seems, chiefly with sticks and trumpets, even routed the governor on his first attempt to quell the rising. The latter recovered, however, and in a second clash forced the pretender to flee to the Dasht-i Mtighan and Khalkhal, between the rival zones of influence of the Ottomans and the Russians. Raising a force of 500ooo, the rebel marched on Ardabil; in a pitched battle with the Turks, 3000 Qlzllbash troops in Ottoman pay deserted to the Iranians, and the defeated Turks fled to Tabriz. In Ardabil " Isma'il Mirza " paid his respects to the tomb of his supposed forebear, Shaikh Safi al-Din, and soon collected an army of 12,ooo. With this he drove the remaining Ottoman forces from Miighan back on Ganja, but soon afterwards was killed in camp by his local allies, allegedly on the instigation of the Russians.12

The last claimant to this title-and whose claim may have been genuine-appeared in Isfahan about 1732, after its liberation from the Afghans. He had allegedly escaped the invaders through the loyalty of a devoted servant, and had later been captured and mutilated by one of the pretenders to take the name ofSafi Mirza. Tahmasp had his claims investigated and apparently accepted him, since he

9 For this and other Safavid relationships, see the genealogical table at the back of Dr. Lockhart's Fall of the Safavi Dynasty.

t0 Mar'ashi, Majma' al-Tawarikh, ed. 'Abbis Iqbdl, Tehran 1328, pp. 64-8o; Kihmarra'i, pp. 480-83; AstaribAdi, p. 22.

x1 ibid., pp. 23-4; Kfihmarra'i, p. 478. 12 Astardb~di, pp. 24-5; Kfihmarra'i, pp. 483-4; Lockhart,

Safavi Dynasty, p. o301.


felt his own position to be secure; but this Ismd'il was later alleged to have become the focus of a court intrigue to kill and replace Tahmasp, who had him and his supporters executed.13

One further pretender, from the earlier period of the Afghan occupation, is perhaps the best example of the opportunist mountebank who saw the anarchy and consequent credulity into which his country- men had fallen as an excellent chance to acquire power and wealth, a type probably more numerous than appears from such recorded information as we have. He was known as " Shahzada Muhammad Kharsavar " because he habitually rode a saddled donkey in his travels as a salesman in the Banadir region of Shamil and Minab. Here he advertised his claim to be a son (or according to other accounts a brother) of the last Safavid monarch; and though he was apparently a familiar figure in the area, such was his eloquence and courage that people were ready to convince themselves at least that here was a leader worth following. Having subdued the Banadir, he collected further allies from Balichistan, and gave battle at Shamil to an Afghan force of 20,000 sent by Ashraf to quell this rising. The rebels were routed, and the " Shah " himself fell off his ass in the mele and, disguised as a dervish, fled on foot to India.14

The pretenders of the Afghan period thus played a double r61le in promoting the survival of the Safavid spirit through this critical stage. All of them, including the legitimate and generally accepted Tahmasp, were first and foremost symbols and rallying-points for the resistance to and final overthrow, after only eight years, of the Afghan invaders and the Turkish and Russian opportunists who had followed them. Secondly, they represented-particularly in Sayyid Ahmad-an alternative to the in- effectual Tahmasp, dominated as he was by an ambitious warlord who was soon openly to show his hostility to the Safavid cause.

II: Pretenders in the AJfhdrid and Zand periods Those pretenders who rose during the period of Nadir Shah and his successors and of Karim Khan

Zand, though naturally less frequent in appearance, were yet important manifestations of the barely- diminished prestige of the Safavid house, and acted in different ways as brakes on the absolutism of successors to Safavid rule: they contributed to the provincial insurrections that heralded the overthrow of Nadir Shah, and to the territorial limitation of his Afsharid successors, and forced Karim Khan initially to make use of the unsteady platform of Safavid legitimacy in setting up a new experiment in government.

One such rebel, who claimed to be one of Shah Sultan IHusain's numerous progeny named Sam Mirza (though it seems doubtful whether a son of this name existed) attempted in about 1740 to secure support at Ardabil; his revolt was speedily frustrated by Nadir's nephew, Ibrahim, who captured the pretender, cut off his nose, and contemptuously set him free. Three years later, when the exactions of Nadir's tax-collectors had provoked widespread disaffection in the north-western provinces, Sam emerged from his hideout in Daghistin for a second attempt. His growing forces were joined by a Lazgi army under one Muhammad son of Surkhay. Challenged by IHaydar Khan, the governor of Shirvan, they captured and killed him and secured Aq SE, his administrative headquarters. The rising spread to Qubba, where the Mfighanli troops in the garrison mutinied and handed over the town to Sam and Muhammad. These dangerous developments were reported to Nadir in Sha'bin I 156/October 1743, while he was besieging Mosul; he at once sent orders for the concentration of a strong army under his son Nasrullah, his brother-in-law Fath 'Ali Khan, the commander of the LAdharbaijan forces and the governors of Urmiyya and Ganja. This army met and smashed the rebel forces near Shamakhi on 4th Dhu'l Qa'da I I46/20th December I743; Muhammad, wounded, fled to Daghistan, and Sam to Georgia.15

Almost at the same time, Nadir received news that Muhammad 'Ali Rafsinjani, the supposed " Safi Mirzi " who had fled after his abortive coup at Shishtar in 1729 to take shelter with the Turks, had now been encouraged by his hosts to march through Erzurum and Qars towards the Persian frontier. Early in 1744, when Nadir's peace negotiations with the Porte seemed about to collapse, the Pashi of Qars was instructed to give further support to this pretender, and sent messages to the chiefs and other notables on the Persian side of the frontier urging them to rise in support. That same spring, Nidir 18 Lockhart, Nadir Shah, pp. 58-9. 14 AstarAbidi, p. 24; Kfihmarra'i, pp. 484-5.

15 Lockhart, Nadir Shah, pp. 231, 238-9.

THE LAST SAFAVIDS, 1722-1773 63

himself marched from Hamadan to quell the rising; and on the way was informed that the Georgian monarchs Taimuraz and Herakli had captured the other pretender, Sam. With grim humour he ordered the already-multilated Sam Mirza to be deprived of one eye and sent to the Pasha of Qars, with the message that " as Safi Mirz~ is also there, the unknown brothers may look upon one another".16

Nadir's gibe did nothing to weaken the amazing resilience of this mysterious Sam Mirza. Shortly before Nadir's assassination he reappeared in Tabriz, where the discontented populace proclaimed him Shah. 'Ali Quli Khan, on establishing his own rule as 'Adil Shah in the summer of 1747, sent a force which successfully crushed this revolt and finally killed the pretender."7

The last serious bid for political power by a Safavid pretender--or more accurately his promoters- came in 1752, only a year after Karim Khan had inaugurated his rule as wakil of his own Safavid puppet shah, and two years after the abortive Safavid restoration at Mashhad under Sulaiman II. One " Husain Mirzi ", claiming to be a son of Shah Tahmasp II,18 appeared in Baghdad some time in 1751. His cause was promptly espoused by Sulaiman Pasha, ever ready to fish in Iran's troubled waters,19 and by Mustafi Khan Bigdili Shamli. This notable, together with the historian Mirzi Mahdi Astarabadi, had been Nadir's ambassador to Istanbul and on news of his master's death had elected to remain in Baghdad until it became clear which way the political wind would blow. The pretender's story was in the best traditions of its kind: he had been snatched from Mahmfid's massacre of the Safavid princes when only eight months old and spirited away to Georgia and thence to Russia by loyal retainers; he was brought up at the Russian court by the Empress, who told him his story when he reached his majority and reluctantly granted him leave to sail back and regain his crown. Whether or not Mustafa Khan believed his tale and his genealogy, he evidently regarded him as a useful emblem under which he might return to Iran as a man of consequence. To 'Ali Mardan Khan Bakhtyari and his ally, Isma'il Khan Faili, hovering on the frontier in Luristan after a defeat at the hands of Karim Khan, this was likewise a heaven-sent chance to turn the tables on their Zand rival, particularly as the latter had just lost his own Safavid prot6g6, Isma'il III, to the Qajars, and was still involved in an obstinate siege of the fortress at Kirminsh~h.

The newcomer was accordingly invested as Shah Sultan Husain II, an escort was begged from the Pasha, and with Luri and Bakhtyari reinforcements flooding in and more of them expected, the royal column set off to relieve Kirmanshah. Word was also sent to another rival of the Zand chief, Azad Khan Afghan, who mustered a force to join this army at the beleaguered fortress. At this point the whole venture was undermined by a factor which, surprisingly, had hitherto been neglected: Sultan Husain II revealed himself as " unsuitable " (whether faint-hearted, feeble-minded or otherwise is not specified) and his mentors despaired of passing him off as a king. They furthermore made secret investigations into his background in Adharbaijan, and discovered that his mother was an Armenian and his father had been an Adhari Turk. Disillusioned, they attempted to continue the deception, but the army slowed to an indecisive crawl as the tribal reinforcements, denied access to the " Shah ", returned to the hills. In about September 1752 the garrison of the Kirmanshah fortress, despairing of relief, capitu- lated to the Zands; and Karim Khan promptly marched against the dwindling relief column and routed it, capturing Mustafa Khan. 'All Mardan fled to the hills, taking the pretender with him; he subsequently blinded his now useless burden and turned him loose to make his way to the Shi'i shrines of Iraq, where he lived out his life until I 189/1774-5 as a religious recluse.20

16 ibid., pp. 246-7. 17 ibid., p. 259; Gulistana, Mujmal al-Tawarikh, pp. 8-9; Kiih-

marra'i, p. 485. 18 Mar'ashi (pp. 82-4) maintains that Tahmdsp II had only two

sons, one of whom died during his father's lifetime and the other, 'Abbas (who was at first raised to the throne by Nadir on his deposing Tahmisp) was killed together with his father by Muhammad IHusain Khan Qajdr in 1 152 / 739-40; according to Muhammad Kdzim (Kitab-i Naddiri, pp. 484-8, cited in Lockhart, Nddir Shah, p, 177) a younger son, Ibrahim, was killed on the same occasion.

19 Gulistina, p. 243; Gombroon Diary, vi, i2th July 1751, reports rumours that the Sulttn (evidently Sulaiman Pasha is meant)

has notified the Persian leaders that he has a son of Shah

Tahmasp with him and is ready to install him on the throne of Iran by force.

20 Qazvini, Fawd'id al-Safawiyya, foll. 73b-75b; Gulistina, pp. 243-69. Shaikh 'Abdulldh al-Shfishtari, Tuhfat al 'Alam (Bombay, 1263 lunar), p. 164, confirms that the blind " Sultan IIusain II " passed through Shoistar on his way to Najaf in I I67/1753-4. His son Sultan Muhammad, patron of Qazvini, was kept in dervish attire and warned by his father against ever dabbling in politics. On his father's death he travelled widely in Iran, being kindly received by Shahrukh at Mashhad, and ended his days in India as a pensioner of the East India Company.


Peyssonnel states under his description of events in northern Iran during 1752-5321 that " le prince de la race des Sdphis que les Moscovites ont mis entre les mains des Gdorgiens, est toujours en dip6t

'

Caket "; the Georgian king Herakli was allegedly preparing to invade Iran on the pretext of installing this pretender on the throne, but unless by some slip of chronology this refers to the " Sultan IHusain " mentioned above, there is no further evidence of this pretender's having been put in play.

The last recorded case of a spurious pretender ends the world of the Safavid succession not with a

bang but with something approaching a snigger. A certain Hasan Sabzavari went on pilgrimage in

I 190 /1776 to the shrines of Iraq, calling himself a son of Shah Tahmasp II. Just as he reached Karbala it

happened that one of Nadir Shah's widows who was resident there-Radiyya Bigum, a daughter of

Sultan Husain and thus a genuine sister of Tahmdsp-died without leaving an heir. With the con- nivance, of Sulaiman Pasha the newcomer obtained a fatwd declaring him her heir, and despite the

protests of other members of the family in exile at Baghdad, made off with her jewels and other riches.22 As no political sequel is mentioned, this would seem to have been purely a commercial venture; by acknowledging his limitations, this adventurer apparently succeeded better than his predecessors.

Thus the Safavid insurgents between 1736 and 1776, whether opposing Nadir Shah and his successors as usurpers or a rival Safavid princeling legitimised by the Zand Wakil, helped to keep alive a Safavid myth that had plainly lost its substance. In this they were aided by Iran's hostile neighbours, Turkey and

Russia, and more especially by their vassals or allies in the frontier provinces, Sulaiman Pasha of

Baghdad and Herakli of Georgia, in whose interests it lay to perpetuate the strife and anarchy in their once powerful neighbour. Those Safavid refugees and their retainers who gathered in and around

Baghdad, and emigrated over the rest of the eighteenth century to the hospitable court of Bengal, preserved the fame of the ill-fated dynasty for even longer; and several of them-Qazvini, Mar'ashi, Gulistina-set down the histories of their less fortunate relatives. Of these by far the least fortunate were those who in some way succeeded to the fickle throne.

III: Tahmdsp II, 'Abbas III and Sulaimdn II The escape of Tahmasp Mirza from besieged Isfahan inaugurated the universal belief in a Safavid

restoration to which for the next fifty years even those in power had in part to pay lip service. Tahmasp's first protector and viceregent (wakil al-dawla) was the Qajar chieftain, Fath 'All Khan, but he was soon

replaced by the energetic and realistic Nadir Quli. Until his final expulsion of the Afghans in 1730, Nadir remained ostensibly the Shah's loyal commander-in-chief, though it was never in doubt that he wielded the real political control; only in 1732 did he find justification in Tahmasp's mismanagement of a campaign against the Turks to put his authority to the test and have his master deposed. Even then a

Safavid substitute had to be found in Tahmasp's infant son, who was acclaimed as 'Abbas III. But by 1736 Nadir judged correctly that there was no Safavid contender of sufficient standing to prevent his

pushing through his own election to the throne, on condition that it should be hereditary in his family, that there should be no further support for the Safavids, and even that religious innovations were to be instituted which effectively meant the abolition of the official Shi'i faith. The deposed Tahmasp was, furthermore, brutally done to death together with his young sons early in 1740 by Muhammad Husain Khan Qajar, on the orders of Nadir's son

Rid•a Quli Mirza, to forestall a possible pro-Safavid coup when persistent rumours of Nadir's death were arriving from India.23

It seemed that the last hopes of a Safavid restoration had been buried with these unfortunate princes at Mashhad. Nadir's whole policy conspired to confirm this: his personal usurpation of the monarchy was followed immediately by a series of military conquests aimed not only at recovering the occupied territories but at surpassing the glories of the essentially conservative Safavid state by the creation of an

extensive Asiatic empire modelled on that of Timiir; the Safavid capital, Isfahan, was abandoned for the

strategically more convenient Mashhad; and-likewise for secular reasons-the sect of the Ithni- 'ashariyya Shi'a, the original cement of the Safavid edifice, was earmarked for radical modification on

21 C.C. de Peyssonnel, Essai sur les Troubles actuels de Perse et de

Georgie, Paris, 1754, pt. ii, p. 153-

22 Kfihmarra'i, p. 485, from Qazvini. 23 Lockhart, Nadir Shah, p. 177.


Sunni lines or even replacement by a syncretic faith to be drawn up by the new Akbar in his leisure moments.24

But much of this was foredoomed to failure even before the usurper's death. His authority and that of his successors was challenged repeatedly by appeals to the not yet defunct Safavid cause; not only were his new conquests nullified by his death, but the Iranian heartland of his empire was split in two and forced into a drastic reorientation, in which neglected Isfahan initially played a leading r61le; and the traditional Shi'ite faith not only reasserted itself in both the Iranian states created as a result of this split, but also reinforced existing ethnic rivalries to drive the Afghans under Ahmad Shah into a defini- tive assertion of national identity-as indeed it had contributed to the hatred and distrust between

Nadir's Iranian and Afghan-Uzbek officers and led directly to his assassination in July 1747. All this was not so much a revolution as a reassertion of deeply-rooted conventions which Nadir's brash interruption had merely obscured. His immediate successors were no less superficial in their influence, and the history of the vestigial Afsharid state as it existed from 1747 to 1796, chiefly as a vassal state of Ahmad Shah's Durrani empire, may be regarded as a compromise between Afshirid and neo- Safavid loyalties, manipulated by predatory war-lords. Nidir's grandson Shahrukh Shah, who ruled nominally during most of this period, could himself claim Safavid as well as Afsharid blood, his mother Fatima Bigum having been a daughter of Shah Sultan IHusain: it was this which allegedly saved him from 'Ali Quli Khan's massacre of the rest of Nadir's progeny, the new ruler considering that he might be useful as a puppet should there be violent pro-Safavid agitation before he established his authority.25

The half-expected Safavid coup came at the end of 1749, when the faction of Shahrukh Shah had triumphed over the mutually destructive rivalry of'Adil Shah and Ibrahim Mirza. Mir Sayyid Muham- mad-as mutawalli of the Mashhad shrine and grandson of the Safavid Shah Sulaiman26 an influential figure in both Mashhad and Qum-had been recognised as a potential danger by 'Adil Shah, whose succession he had helped to secure. 'Adil had taken the Sayyid with him on his march against Ibrahim as a precaution against sedition in Mashhad; Ibrahim on his victory had appointed the mutawalli to guard his baggage and prisoners at Qum while he himself marched against Shihrukh in Spring 1749. On the mutiny of Ibrahim's army at Surkha, near Samnan, the Sayyid had barred Qum against the fugitive Afsharid and expelled his Afghan-Uzbek garrison; he then declared his loyalty to Shihrukh and accepted the latter's urgent invitation under promise of safe conduct to take the whole parapher- nalia of the preceding Afshirids to Mashhad.

Mir Sayyid Muhammad had, his biographers claim, already resisted the urgings of his supporters to proclaim himself shah at Isfahan. At Mashhad, however, it became obvious that he enjoyed considerable support and that the apprehensive Shahrukh was attempting to engineer his death. At the end of 1749 Shahrukh's principal officers, led by Mir 'Alam Khan Khuzaima, mutinied and led the protesting Sayyid in triumph from the shrine to the palace. Shahrukh was deposed and imprisoned, though not before he had strangled the five younger brothers of 'Adil and Ibrahim who still lived; and in January 1750 the mutawalli was crowned with all pomp as Shah Sulaiman II Safawi.

But this belated restoration was from the outset an obvious anachronism. Nadir's unwieldy empire had already broken up and there could evidently be no further question of the Shah's proceeding to the former capital of Isfahan, soon to be the centre of a different puppet Safavid regime under 'Ali Mardan and Karim Khan. In the east, Ahmad Shah Durrani had now occupied Herat. Shah Sulaiman sent envoys to Qandahar with a patronising and peremptory message which attempted to invoke the long- lost relationship of the Safavid monarch and his Afghan vassal, addressed as" Ahmad Khan Sadiiza'i "; the Durrani king was naturally outraged, and prepared for war.27 At home, 'Alam Khan sought to insure against a counter-revolution by blinding Shthrukh while the new Shah was absent hunting, which led to tension between the partners in government; and within weeks the opposing faction-the

24 ibid., pp. 99, 278-81; E. G. Browne, Literary History of Persia, iv, p. 137.

25 Astardbddi, p. 477. 26 His father, the previous mutawalli (superintendent) Mirzd

DA'iid, had married Shahrbdnfi Bigum, daughter of Shah

Sulaimdn. One of his sons was Muhammad Hqshim, author of the Tadhkira-yi Al-i Dd'zid, and a grandson through another son was Mirzq Ahmad Khalil Mar'ashi, author of the Majma' al- Tawarikh.

"7 Gulistina, pp. 47-48.


Nadirite freebooters, dismayed at the Sayyid's disbursement of the last of Nadir's treasury, his protection of waqf property formerly confiscated by Nadir for the army, and his refusal to sanction their requisitions and extortions during the customary tax amnesty-engineered an Afsharid counter-coup. Led by Yfisuf 'Al Khan Jal~yir, these conspirators were convinced by a subterfuge of Shihrukh's wife that the royal prisoner had not been blinded after all; in February 1750 they and their men took over the palace precinct, deposed and blinded Shah Sulaimin, and rescued Shahrukh from his haram prison-only to find that their protdg6 was indeed as blind as their recent victim.28

Yiisuf 'Ali Khin and his henchmen realised that with an almost empty treasury, a restless populace and an unreliable army, political power in Khurasan was a thankless chore to be escaped as best it might. Accordingly they absconded with the remainder of the treasury, but were captured and killed by the vigilant 'Alam Khan. He continued to rule Khurasan by means of an uneasy compromise with Shah- rukh and alliances with the local Kurds until Ahmad Shah's invasion of 1754; 'Alam Khan was killed, Mashhad was starved into surrender and the blind Shahrukh retained his throne for most of the rest of his reign as a vassal of the Afghan monarch.29 His impoverished kingdom remained a semi-independent no-man's-land between the Durrani and the Zand realms until 1796, when Agha Muhammad Khan recovered the territory for Iran and tortured to death the blind and ageing Afsharid who-though of Safavid blood himself-had in an indirect and pathetic manner completed his grandfather's destruction of Safavid opposition within his truncated empire.

IV: Ismd'il III and the Zand regency In the western portion of Nadir's empire the Safavid revival was immediate, instinctive and super-

ficial; its rejection was gradual, pragmatic and complete. The conditions conducive to this process may be summarised as follows.

When Ibrahim Mirzi left Isfahin with his army early in 1749, the last vestige of the Mashhad- centred Afsharid control was removed from the old Safavid capital and its dependencies. At the height of Nadir's empire, all of Iran's western provinces could be viewed as a series of segments radiating from Mashhad at their geographical and political apex: from Adharbaijan through Kurdistan, Luristan, Fars, Lar and Sistin the peripheral mountain provinces and their dependencies on the adjacent plains were linked by the Caspian littoral, the Tehran-Sabzavar road, the desert route through Yazd and Tabas, and the Qiihistan massif, to Nadir's capital, the qibla of their religious and national conscious- ness. The foundations of this alignment had already been laid by the Safavid shahs themselves in their promotion of Mashhad as an alternative centre of Shi'ite pilgrimage to the 'atabdt of Ottoman-ruled Iraq. Nadir's choice of Mashhad as his capital, coupled with his personal magnetism, strengthened these bonds to such an extent that for a few years after his death the western provinces remained Mashhad-oriented in their involvement with the vacillating fortunes of his successors. Yet throughout these struggles there remained, as a natural concomitant of the tenacious Safavid ethos, an under- current of resistance to this, as to others of Nadir's innovations; and as gradually it became obvious that none of Nadir's would-be successors possessed the same imperative magnetism, the western provinces sullenly shifted back into a circumscribed version of the old alignment-that of an axis running along the Zagros foothills from Tabriz (the first Safavid capital) to Bandar 'Abbas (the port promoted by the greatest Safavid Shah), with its initial centre of gravity at Isfahan, but already subject to the clockwise torque imparted by the future capitals of Shiraz and Tehran.

The disintegration on Nadir's death of his heterogeneous military machine-the Afghan-Uzbek element returning to Afghanistan, the rival Turkish Qazilb5ish tribes, notably Afshars and Qajars, to the northern provinces of Mazandaran and Adharbaijan-left a power vacuum in the Safavid heartland. This was filled by a confederation of the Iranian Zagros tribes variously classifiable as Lurs, Lakks, Kurds and Bakhtyari, who now assumed the mantle of the Qizllbash (which had by this time become a general designation for Shi'ite Iranian or Turco-Iranian troops) in their opposition to the Sunni Afghan marauders of Nadir's forces, all of which were subsequently expelled or massacred. At first dominated by the Haft-Lang Bakhtyiri under Ali Mardan, then by the Zands under Karim Khan, the

,8 Mar'ashi, pp. I03-38; Gulistina, pp. 37-49. " ibid., pp. 67-74,


Zagros tribes established their rule over the central western provinces ('Irdq-i 'Ajam) and the metropolis from 1750, legitimising their defacto domination by the timeworn expedient of raising a Safavid figure- head to the throne. In Isfahan itself there were at least two, possibly three minor princes of this house, the sons of a former court official, Mirza Murtada, by a daughter of Shah Sultan

I.usain. The younger

or youngest of these, a youth of seventeen named Abil Turab, was selected as the most suitable (presumably as the most tractable) for kingship, and despite his own reluctance and his mother's tearful protests was crowned in the summer of I 163/1750 under the name of Isma'il.30

It is at this stage, under an apparently peaceful and generally popular " restoration ", that the goldmine of Safavid tradition is revealed to have been worked out and is quietly and gradually abandoned. The treatment of the nonentity Isma'il III by his promoters-as that of the unsuccessful pretender Sultan Husain II-was hardly even superficially respectful. They cared nothing for his protests that he never wished to be king;31 'Ali Mardan immediately took him along as a mascot on his pillage of Fars; before losing him and his authority to Karim Khan; Karim in turn lost him for several years to his Qajar rival, Muhammad Hasan Khan, but this in no way inhibited his determination to subdue his rivals or impaired his authority-the Safavid prince was revealed as an empty mascot, an acquired superstitious habit no longer necessary to a government that could justify itself through efficiency and justice. On settling in Shiraz in 1765 as effective ruler of all western Iran, the Zand chieftain was therefore content to shut Isma'il in the fortress of Abada, between Shiraz and Isfahan, with adequate provisions, an allowance of one timain per day, and a present every Nawriiz from his Regent, who signed himself " the meanest of your servants " (kamtarin-i bandagan). Here the captive king spent the last eight years of his life, making knives as a pastime, until he died in I187/1773, all but unnoticed, when still under middle age.32

The title borne by Karim Khan as regent is especially significant. The wakil al-dawla under the early Safavids was the chief officer of state, the Shah's vice-regent in all matters temporal and spiritual; as such he took precedence over the chief military officers (the amir al-umard' and the qllrchi-bdshi), the head of the bureacracy (the wazir) and the head of the religious institution (the sadr).33 By late Safavid times both the metropolitan wakil and his counterparts in the provinces had undergone various trans- formations,34 but he would seem to have gained even greater power at the expense of his fellow-officers, with the exception perhaps of the qfirchi-bdshi. Tahmasp II conferred the title of wakil on his first protector, Fatlh 'All Khan Qajar, and when this rank was subsequently assumed by Nadir as regent for 'Abbas III, together with the synonymous nd'ib

al-sal.tana,35 there was no doubt that it now implied

supreme military as well as political authority under the nominal shah. It was thus closely analogous with the title of amir al-umard' in tenth- and eleventh-century Baghdad, which formalised the assumption of supreme secular authority by a viceregent of the powerless caliph. The title wakil al-dawla was assumed in 1750 by 'All Mardan Khan, as the senior partner in the junta ruling Isfahan for Isma'il III, and was inherited by Karim Khan when he ousted the Bakhtyari chieftain a year later.36

However, soon after establishing himself at Shiraz in 1765, Karim changed this title to wakil al-ra'dyd (or sometimes wakil al-khald'iq)-" viceroy of the people "-and insisted on this appellation to the end of his days.37 " If anyone addressed him by the title of shah," wrote 'Abd al-Razzaq Beg, " he would immediately reprove him, saying in all humility that the Shah was in Abada and he himself was merely his steward (kadkhudd) ".38 This subtle shift in jargon is not without significance, though it would

30 Louis Bazin, Ndmahd-yi Tabib-i Nddir Shdh, translated from French into Persian by 'Ali Asghar Hariri, Tehran 1340, PP. 71-73; Gombroon Diary, vi, Ioth September 1750. The prince's age is that given by Agent Graves, who in a letter quoted here in the Diary states that he met the new shah a few months previously when he entertained him in the Company's house. The Persian sources usually refer to him as Shah Isma'il II (thdai), ignoring the second monarch of that name who ruled briefly in 1576-7; he will here be referred to as Isma'il III.

31 Rustam al-IHukamd', Rustam al-Tawdrikh, MS. in Malik Library, Tehran, no. 3808 (unfoliated).

32 ibid.; Mirza HIasan Fasai, Fdrsndma-yi Ndsirf, Tehran 1313, p. 219.

83 R. M. Savory, " Some notes on the provincial administration of the early Safavid Empire," BSOAS XXVII (1964), pp. i14- 1'5

"4 V. Minorsky, ed., Tadhkirat al-Mulak, London 1943, pp. I 14- 15-

35 Lockhart, Nadir Shah, pp. 16, 63. 86 Muhammad Sadiq Ndmi, Tdrikh-i Giti-Gushd, ed. Nafisi, Teh-

ran I317, p. I5; Abu'l-Hasan Ghaffair, Gulshan-i Murdd, MS. in the Malik Library no. 4333 (unfoliated).

37 Kihmarra'i, p. 460; Rida Quli Khan Hidayat, Rawdat

al-.Saf-yi Ndsirf, Tehran 1339, ix, pp. 80-2.

88 Dunbuli, Tajribat al-Ahrdr wa Tasliyat al-Abrdr, MS. in the Majlis Library, no. 534.


be an exaggeration to read into it either a formal deposition of Isma'il III and the substitution of a Cromwellian " Lord Protector " or, in a different political context, a " withering-away of the state " as the result of a " dictatorship of the proletariat." Karim had to dispense with the personal divine right of the Safavid monarch, theoretically vested in his puppet king, and was too shrewd to risk the opprobrium and rebellion that could well follow if he explicitly usurped the throne as had Nadir. Certainly there was no further need to promote actively a Safavid ideology it had once been convenient to invoke, but to oppose it with another would be dangerous as well as unnecessary. In order therefore to respect both the surviving Safavid prejudice and the distrust of the long-oppressed masses of any new despot, he became a man of the people, a primus inter pares-remained, in fact, a tribal chief writ large.

This change is evident enough with the help of historical hindsight-or foresight, in the case of 'Abd al-Razzaq, whose observations that Karim Khan was both in theory and by nature a large-scale kadkhudd rather than a king were prompted at least as much by deference to his new Qajar patrons as by affection for his former host; but it was not always appreciated at the time by people innured to a succession of tyrannical usurpers. The Carmelite Bishop of Isfahan could still write of the Wakil at the end of 1764 " Up to now he has not been able to assume the title of' king' ".39 The secret of his success lies in the fact that he never did. Contemporary Persian writers occasionally make the slip of referring to him as shdh, and certainly it was obvious when Shah Isma'il III died in 1773, six years before Karim, that with its raison d'itre removed his title of wakil was in effect a personal honorific and his real status was that of king. Instructive in this respect is the rubd'i chased in gold on the blade of Karim Khan's sword in the Pars Museum at Shiraz:

jef

C16A& I & & 405koo. .m jj r~~~-

(" This blade, that takes for prey the lion of the Zodiac, is the sword of the Wakil, that conquering king; the key of victory is ever in that hand which holds the haft of this sword "). The exigencies of the metre will not permit us to read an iddfa between wakil and dn shah in the second hemistich to give, as we might at first expect, wakil-i dn shah-i kishvar-gir, " the viceroy of that conquering king." The nouns can only be in apposition-wakil, dn shah-i kishvar-gir, " the Wakil, that conquering king." Though arguably no more than a poetical metaphor, the phrase indicates at least that the question of the Safavid succession was no longer a live issue.

It became even more obvious on the death of the Wakil himself that his gradual exorcism of the Safavid ghost had created a unique situation. To have nominated a wali 'ahd would have been tanta- mount to admitting explicitly that he was the king; either out of such considerations or, more likely, out of short-sighted confidence in the good sense of his kinsmen, he made no definite arrangement to secure his succession, and thus unleashed on his death some sixteen years of fratricidal strife that culminated in the ruin of his dynasty. But the puppet rulers manipulated in this chaos were the Wakil's own sons, the real rulers were his own kinsmen, and neither class seems to have assumed any title, whether shdh or wakil, apart from the mundane honorific of khdn. So far had the idea of the Safavid monarch faded into the background and finally out of the picture that it was left to the Qajars, the last of the Qizilbash, to claim the Safavid legacy of despotic royalty under a new name.

To sum up: with more than two centuries of prestige as the political and religious creator of eighteenth-century Iran, the Safavid system could not be expected to perish overnight. Nevertheless, in view of the corrupt and helpless state in which it succumbed to the Afghan invasion, it is not surprising that it arose from the flames a somewhat confused and bedraggled phoenix. The early pretenders were either spurious and localised or, like Tahmasp, were too weak to assert themselves against their patrons. Sayyid Ahmad alone could with luck have salvaged his family's fortunes, but he was resolutely opposed not only by the Afghans but by Tahmasp. Nidir ShTh successfully rode the diminishing momentum of

3Y A Chronicle of the Carmelites in Persia, London 1939, i, p. 664 (my italics).


the Safavid cause, but his brusque attempt to supersede it by force of personality and arms was premature, and only provoked a reaction that to a great extent revived the flagging Safavid spirit. The pretenders who rose in the post-Nadir period were puppets chosen for their tractability by ambitious tribal chiefs; the one possible exception, Sulaiman II, survived for little more than a month because of his own ambition and independence of spirit. Finally, almost fifty years after the fall of Isfahan and the abdication of Shah Sultan IHusain, the time was ripe for a strong but patient ruler, who could appeal to tribal, peasant and urban loyalties alike by a just and humane policy, to nudge the Safavid incubus gently into oblivion without issuing a word of warning or receiving any intimation of regret.

A PROBLEM PIECE OF KASHMIRI METALWORK

By Jennifer M. Scarce and L. P. Elwell-Sutton

An unusual and provocative piece of Kashmiri metalwork" has passed into the hands of the Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh, from its previous owner, Mr. J. R. Walsh of Edinburgh University. Mr. Walsh acquired this piece at a local sale in the early I96o's, and its previous history is entirely unknown. As the shape and construction of this vessel seem to be unique, and as it bears an intriguing inscription, it was thought worthy of a detailed examination.

DESCRIPTION AND FUNCTION OF VESSEL

Among the unusual features of the vessel are its generous proportions, its curious fastening devices and certain features of its decoration. As yet, neither another example nor even a closely comparable piece has come to light. High quality brass has been used for both vessel and lid. The vessel is of a deep cylindrical shape with a slightly convex base. A circular low-domed lid fits crisply into place over the rim. The total height of the vessel and lid together is 9- in. (24-2 cm.) and the diameter is 91 in. (23 6 cm.).

One of the most striking aspects of the vessel is the high standard of technical skill exhibited in its construction. The techniques are those still used in the metalsmiths' bazaars of the Islamic world today. Both vessel and lid were shaped from single discs of brass by alternately beating and annealing; the final polish was given by rubbing with an abrasive. A range of fittings have beep added. First a flat band I in. (2 - 6 cm.) high was attached round the inner surface of the vessel's rim with - in. (I

- I cm.) overlap. This was skilfully hammered out of a ring of metal with no joins; an inferior craftsman would have taken a flat strip, joined it to form a ring, and then attached it. The band is securely fastened to the vessel by solder and by eight equally spaced flat rivets (two now missing). On each side of the vessel is a trefoil-shaped handle fitting attached I in. (2 - 6 cm.) below the edge with solder and five circular rivets. A cylindrical projection (P1. Ia) rising from each fitting is threaded to take the end of the loop handle which originally spanned the vessel.

Perhaps the most remarkable technical feature of the object is its strange locking mechanism. This consists of two devices linking vessel and lid (P1. Ia); each is located on the same half of the vessel 21 in. (6 - 8 cm.) inwards from the nearest handle fitting. A device is formed of two vertical bars each attached to lid and vessel with solder and two circular rivets. The bar on the lid (P1. IIa) has a projecting " L " shaped tongue which slides into the housing of the corresponding bar on the vessel (P1. IIb). Thus an extremely secure locking mechanism is created which has not yet been observed on any other piece of Islamic metalwork. The last fitting is a hinge of which only the upper part remains. This is a vertical bar attached to the lid with solder and two circular rivets equidistant from both locking devices (P1. Ib). A cylindrical hinge pin is slotted horizontally through chenier tubing at the lower end of the bar; this pin is broken. There is no longer a corresponding half to the device on the vessel, only a large rivet hole where it was once attached.

The shaping of the applied rim band has already been quoted as an example of the high technical standard of the piece. This is also shown on a larger scale by the great and pleasing degree of symmetry achieved in the form of the vessel. To return to details, a high level of accuracy is seen in the measurements; the rivets round the rim are evenly spaced and the distance between handle fitting and locking device on each side is equal. Finally great precision was devoted to the attachment of the fittings. Rivets are neatly and systematically placed and invisible from the outside, and where solder has been used there is no careless overflow of flux on to the surface of the vessel.

1 Royal Scottish Museum 19g70. 254 & A.

71


The decoration of the vessel combines high standards of design and technical skill. Both vessel and lid have their surfaces covered with a well-organised formal scheme of decoration. The vessel has a deep continuous band of alternately-spaced motifs on a plain ground which frame five inscription bands. The lid has three concentric bands of inscriptions punctuated by motifs and centering on a medallion. The entire scheme is worked on two levels of relief. All motifs and both calligraphy and foliage of inscription bands were chased to give a fairly deep relief. Engraved touches were used for lighter relief. Finally, a black lacquer-like substance was rubbed into the depressions to make the design stand out boldly.

The deep band encircling the vessel consists of a subtly-balanced variety of motifs. A central row of small motifs is enclosed by two rows each of nine large motifs. These in turn are framed by two rows of half-motifs. A large motifjust below the position of the missing half of the hinge device is aligned with the central row of small motifs. Interpretations of the arabesque-a stylised device whose main elements are tendrils and split leaves based on the observation of natural forms-compose the ornament of the motifs. The arabesque, one of the constant themes of Islamic decoration, is a device of great vitality and flexibility. Here its elements are trained and confined within self-contained units. Each motif is a lozenge-shaped medallion with ogee corners and scalloped sides. The large motifs are filled with graceful interlaced arabesques. Within the border of each is a continuous lining of split leaves. The arabesque develops from two pairs of slender stems which both spring out from the base of the motif. The inner pair curves into a heart shape whose ends blossom out into luxuriant split-leaved tendrils. The outer pair opens out from a trefoil base into a lozenge shape and crosses the heart-shaped pair to form an apex which terminates in an elaborate trefoil. The two pairs of stems act as parents to a lively brood of tendrils from which split leaves grow. Changes are rung on the arabesque by varying the floral device within the base of the heart-shaped pair of stems. In the majority of motifs this is a fleur-de-lys trefoil (P1. Ia, bottom row centre). In other motifs it is either a peony-like palmette (P1. Ia, top row right) or a narrow slit floret (P1. Ia, bottom row right). Single examples of other variations occur. One motif has a pair of split leaves instead of a heart-shaped pair of stems (P1. Ia, top row centre), while the other has a tendril which divides into three multilobed leaves in place of a floral device (P1. I a., bottom row left). The central row of small motifs and the border rows of half-motifs are adaptations of the basic arabesque motif. The final element of ornament is a narrow wavy stem with tendrils and split leaves running round the base of the vessel.

The bands of Persian inscription have been carefully arranged so that they form part of the design and yet stand out from it (P1. Ia and fig. I). All inscriptions are contained within long bands with trilobed ends. Between each handle fitting and locking device is a cruciform inscription formed of two bands, a curious and rare example. Three horizontal bands are evenly spaced round the vessel in alignment with the central row of small motifs. The three arabesque palmettes at each end of these bands link them closely with the background design. The inscriptions are written in a clear nasta'liq script against a delicate meandering tendril whose coils finish in split leaves and floral palmettes. Lightly- engraved hatching completes each band.

The decorative repertoire of the vessel was adapted for the lid (P1. Ib). Here the focus of the design is an elaborate eight-pointed medallion formed of three interlocking rows of arabesques adapted from the vessel motifs. Both the inscription bands and the motifs punctuating them are in the same style as those on the vessel. The fittings were not neglected, as they were decorated with the same meandering tendril design as that forming a background to the inscriptions.

Perhaps the most provocative question arising from the vessel is that of its function. This is made all the more puzzling because the fastening devices present problems. These are further complicated because the lower half of the hinge device is missing, so that it is necessary to guess the form it might have taken. If the device had been a true hinge linking vessel and lid, the locking devices would plainly not have worked because the lid must be fitted on and turned so that the tongues slide into the housings. It seems more likely that the lid and vessel were always completely separate and that the missing hinge flap was connected with an additional locking device on the vessel. If this was so, the lid would first have been fitted on to the vessel and turned so that the tongues slid into place. Then the hinge flap would be brought down over its partner, the lock on the vessel, and clasped. This theory certainly allows

A PROBLEM PIECE OF KASHMIRI METALWORK 73

the object to be closed but there is very little sign of any substantial fitting on the vessel, only one large circular rivet hole! One obvious fact emerges-the vessel when closed was to be kept so at all costs. A suggestion which has the merits of being practical is that it served as a portable canteen for transport- ing food. The secure fastening devices would ensure that the food arrived at its destination in a reasonable condition and the streamlined shape and original loop handle would mean easy carrying. Com- parable examples have not yet been found to elucidate or confuse the problem, although enquiries have been made of several of the principal European, American and Soviet collections. Certainly cylindrical metal boxes were not unknown in the Islamic world-an Egyptian example in the British Museum attributed to the I6th century may be quoted ;2 but no significant comparison can be drawn. The massiveness of the Edinburgh piece suggests that comparable pieces should be sought in Tibet, with which country Kashmir had close contacts. Tibetan metalwork is characterised by the use of large forms and lidded cylindrical food vessels. In the search for comparative material a large range of Orien- tal paintings were examined to see if they depicted such a vessel or its ancestor, but the result was negative.

(J.M.S.)

THE INSCRIPTION

The lengthy Persian inscription might be expected, since it is historical in character, to be of help in dating the piece. It is contained in sixteen panels, distributed according to the following plan.

PLAN OF SIDE

CENTIMETRES

LOCKING . DEVICE

/Il

3o7HLOCKING I,

E, '

I IDEVICE

PLAN OF'LID

KEY

Design motifs "', ,

-

Rim not visible from above, includes part " - '

of fittings and - - --. inscriptions HINGE SInscriptions

D. Barrett, Islamic Metalwork in the British Museum (London, 1949), P1. 31.


It is in a tolerably good nasta'liq hand, showing Indian influence, and in the context of work of this kind is relatively free of errors. It is obviously incomplete, a line (at least) being absent from the beginning (possibly on the missing handle), while the ending is somewhat abrupt.

The full text, unamended, follows:

A. 'a!; 4)JL jC*

r

B. 5. . . , .,? .• :•

D. 0

E. 1-1

?xt z• -j -"

J. , JbJ )1 O JaL t)J 6 Z

L. Jjol.J L if .eju;.,js e

0.

There are a number of obvious copyist's errors in this text ( ;j for % m.h.n.z.m. for m.n.h.z.m., etc.), and other necessary emendations that are not so immediately obvious; but since later in this paper we shall be considering another version of the same passage, we shall leave detailed correction to that stage and confine ourselves here to discussion of the subject-matter, which (although his name is nowhere mentioned) is clearly a " potted " biography of Mirza Muhammad Haidar Dughlat, ruler of Kashmir from 948/1541-958/1551, and better known to posterity as the author of the Tdrikh-i Rashidi.3

There follows an emended translation of the text, together with annotations from the Tdrikh-i Rashidi. Words supplied or emended are given in square brackets.

A History of the Moghuls of Central Asia, being the Tarikh-i-Rashidi of Mirza Muhammad Haidar, Dughldt. An English version edited ... by N. Elias ... The translation by E. Denison Ross (London, I898).

In the absence of a published edition of the text, all references will be given to this translation. Passages in Persian are quoted from British Museum MS. Add 24090, the principal manuscript used by Denison Ross.


TEXT: " [Mirz HI.aidar

Kfirkdn son of Mirza Muhammad HIusain Kfirkan, maternal grandson of] Yiinis Khan, maternal cousin of Babar the late king [and] of Abfi Sa'id Khan king of Yarqand and [Uighfiristin ?, Mughfilistan ?] and son of Sultan [Ahmad Khan] son of the above-mentioned Yfinis Khan, of the descendants of [Tfighlfiq] Timfir Khan of the line of [Chaghatdy] son of Chingiz Khan."

T'drikh-i Rashidi: Genealogical Table (based on pp. 155-6 and Section II of the Introduction, pp.28*- 50*):

Chingiz I

Chaghatdy

(5 generations)

Timtir-i Lang Thighliq Timiir

(3 generations) (4 generations)

Yiinis Khan

I 1 I I 'Umar Q_ tltigh Khiib Nigar Muhammad Sultan Sultan Shaikh Nigar Khanum Khdnum Husain Kfirkdn Mahmaid Ahmad

(d. 9I4) Babar (d.937) Mirza Haidar Sultan

(905-58) Sa'id Khan

Humayiln (d.963) (d.939)

TEXT: " The birth of the Mirzd was in the time of Mahmfid in the year 905 in the city of Oritipa."

Tdrikh-i Rashidi: " At the time of my birth, which was in 905, ... " (p. 152). " In the year 899 [my father] received the country ofUshtur Ushna [sic: Persian text reads '.w.s.r w.sh.n.h] (which is known now as Uritippa) ... I was born after my father had governed for six years." (p. 154).

TEXT: " And after the passage of time he [went] from Yarqand by the command of Abfi Sa'id Khan; later, after the conquest of Tibet, in the same year on the fourth day of the month of Sha'bdn he defeated Kashmir with four thousand cavalry and, [having strengthened the efforts of Shah Muhammad the king (or having given it back to Muhammad Shah who was the king of Kashmir)],4 he went back to Abfi Sa'id Khan, who had remained in Tibet."

Tdrikh-i Rashidi: " At the end of the year 938 the Khan made a holy war on the infidel country (Kdfiristdn) of Tibet, sending me forward in advance of himself... The Khan saw fit to send me in company with Iskandar SultAn, to Kashmir, with 4000 men ... I entered Kashmir that winter, and at the end of the season ... exterminated the whole army of Kashmir and the kings (mulak) ... Peace was made with the kings of Kashmir, and the daughter of Muhammad Shah, the PAdishah of Kashmir

(ki padishdh-i Kashmir bad ), was given in marriage to Iskandar Sultan ... All the wealth of Kashmir, that it was possible to collect, was brought, in the spring following that winter, to the KhAn in Tibet..." (pp. 135-6). " This happened on the 4th of Shabin, 939. (An ingenious person found the date in Ruz-i-chahdrum az mah-i-Shabdn)." (p. 439).

4 See alternative text on p. 77. 9


TEXT: " The Khan appointed him to Lhasa, and himself set out for Yarqand, but on the way he died.'

Tdrikh-i Rashidi: " The Khan, on my return, honoured me with every mark of royal benevolence and favour, and sent me to UrsAng6 . . while he himself set out for Kashghar ... When he reached a spot where dam-giri was prevalent, his pious soul took flight to the regions of the blessed. This was at the close of the year 939." (PP. 136-7)

TEXT: " Complete disorder seized hold of the Mirza; he went to Badakhshin and joined Humayfin P~dish~h.. ."

Tdrikh-i Rashidi: (The above episode actually occupied a period of nearly seven years, Mirzi IHaidar having meanwhile passed through Badakhshin and Kabul to Lahore, where he first entered the service of Hum•yin's younger brother Kamran Mirzd, and subsequently joined Humiyiin at Agra in 946/1539). " [The routes] to Kashmir, Kishghar, Turffn, and Hindustan were all equally impossible. The road to

BadakhshAn was the only one that offered any hope of safety (p. 464) ... I moved off finally, with twenty-seven men (p. 465) ... That winter I passed in Badakhshin... in the summer I went to Kabul ... I passed on into Hindustan. When I reached Lahore I found Kamran Mirza, son of Babar Padishah, there. He came out to meet me with every mark of respect ... (p.467). When I entered [Humdyiin Padishah's] service at Agra, it was after his defeats (p. 469) ... "

TEXT: " ... and when the defeated king went to Iran, the MirzS in command of two hundred cavalry went up from Lahore, seized Kashmir again, and became governor."

Tdrikh-i Rashidi: " The Emperor (Pddishdh), after endless hardships and incalculable misfortunes, passed on to Irik ... I obtained, by the grace of Providence, the permission of Humayun to depart, and ... started from LAhur in the direction of Kashmir ... At noonday prayers on Monday, the 8 Rabi II. 948 [2nd August, 1541], we routed an army of 5000 cavalry, and several thousand foot, with a body of only 300 men .. ." (pp. 484-6)

In spite of discrepancies, the details in the vessel inscription are sufficiently close to the Tdrikh-i Rashidi account to allow us to assume that its compiler was using an authoritative source. It is therefore tempting to suppose that the vessel had some connection with Mirzi IHaidar, and was possibly even made for him. This would date it in the middle of the sixteenth century, a dating that on stylistic grounds seems rather unlikely; to quote Mr. A. S. Melikian-Chirvani, " If it is of the I6th century, then it is a most extraordinary piece ... a major landmark in the little-known field of Islamic metalwork." I must quickly add that Mr. Melikian-Chirvani was much more inclined to attribute it to the I8th century, and further information from Mr. Simon Digby makes it clear that we cannot attach too much importance to the subject-matter of the inscription. Mr. Digby draws attention to what appears to be a Kash- miri tradition of inscriptions referring directly or indirectly to Mirz

I.Haidar; there are, it seems, a

number of metal articles from Kashmir of obviously later date that bear scraps of such inscriptions. In his own possession are a small spouted ewer of tinned copper with the date 905, a piece of Kashmiri brasswork with the date 509 (!), and a lidded cauldron dated I02i A.H. with a " genealogy " including the words az auldd-i Chaghatdy ibn Chingiz Khdn . He also recalls having seen a degchi in Bombay bearing the words Tdrkand and Chaghatdy az nasl-i Chingiz, while a vessel in the Prince of Wales Museum of Western India, Bombay, described by the Museum itself, in a letter dated July 3, 1970, as "a large samovar of copper with a duck-billed spout, a handle and two rings on the sides," bears an inscription in cartouches all over the vessel apparently similar to the one at present under consideration, and containing the date 905 A.H. " According to a leading expert, " continues the Museum's letter, " it belongs to the period of Mirza Haidar, but his name does not appear in any one of the cartouches."

Mr. Digby has little doubt that the source of this tradition is the inscription on Mirzi Haidar's tombstone in Srinagar, which is even more significant for our enquiry, as a large part of it is almost identical with the inscription of our brass vessel. Several additional lines state that this tombstone was executed by one 'Izzatullah Khan on the instructions of William Moorcroft, who travelled through

s * Ursjng is identified by Elias with Lhasa (p. 136n.).


Central Asia in the early I820's purchasing horses for the East India Company, and died in Bukhara in 1825. His published travels, edited posthumously,6 contain no reference to the commissioning of this work, but among Moorcroft's papers preserved in the India Office Library is a letter7 addressed to George Swinton, Secretary to the Bengal Government (Moorcroft's official post was Superintendent of the Bengal Government Stud), and datedJuly 20, 1823, which runs as follows:

" Respect for the memory of a Great Man induced me to restore the tombstone of Meerza Haedar which had been broken under an impulse of exultation that Europeans after effecting a conquest have more generously learned to subdue.

" 2. The recorded abstract of his actions as presented contains an exploit which through the dis- proportion between the Agency and the effect forms a strong contrast and contrasts also with the force employed for this same object by Zilchoo Khan8 in equal degree as the beneficent conduct of the liberal Mogul with the exterminating cruelty of his ferocious countryman.

" 3. This fact it is respectfully submitted furnishes matter for serious reflection in relation to events more than possible and which may exhibit contrasts still more decided and fraught with consequences of more extended operations."

Two entries in Moorcroft's accounts9 give the date of this work: " March 4. To Cutting Tombstone /Meerza Haedar Rs.5. March 7. To Stone-cutter. Rs.5. " Unfortunately no published transcription of this epitaph is available. A plate appears in Dr. G. M. D. Sufi's history of Kashmir,10 but its legibility is fatally impaired not only by the awkward angle at which the photograph was taken but also by the clumsy efforts of a well-meaning retoucher. Mr. Digby has kindly lent me a contact print from a 35mm negative taken by himself, which has proved most valuable in reconstituting the greater part of the inscription; unfortunately the negative is missing, and the small size of the print has made it impossible to decipher certain worn or otherwise obscured portions. The table on the following page shows the variants from the vessel inscription.

The identity of the two inscriptions is obviously complete. Are we to assume then that our vessel, together with all other pieces bearing portions of the Mirza Haidar tomb inscription, were copied from the Moorcroft tombstone, and therefore post-date 1823 ? If we suppose that Moorcroft and his munshi between them composed the inscription, then this is the only possible conclusion, and our dating problem is solved-at least to the extent of providing a terminus a quo. Mr. Digby points out that the tombstone inscription is the most legible Persian inscription in the cemetery at Srinagar, and that the copper- smiths' bazaar is at a convenient distance from it. But the wording of Moorcroft's letter, while inconclusive, does at least leave open the possibility that his inscription was in large part copied from the earlier tombstone, with the addition of a passage recording his own share. We are indeed bound to assume that some sort of inscription marked the site of the tomb from the sixteenth century onwards; and it is not impossible that the tombstone found by Moorcroft was the original one set in place after Mirz I;IHaidar's funeral. If then this earlier tombstone was the source also of the vessel inscriptions, when was it composed ? And was it taken from some historical work containing biographical references to Mirzd IHaidar, or was it an original composition ?

According to Storey,11 the following works (in addition to the Tdrikh-i Rashidi itself) contain records of Mirzd Haidar's life and activities: Bdbar-ndma, Haft Iqlim, Tabaqdt-i Akbari, Akbar-ndma, X'in-i Akbari, Tdrikh-i Firishta, and Ma'dthir al-umard. None of these works prove on examination to contain passages even distantly resembling the inscription in question, nor does any one of them mention all the facts. The same is true of the Kashmiri chronicles, which have been kindly examined for me by Mr. Simon Digby; Bahdristdn-i Shd/h, Tdrikh-i

H.aidar Malik Chddzira, and the later Vdqi'dt-i

A'.ami of

6 William Moorcroft and George Trebeck, Travels in the Hima-

layan provinces of Hindustan and the Panjab; in Ladakh and Kashmir; in Peshawar, Kabul, Kunduz, and Bokhara . .. from 1819 to r825. Prepared for the press, from original journals.., .by H. H. Wilson (London, 1841), 2 vols.

'India Office Library, MSS. Eur. D.264, No. 6 (p. 229).

8 Zulchfi or Dulcha invaded Kashmir in 1322 A.D. and ravaged the country for a period of eight months.

9 India Office Library, MSS. Eur.D.269. 10 G. M. D. Sufi, Kashir, being a history of Kashmir from the earliest

times to our own (Lahore, 1948), Vol. I, plate facing p. 208. xx C. A. Storey, Persian Literature. A Bio-Bibliographical Survey,

Section II. Fasc. 2 (London, 1936), p. 276.


Vessel Line

omitted

omitted

A Zk B 'C C 4 s•

D E F G H J

K

L

M

N

0 3'

p ? jO ~ tL

Tombstone Line

I juI,

2 b -

3

14 z) LJt-

6 J..

7~J. (.

. . 8 j J

9

12

14 I JLOO

The remainder of line i4 and lines I 5- 19 of the tombstone inscription run as follows:

•4? o•~, •,II (?)•h?' ?.,• jl (?).,. .

•~Il (?).. ? ;

16 . . . . .s.. . ..... ... .. ........ (?) ........ .-

8 (?) ...... - . '9

..~ L;

.I . .L)

....... ( ....... . (?) (?) YrA


Muhammad A'zam Diddamari. It seems fairly clear then that whoever compiled the original of the tombstone/cauldron inscription used the Tdrikh-i Rashidi (or its author ?) as his source.

This does not really get us very much further. Somebody used the Tdrikh-i Rashidi to concoct a potted biography of its author; but this need not necessarily have been Moorcroft and 'Izzatullah. The tombstone could have been inscribed, and the vessel inscription copied at any time during the preceding two hundred years or so. Support for this theory would be provided if

(i) the language, style and wording of the inscription were consistent with an earlier rather than a later date.

(ii) the discrepancies between the two inscriptions were such as to make it unlikely that the vessel version was copied from the tombstone.

The language of the inscription is in a simple, almost crude Persian, a circumstance that forces one to consider the possibility that it was originally composed by Moorcroft in English and translated by 'Izzatulldh Khan. One phrase in particular, bdz ba-Muhammad Shdh ... ddda " he gave it back to Muhammad Shah " would lend colour to this theory; but it must also be noted that there is a discrepancy here between the tomb and the vessel inscriptions, which will be discussed later. In general the style is not very different from that of the Tdrikh-i Rashidi, which is free of the ornament and elaboration of later Indo-Persian (and indeed Persian) writing. It is perhaps worth noting that the last part of the tomb inscription, absent from the vessel, contains a brief passage of saj' that seems inconsistent with the style of the rest, and could have been added by 'Izzatullih. The royal titles employed, Humdyin Pddishdh, Bdbur Pddishdh, also suggest that we are dealing with an early text; in a later one one might have expected such phrases as Jannat-dshydni, Firdaus-makdni. In the Tdrikh-i Rashidi the two emperors are normally described as Bdbar Padishth, HumTyfin Padishdh, though in one or two places Bdbar has the additional title of Ghazi and sometimes the kunya and personal name Zahir al-Din Muhammad. The title Pddishdh-i Kashmir applied to Muhammad Shah seems surprising until one recalls that it is used by Mirza Haidar in the passage quoted above.12 Rather less easy to swallow is the designation Pddishdh-i Ydrqand u Yughf- wistdn/lughalistdn, but this must be discussed in another context. The term Pddishdh-i dirina applied to B~bar sounds like a near-contemporary expression; it is difficult to see why Moorcroft and 'Izzatullah, writing in 1823, should have described him as the " late " emperor.

The foreshortening of the 1539-46 period is a little puzzling if the writer was following the Tdrikh-i Rashidi, but intelligible if the inscription was being composed after Humayain's return to power and elimination of Kdmrdn Mirzt, in whose service Mirzt Haidar was during most of the intervening time.

The inscription contains at least three chronograms, and it is of interest that these are distinguished by being written in naskh script in the tombstone version (though not on the vessel). The first, the rather clumsy and indeed tautological a-, ai a JL [~` c. = 905 is not traceable to the Tdrikh-i Rashidi, where Mirza Haidar's birth-date is enshrined in the more graceful chronogram U..t J _j .13 The second chronogram, commemorating Mirz

I.Haidar's first victory in Kashmir, is taken from the

Tdrikh-i Rashidi,14 though it has been repeated in other later chronicles: 0.L

^. 31 )C-,

) J) = 939. The third chronogram (omitted in the vessel version) commemorates the second conquest of Kashmir, and is taken from p. 485 of the Tarikh-i Rashidi:15

. r-"j ~i = 947. A fourth chronogram,

perhaps the date of Mirza IHaidar's death, may be concealed in the group of illegible words ending with the word ildhi, which is also in naskh script on the tombstone.

One curious divergence from the Trikh-i Rashidi is the form given to the name of MirzV IHaidar's cousin and first patron, which appears as Abi Sa'id Khan, whereas throughout Mirzi

H.aidar's own

12 Tdrikh-i Rashidi, p. 136. 13 Tdrikh-i Rashfdf, op. cit., p. 152. 14 p. 439. 15 There is a curious error in the translation here, EDR having

taken the words 4. S ~iSj l )

.

as representing the

chronogram, although these add up to 995. The passage runs as follows:

The translation should therefore read: " I have explained that on the 22nd of Rajab, I crossed the pass of Kashmir. The date of my accession to the throne of Kashmir I discovered in these same words' dar bist u dayum-i rajab '."

l~u 1~ ~lrill j3r,~ cs;ul ~b ~J-rJ ;I LA~ ~~ ~iP ~ttI, r ?? c. r c r rr


book it appears as Sultan Sa'id Khan. Another discrepancy is the use of the name Ldsd for the capital of Tibet, where Mirz Haidar uses Orsang, a corruption of the Chinese word for Tibet, Wu-tsang. This could be an indication of a late date for the inscription, though it is uncertain how early the name Lhasa became widely current in the Islamic world; it is first found in the I oth century HIudad al-'Xlam, where however the name Gfirsang is also found.

We come finally to the vexed question ofYdrqand/Ydrkand and Yughaiwistmn/Mughilistan,

both of which appear in the inscriptions to refer to countries or provinces. In the later chronicles the first is normally known as Kdshghar, and though Mirza IHaidar frequently refers to Yarkand (always with a kdf) as the capital, he employs Kdshghar to designate the whole country as well as the city of that name. The use of the name Yarkand in the inscription could therefore date from a time before Kashghar became a generally accepted term for the area, or alternatively might be a nineteenth-century innovation. The other name is even more puzzling. If we accept the reading Mughfilistdn as the original, there is no particular problem; Mughoilistdn was the homeland of the Chaghatay Khans, and Yarkand, generally under their suzerainty but ruled from 873 to 920 by one Aba Bakr Mirza, was reoccupied in that year by Sulttn Sa'id

Khmn.16 But it is difficult to see how the reasonably careful engraver of the

brass vessel could have corrupted the intelligible Mughfilistan into the meaningless Yughfiwistan. The word is obviously a corruption of Uightiristan, which according to Elias was already becoming an unfamiliar designation for the eastern Khanate by the sixteenth century. Elias indeed writes that " on two occasions [Mirza IHaidar] mentions a country or province of Uighuristdn'"7, but the index does not give any references to the text, and it seems that the term used by MirzA Haidar is in fact Sdrigh tighfir, the Yellow Uighurs.1s Could Sultan Sa'id Khan ever have been described as pddishdh (the title does seem to have been used by local rulers in Central Asia, see for example the Tdrikh-i Rashidi, p. 92) of Yarkand and Qighoiristan ? Both the geography and the history of the area are extremely obscure, but the following seems to be the position.19

Western Khanate Eastern Khanate (Mughalistdn) (Oighfristdn)

Vais Khan (?-832)

I I Yainis Khan (832) Isan Bugha II (832-66)

? I (Interregnum) Dist Muhammad Khan (866-73)

: I Yfinis Khan (860-78) Kabak Sultan Oghlan (873-78)

Yiinis Khan (878-92) I

I I Sultan Mahmiid (892-914) Sultan Ahmad Khan (892-908)

I I Sultan Sa'id Khan (914-39) Sultan MansUr Khan (908-50)

(Yarkand ruled by AbS Bakr MirzT c. 873-920, then reoccupied by Sultan Sa'id Khan)

' Tarikh-i Rashfdi, p. 325. 17 Tarfkh-i Rashidi, op. cit., p. ioo*.

I' Ibid., pp. 7, 52, 64, 348. 1' Tdrikh-i Rashdi, pp. 47*-48*-


It seems clear from this that Sultan Sa'id was never ruler of Uighiiristan, which was under his elder brother's sway throughout the whole of his reign. Nevertheless there was certainly rivalry between Sultan Ahmad's various sons, and one cannot completely rule out the possibility of a claim on behalf of Sa'id which was reflected in an inscription relating to his loyal servant and admirer Mirz

I.Haidar. It is clear that the tombstone inscription is a more careful text than the vessel inscription. This is not altogether surprising when one remembers that craftsman producing metal-work and so on would be illiterate or semi-literate, whereas greater care would be taken over the preparation of a monument. About half the discrepancies fall into the category of minor errors, most of which occur in the vessel inscription, though one (dir.na for dirina) is found on the tombstone. It is worth noting also that the wdw immediately following this word, omitted on the vessel, is inserted rather awkwardly above the line on the tombstone, and may therefore have been absent from the common source used by the two craftsmen. One error, m.h.n.z.m. for m.n.h.z.m., occurs in both texts. The discrepancies in personal names (Sultdn Ahmad Khdn/Sultdn, Tfighlfiq/ TzighId.q, Chaghatdy/Chaghatdni, Chingiz/Chingiz) do not seem to be particularly significant either. We are left however with a hard core of differences which it seems impossible to explain purely as the misreading of the tombstone by the brassworker.

(i) Sana for sdl: this destroys the chronogram; but a chronogram that contains the date in plain seems rather pointless, and it may be that the original compiler of the text did not intend the phrase to be taken as a chronogram, and that it was 'Izzatulldh's ingenuity that led to the alteration.

(ii) Bar dmada/bar ba'dahu: the vessel is obviously wrong, but it is difficult to see how dmada could have been misread as ba'dahu, and it is at least possible that the original inscription read bar dmada ba'dahu.

(ii) Jib!ir~?U46.Dl~/j ?l~ru~ f o~-~;L

The vessel reading is a puzzle, but-on the principle that scribes simplify rather than complicate-it is difficult to see why the brassworker should have misunderstood the straightforward statement on the

tombstone. If one interprets f as Muhammad and substitutes quwwa for the puzzling t.w.h, the sentence makes some kind of sense (see the proposed translation on p. 75).

(iv) bdz ba-Hind/az: there is no evidence that Mirzi Haidar had been in India prior to his flight through Badakhshdn and Kabul to join Kdmran Mirz~ in Lahore, so that the tombstone interpolation seems inappropriate here.

(v) Ydrkand/rYrqand: the tombstone spelling with kdf follows the Tdrikh-i Rashidi, and also incidentally the spelling used in his Safarndma by 'Izzatullah Khan, who visited the city in the course of a journey to Central Asia undertaken at Moorcroft's request during the years I227/1812 and I228/1813.20 The spelling with qdf is probably influenced by the spelling of Samarqand, Khoqand, and so on, but whether it is earlier or later than Yarkand it is impossible to say. There is no obvious reason why the brassworker should have altered the spelling, if he was copying from the tombstone.

(vi) Mughilistdn/rughiwistdn: this point has already been discussed. (vii) The omission in vessel line P of the chronogram in tombstone line 13 has no obvious explana-

tion; there seems again to be no reason why the brassworker should have left it out if he was copying from the tombstone.

(viii) The same applies to the omission of the length of Mirzd Haidar's ten-year reign in line P of the vessel inscription. A possible explanation could be that this version of the inscription was originally composed during Mirza IHaidar's life-time-which would account also for the omission of the passage on the tombstone referring to his death. This however would not commit us to dating the vessel from the MirzZ's lifetime, tempting though this would be.

(ix) The discrepancies over the number of horsemen who accompanied Mirza IIaidar on his second conquest of Kashmir are particularly puzzling. The vessel gives a figure of " two hundred ", the tombstone " four hundred and fifty". Neither of these accord with the Tdrikh-i Rashidi, where (on p. 48I) the

20 I.O. 2728, 2729; B.M. Or. 2009, 2769; Bodl. 1858. Transla- tion: Travels in Central Asia by Meer Izzut-oollah in the year

z8zi--

z813. Translated by Capt. Henderson (Calcutta, 1872).


author first states: banda az banda u dzdd ba-chahdr sad kas mutawajjiih-i Kashmir shudam and then (on p. 485): " No one expected a battle that day; most had gone off in different directions to attend to their own affairs; so that only about 250 men were present, together with a few Kashmiris who had joined the Moghuls, making in all about 300." Figures in Islamic chronicles are notoriously unreliable; the Tabaqdt-i Akbari, written in 1593, repeats the Tdrikh-i Rashidi figure: hamrdh-i Mirzd IHaidar z4ydda bar chahdr sad suwdr nablid.

The Tdrikh-i Firishta, written in 1606-7, multiples it tenfold: wa hamrdh-i Mirzd Haidar-i Turk ziydda bar sih chahdr hazdr suwdr nabad.21

Moorcroft's letter to Swinton confirms the speculation of G. T. Vigne22 that " Mr. Moorcroft caused the inscription to be cut, in order, I should imagine, to inform the world that Kashmir had been and could again be invaded by cavalry from Yarkund, vid Ladak." If such was his intention, the in- clusion in a short epitaph of the size of Mirza IHaidar's force, as a warning to the Kashmiris that even a small invading force could be dangerous, would be understandable. But in that case why inflate the figure above that given by the invader himself? As to the vessel, the even smaller figure is as mysterious as the use of dii sad instead of duwist (which latter word is regularly used in the Tdrikh-i Rashidi). There is a superficial similarity of outline between the two phrases:

I I ~~~z ~LD ~J~ J~~iL/~~~)z oL~t)_t ~s JL&F ~

with a slight balance of probability in favour of the tombstone version being an attempt to emend the vessel version, rather than the reverse.

The weight of evidence therefore seems to be in favour of an earlier, perhaps considerably earlier, common source for the two inscriptions.

It must regretfully be concluded that the inscription on the vessel is of little help in dating the article. We have a terminus a quo (1541, Mirza IHaidar's second conquest of Kashmir) which is considerably earlier than anything likely on stylistic grounds, and, while the discrepancies discussed above suggests that it pre-dates the 1823 tombstone, we are by no means on firm ground even here. The most that can be said with certainty is that the inscription does not rule out the 17th or i8th century dating suggested by the other evidence.

(L. P. E.-S.)

DISCUSSION OF VESSEL

The important question here is-how does this vessel fit into the Kashmiri metalwork tradition? Any attempt to outline the development of Muslim metalwork in Kashmir soon encounters difficulties. There are few known examples which can be dated over a wide timespan to provide a chronology. A few pieces in the Victoria and Albert Museum bear seventeenth century dates and can be used for comparative purposes. This method, however, has limitations, since styles of decoration can persist long after they were introduced. Kashmiri metalwork also forms part of the general problem of Muslim metalwork of the Indian sub-continent in that no attempt has been made to separate it properly into groups and to examine its relationship with contemporary Persian wares.

The difficulties are obviously increased by the lack of critical studies. It is fair, however, to say that most of the slender volume of studies on Kashmiri metalwork were written late during the last century when the authors had even less than the present scanty information at their disposal. Their descriptions occur in the sections on metalwork of the somewhat exhaustive catalogues of Indian art-particularly of the Indian equivalent of the industrial fair such as the Delhi exhibition of 1903-much beloved of the

19th Century.23 21 Tabaqdt-i Akbari, Lucknow, I875, p. 6I5. Tdrikh-i Firishta

Cawnpore, 1874, Vol. II, p. 355. 22 G. T. Vigne, Travels in Kashmir, Ladak, Iskardo ... Second

edition, (London, 1844), Vol. II, p. 79.

23 Sir George Birdwood, Industrial Arts of India (London I88o). H. H. Cole, Catalogue of the Objects of Indian Art exhibited in the South Kensington Museum (London 1874) . Sir George Watt, Indian Art at Delhi (London 1904).


Two works, however, concentrate on Kashmiri metalwork-an article by J. Lockwood Kipling24 and a more ambitious book by de Ujfalvy.25 Gaston Migeon, who thought that Kashmiri metalwork was a subject of historical rather than of aesthetic interest, somewhat acidly refers to its wares as objects " auxquels M. de Ujfalvy a consacr6 un livre d'un developpement excessif ".26

The point about these early works is that, while they amass details about types of Kashmiri metalwork, it is not clear whether they are describing old or contemporary pieces, since all the information is grouped together without any indication of date. Migeon is an exception to this as he attributes the majority of Kashmir's tinned copperware to a seventeenth or eighteenth century date.27 The most cautious approach is not to discard the early writers but to regard their information as valid for the I9th century end of the metalwork tradition. Any constructive study obviously centres on the objects themselves. A meticulous analysis of them from all aspects will at least yield some picture of the characteristics of Kashmiri pieces to provide a basis for comparison with other Islamic metalwork traditions, notably that of Iran. This typological study should be backed up by a search for clues in the cultural background of Kashmir.

The Edinburgh vessel belongs to a class of metalwork which is closely related to that of Iran with some Central Asian and Tibetan flavours added. Kashmir has been officially Muslim since the fourteenth century, and a brief survey will pinpoint the contacts with Iran. Hindu Kashmir was no stranger to Islam. After the Muslim conquest of Sind in the eighth century, some Arabs settled in Kashmir. Visit- ing Kashmir in the late thirteenth century, Marco Polo refers to Muslims there.28 The establishment of a Muslim Sultanate and the conversion of the country to Islam complemented each other. The first Sultan was a Tibetan, Prince Rinchan of Ladakh. He was converted to Islam by Bulbul Shah, a Muslim divine from Turkestan, and reigned as Sultan Sadr-ud-Din (1320-23). He is said to have been influenced towards Islam by his vizier Shah Mir, who later became Sultan Shams-ud-Din (1339-92). After the acceptance of Islam by the rulers, the main work of conversion was gradually accomplished by the missionary activities of Muslim divines. Here Persian influence is revealed, since two of the chief figures were the Persians Shaikh Hamadan, who first visited Kashmir in 1392, and his son Mir Muham- mad Hamadani. Both had travelled in Turkestan and were accompanied by large numbers of divines who spread Islam's doctrines all over Kashmir.

Apart from the attempts of Sultan Sikandar (1394-1416) to establish diplomatic relations with Timir, the real work of creating cultural ties with Iran was accomplished by the energetic Sultan Zain-ul-'Abidin (1420-70). He established Persian as the official court language and had the Sanskrit classics translated into Persian. He maintained a wide correspondence with Muslim rulers including those of Khursian, Azarbaijan and Gilan. Zain-ul-'Abidin gave special encouragement to the industries and crafts of Kashmir by inviting artisans from Iran and Turkestan and also by sending Kashmiris abroad to learn. Mirzi Haidar speaks with admiration of the special crafts which Zain-ul-'Abidin initiated.29

One class only of Kashmiri metalwork is relevant here-chased and engraved copper and brass. Since the wares were for Muslims, tinned copper chiefly was used on grounds of ritual purity. The objects made were a wide variety of domestic utensils -plates, bowls (P1. IIc), surahis and lotas (water vessels), tea and coffee pots, spouted ewers, samovars-all of pleasingly curved shapes. Decoration consisted of elaborate chased and engraved designs with a black lacquer-like substance rubbed into the background. Two copper bowls in the Victoria and Albert Museum with Persian inscriptions giving owners' names and dates30 are good examples of the style of decoration. One of the bowls dated 1026/

16I 7 (P1. IIc) is ornamented with a deep band of alternately spaced arabesque motifs on a plain ground. The motifs vary in shape from row to row and are linked vertically, giving the impression that they fan

24 J. Lockwood Kipling, " The brass and copper ware of the Punjab and Cashmere," Journal of Indian Art (London January 1884), No. I.

s' Ch.-E. de Ujfalvy, L'art des cuivres anciens du Cachemire (Paris I883).

•6 Gaston Migeon, Manuel d'Art Musulman, vol. II (Paris 1907), p. 216.

2" Migeon, op. cit. pp. 215-216. 28 The Travels of Marco Polo, translated by Ronald Latham, the

Folio Society (London, 1968), p. 62. 29 Tdrikh-i Rashidi, p. 434. 30 Indian Section 1324.I883; 14o8.I883.


out from the base of the bowl. The use of arabesque motifs is paralleled in other Indo-Muslim metalwork, for example a Mughal brass lota in the Victoria and Albert Museum of the seventeenth century.31 The second Kashmiri bowl dated Io96/1685 shows the arabesque interpreted as a deep band of close- textured continuous design. Spiralling stems bear large bilobed leaves which act as springboards for new growths of tendrils. The stems are punctuated with lotuses and star-like flowers. This style is more sinuous and graceful than the arabesque motif style.

Although Zain-ul-'Abidin can be credited with stimulating Persian influence on the arts and crafts of Kashmir, it is a problem to give concrete support to this because there seem to be no pieces of metalwork which can be dated to his reign. The I7th century pieces, however, strongly resemble contemporary Safavid pieces (P1. II c & d) and it is possible to deduce that stylistic development in both countries proceeded at an even pace. This development can be more easily traced in Iran since surviving pieces are dateable over a wider timespan. Broadly speaking there was a major change in the style of metalwork after the I4th Century. The heavy shapes and lavishly inlaid decoration gave way to more curving forms and designs. The main feature of the new decoration was the use of exuberant floral motifs in which chased and engraved outlines predominate. The full development of this style was reached in Safavid times, where it was expressed throughout the arts. The roots of the style may be found in Timfirid times, and it is important to stress here again that it was with Timairid Iran that Zain-ul-'Abidin had contact. Timirid patronage also extended beyond Iran to include much of Central Asia. The question arises of how much were Central Asian ideas a formative influence on both Persian and Kashmiri styles. There can be no satisfactory answer to this until the material evidence is properly studied. What can be said is that Central Asian metalwork was heavily influenced by Persian decorative motifs.

A Timiirid brass pen box in the Musde des Beaux-Arts, Lyons,32 dated to the fifteenth century, shows elements which later crystallised into definite stylistic features. The motifs are reduced in size and distributed on a plain background. They are filled with meticulously engraved tracery. The fully developed style is illustrated by a brass ewer of seventeenth century date33 (P1. IId). The design-and variations upon it-formed a principal decorative theme of Safavid metalwork which was popular from the seventeenth century onwards. It consists of rows of alternately spaced and vertically linked arabesque motifs on a plain background. Other decorative themes included continuous arabesque patterns often with animal and human figures.

Although Persian and Kashmiri pieces strongly resemble each other enough to say that Iran was the chief influence, comparison does show that the relationship was one of cousins rather than of twins. The seventeenth century copper bowl and brass ewer demonstrate this. The same technical processes of manufacture and decoration have been used in each article. In both cases the main design element is a broad band of alternately spaced arabesque motifs against a plain background. The effect of the Persian design is, however, softer and more supple rather like a patterned textile; the chasing is worked in broad strokes and shallow relief. The Kashmiri design is sharper, almost brittle, with chasing worked in thin lines and deeper relief. The motifs which vary in shape from row to row are very similar in both pieces and are vertically linked. They are filled with arabesques based upon pairs of overlapping tendrils and large bilobed leaves. In the Persian motifs the arabesques are more skilfully managed; leaves divide to form tendrils which then link up again to spring into flower in a smoother manner that in the Kashmiri piece. In summary the basic difference of interpretation between these similar pieces is one of spirit rather than of design. An extra factor which has to be taken into account for Kashmiri metalwork is the influence of Tibet. Contacts with neighbouring Tibet were naturally close. For example the first Sultan was a Tibetan convert, and Zain-ul-'Abidin spoke Tibetan and laid territorial claim to Western Tibet. In metalwork the influence is seen in the massive shapes of some pieces-notably teapots with dragon spouts and handles.

31 Indian Section 2x1.889. 32 A. S. Melikian-Chirvani, " Un plumier d'6poque Timouride ",

Bullitin des Musles et Monuments Lyonnais, Vol. IV (1967-71), No. 2, I970o.

SS Royal Scottish Museum 1886.395.


The Edinburgh vessel obviously belongs to the tradition of Kashmiri metalwork strongly influenced by Iran and probably to the latter end of it. Since the piece seemingly stands alone it would be rash to use it as a supply of objective criteria for dating post-seventeenth century material. It is however, useful to compare it with the earlier pieces to see how the style was modified. The basic decorative scheme is that of the seventeenth century pieces-a broad band of alternatively spaced arabesque motifs on a plain background. From here, however, several differences emerge. The proportion of plain background to motif is larger in the vessel than in the seventeenth century bowl. The motifs are no longer linked, but are independent units and there is less variety of shape. Perhaps the most important feature of contrast is the part played by inscription bands in the vessel. They form a well-integrated and flamboyant element of the design set against their foliage backgrounds, while in the earlier bowl the inscription is modestly confined to a narrow band round the rim. The sharpness of design already mentioned in connection with the earlier piece is accentuated further in the vessel. The chasing is crisply worked, and the arabesques within the motifs are much more intricate sprouting busy tendrils and leaves, yet without any loss of control. As a general comment on the stylistic change illustrated by the two objects, it would seem that the reasonably sober metalwork of the seventeenth century became progressively more intricate until wares like this vessel were produced. There is regrettably insufficient evidence to document the stages between the two.

(J.M.S.)

Pl.

Ia. B

rass vessel and lid, Kashm

ir (RSM

1970o.254 &

A)

Pl.

Ib. L

id of vessel, Kashm

ir (RSM

1970.254

& A

)

P1. Ia. Detail of locking device from front (RSM 1970.254 & A) Pl. IIb. Detail of locking device from above (RSM 1970.254 & A)

Pl. IIc. Tinned copper bowl, Kashmir 1026A.H./I617 A.D. (V & A,LS. 1403.1883) P1. IMd. Brass ewer, Persian 17th Century (RSM 1886.395)

THE PROTO-ELAMITE SETTLEMENT AT TEPE YAHYA

By C. C. Lamberg-Karlovsky

Until very recently the archaeology of southeastern Iran was all but unknown. The pioneer work of Sir Aurel Stein' laid a foundation only recently amplified by the work of Professor J. Caldwell2 and Miss B. de Cardi.3 With the completion of our third season of excavation at Tepe Yahyd the area becomes one of fundamental importance, suggesting the need for major revisions to established chronological sequences and shedding wholly new light on the economic exchange mechanisms bringing Mesopotamia, the Persian Gulf, Elam, and the pre-Harappan Baluchistan painted pottery cultures into a shared "oikoumenE ". Our past three seasons of excavations at Tepe Yahyd have been published in monograph form and is presently available.4 It is our purpose here to summarize the results of our i970 field season (June 20-August 30)5 specifically the recovery of our Proto-Elamite settlement.6

Tepe Yalhy, located in the Kirman Province of Iran, is approximately 225 km. directly south of Kirman, and 30 km. northeast of the town of Dolatabad. Standing to a height of

19" 8 meters it is the

largest prehistoric site known in southeastern Iran. To date, after three seasons of excavation we have established the following sequence:'

Period I Partho-Sasanian pre-4oo A.D. Period II Achaemenian 300-5oo B.C. Period III Iron Age 500- 1ooo B.C. Period IV A Elamite(?) 2200-25oo B.C.

IV B Proto-Elamite 2500-3000 B.C. IV C Proto-Elamite 3000-340oo B.C.

Period V " Yahya Culture " 3400oo-38oo B.C. Period VI Coarse Ware " Neolithic " 3800-45oo00 B.C.

This paper concentrates entirely on the Proto-Elamite settlement of Period IV B and IV C, which provides the archaeological setting of the Proto-Elamite tablets, cylinder and stamp seals, ceramics, steatite, their architectural associations, and their implications to general chronological and culture historical reconstructions. The linguistic analysis of the texts and their possible translation are left to more capable hands.8

The Proto-Elamite settlement rests on a solid foundation evident already in the Period V occupation at Yahyda. This period is stratigraphically subdivided into three superimposed building phases, the

1 See Stein, M. A., Archaeological Reconnaissances in Northwestern India and Southeastern Iran (London, 1937). 2 See Caldwell, J. R., Investigations at Tal-i-Iblis, Illinois State Museum. Preliminary Reports, No. 9, Springfield, Ill. 1967.

3 See de Cardi, B., " Excavations at Bampur S. E. Iran: A Brief Report " Iran VI (1968), pp. 135-155, bibliography of other articles on Bampur available in above.

* See the author's Excavations at Tepe rahya, Iran, 1967-69. Progress Report I, American School of Prehistoric Research, Bulletin No. 27, Peabody Museum, Cambridge, Mass. and the Asia Institute of Pahlavi University, Shiraz, Iran. Monograph I (I970).

" Excavations have been supported by the National Science Foundation (GS-1572, GS-2o66), The Ford Foundation, and the Peabody Museum. The I970 season included Mr. Gholam Ali Shamlou for the Iran Archaeological Service, Dr. E. C. L. During-Caspers, Dr. Nagaraja Rao, James Humphries, Martha Prickett, Elizabeth Stone, Andrew Williamson, Pauline Shenkman, William Fitz, Philip Kohl, and Thomas

Beale. The art work was done by Miss Ann Hechle and a special thanks to our photographer Mr. Alexander D. Kernan for producing the photos included here under the pressure of limited time.

6 I would like to thank Professor Sir Max Mallowan and Dr. Georgina Herrmann for allowing me to submit this article at a late date and allowing for its rapid publication.

7For full discussion, and illustration, see Lamberg-Karlovsky, Excavations at Tepe Yahya I.

8 For a general discussion of the Proto-Elamite system see W. C. Brice, " The Writing and System of the Proto-Elamite Account Tablets ", Bulletin of the John Rylands Library 45, No. I (1962). This article also includes a fine bibliographic review. Even to the uninitiated in the mysteries of Proto- Elamite writing we can see that the numerical system on the

Ya~hy tablets is similar to those of the Susa Cb tablets. While both contain several identical signs there are variations unique to each.

87


middle phase (Period V B) is radiocarbon dated to 3660+] I40 B.C. (Washington State University- 872). Our exposure has uncovered several rooms of each phase, all of small domestic nature and quite in contrast to the larger and non-domestic character of the later Proto-Elamite settlement. Walls are built of thumb-impressed brick. Already in Period V the settlement evidences a prosperity in the use of local and imported resources: beads of carnelian, turquoise, steatite and ivory; bowls of alabaster and steatite; stamp seals of clay and stone, microliths of obsidian and a wide variety of flint colours; copper- bronze chisels, awls, and pins. Of considerable interest is the presence of camel bone in the debris of the rooms of this period, as well as in the earlier Period VI. Perhaps of greatest importance is the complete absence of a stratigraphic hiatus separating Period V from Period IV. In fact, there is every evidence to

support a direct continuity of ceramics, i.e. numerous shapes and painted motifs of Period V are directly continuous into Period IV C and IV B.9 Our evidence does not support the contention of an arrival of new peoples in Period IV responsible for the Proto-Elamite settlement but rather for an indigenous development.

Period V architecturally and ceramically can be directly paralleled in the Iblis I-II levelsx' and

clearly to the site of Chah Husseini reported by Stein." Parallels to sites on the Iranian Plateau, i.e. Sialk (II-III) are considerably more tenous. We argue thus for an indigenous development in the setting of the highlands of southeastern Iran, with a distinctive continuity from earlier periods for the development of the Proto-Elamite settlement at Tepe Yahyd. It is to that settlement that we now turn.

Period IV C The architecture of IV C represents a break in the function evident in the earlier buildings. Con-

structed directly above the domestic complex of Period V is a large single architectural unit outlining at least 5 rooms. The entire complex is known to be larger, buried beneath the overburden toward the heart of the mound, which only future seasons will uncover. The specialized function of the rooms are indicated through the recovery of tablets, cylinder sealings, and large storage jars recovered from one room (P1. I). There is no fortification wall about the settlement. The building is oriented to the cardinal

points and constructed of sun-dried bricks (24 x 24 x 12cm.); walls are three bricks thick and are stand-

ing to a height of slightly less than a metre. To date we have fully cleared to floor level part of one room

measuring 6-5 x 3"

5m (P1. I: IV C). The material recovered from this room includes: bevelled-rim bowls of two sizes, the illustrated one being the smaller variety (Fig. 3, J), three large storage jars (empty), over 24 cylinder sealings (Fig. 2, Pls. IV-V), six Proto-Elamite tablets (Fig. I, Pls. II-III), and at least 84 tablet blanks without writing (P1. III, o). All of the above were found in the fill directly above or on the floor of the room. The cylinder sealings were found lying directly on the floor in proximity to the large storage vessels; the Proto-Elamite tablets were scattered on the floor in the southeast

quadrant of the room, while the tablet blanks formed a distinctive pile in the southeast corner (P1. I: A). Two of the tablets are written on both sides, Fig. I: tablets I and 2 and their opposite sides IA and 2A.

The bevelled-rim bowls are of a thinner and harder variety, very like those reported from Susa C12 and Tal-i-Iblis13. The cylinder sealings find almost identical parallels in the sealings of Susa Cb, in which Proto-Elamite tablets were also recovered14 (Fig. 2, Pls. IV-V). The recovery of 6 Proto-Elamite tablets

clearly associated with 84 identically shaped tablet blanks surely indicates that the tablets were being written at Yahya, perhaps in that very room, and not imported. The tablets indicate records of economic transactions. They, as well as the tablet blanks, are of unbaked dark brown clay, moulded to an oblong shape, and convex in profile. They are inscribed from right to left, beginning at the top. An incised line separating the lines of writing is drawn after the lines have been written. The tablets with writing on

9 Description and illustrations of pottery from all periods at Tepe Ya~hy are presented in Lamberg-Karlovsky, Excavations at Tepe Tahya 1.

10 A comparison of the pottery drawings of Iblis I-II and Yahy.y V A-C from both monographs show exact parallels in design motif and shapes.

11 See Stein, ibid, p. 127. Compare P1. XIX, Hus. 585 with its exact parallel in Lamberg-Karlovsky, ibid, Fig. 39 A-C.

~' Discussed by Robert H. Dyson, Jr., " Problems in the Relative

Chronology of Iran, 600o-2000 B.C. ", in R. W. Ehrich, Chronologies in Old World Archaeology (Chicago, 1965) PP. 223-5. Illustrated and more fully discussed in Dyson, " Excavations on the Acropolis at Susa and Problems of Susa A, B, C ", Ph.D. thesis, Harvard University, Dept. of Anthropology, 1966.

13 See Caldwell, ibid, 1967, pp. 37-9 and Fig. 39, p. 190. 14 Le Breton, L., " The Early Periods at Susa: Mesopotamian

Relations ", Iraq XIX (i957). An almost identical sealing from Yatya is depicted on P1. XXV, io by Le Breton.

THE PROTO-ELAMITE SETTLEMENT AT TEPE YAHYA 89

*. *....'

Y D D I!

'

\l

,

q

D 7 hDDI DDD, I bf oDD`B *D DD ??*~ DDDD

-Iv2

lA 2A 44

3 5

6 Fig. i. Proto-Elamite tablets of Period IV C. Scale I : r.


both sides were turned over completely on a horizontal axis, the inscription being continued on the reverse (Fig. I:1,2).15

The Proto-Elamite tablets, bevelled-rim bowls and cylinder sealings all indicate strong Susa C, Iblis 5-6, and Sialk IV parallels. We obtain, however, a slightly different perspective in examining our ceramic parallels-which cannot be strongly tied to Sialk IV and for lack of sufficient published pottery to either Susa C or Iblis 5-6.

The pottery of Period IV C can be directly paralleled at Shahr-i-Sokhta III16 in the form of painted black on grey (Fig. 3: B, M, N), and black on buff (Fig. 3: R). The Yalhy IV C and IV B ceramics are also identically paralleled at Shdhddd, a settlement and cemetery site northeast of Kirman, excavated by Engineer Hakemi for the Iran Archaeological Service." There are strong parallels to Bampur throughout Period IV C and IV B.'8 We have in the sealed fill of the IV C rooms material directly paralleled to the full corpus of illustrated Bampur I-IV ceramics. The presence of a streak-burnished grey ware in IV C and IV B can also be paralleled at Bampur.19 Whether or not this grey burnished ware is in any way (like the bevelled-rim bowls) related to the Late Uruk grey ware of Mesopotamia and Susa C is still to be worked out, certainly they could be chronologically contemporary. We are unable to distinguish the same periodization at Yahya to support the Bampur sequence-the distinct periods of Bampur I-IV ceramics appear in the single stratigraphic complex of Yahyd IV C. The ceramics of Period IV B incorporate the later Bampur V-VI materials. It is evident that Yaihy IV C, Shahr-i- Sokhta III, Bampur I-IV, Shdhdad and Iblis 5-6 share a ceramic tradition and suggest a southeast Iranian " oikoumenE ". Are we justified in suggesting that here in the eastern highlands of Iran we may discern the heartland of the Proto-Elamite culture ? We believe that the later efflorescence and consolidation apparent in Period IV B supports this contention.

Above the large architectural complex of IV C, in fact the walls of the rooms of the Period IV B architecture rest on the nubs of IV C walls, we uncovered a large complete room (P1. I). Ceramic types are directly continuous from IV C to IV B. Changes which are evident are statistical, i.e. an increase in the percentage of certain types (streak-burnished grey ware) in IV B over IV C, or conversely, a percentage decrease in certain types (painted black on red and black on grey). One type only appears discon- tinuous: the bevelled-rim bowl. In over 200 square metres of exposure for Period IV B we have not recovered a single bevelled-rim bowl.

Period IV B The architecture of IV B consists of three superimposed phases of building, the lowermost, from

which radiocarbon dates are derived, is best preserved (P1. I). The radiocarbon dates are: 3280o170 B.C. (Geochron Labs.-I734) and 3245?465 (Washington State University 876). We await an entire

series of dates for Period IV B and IV C from the Tata Institute for Fundamental Research, Bombay.

15 The known corpus of Proto-Elamite tablets from Susa number 1,406; from Sialk 19. Previously, only these two sites have produced Proto-Elamite tablets. The Susa tablets have been published in M.D.P. VI (1905), XVII (1923), XXVI (1935) by V. Scheil, and XXXI (1949) by R. de Mecquenem. Sialk tablets are published by R. Ghirshman, Fouilles de Sialk I (Paris, 1948).

1e My thanks to Dr. Maurizio Tosi for allowing me to study his collections at IsMEO, Rome. We have both had the opportunity to see each other's collections and in our collaboration agree on the nature and extent of parallels between Shahr-i- Sokhta and Yahy .

17 Engineer Hakemi allowed me to look at the materials from Sh~hdad in the Iran-Bastan Museum. There can be little doubt that Shdhdad, between YahyF and Shahr-i-Sokhta, is closely tied in ceramics to both sites. At Shahdqd Mr. Hakemi has found inscribed complete pots incorporating as many as

seven signs which he rightly identifies as Proto-Elamite. I am deeply grateful to Mr. Hakemi for permission to look at his rich collections from Shthddd. I might add here that the Khinaman hoard of bronze shaft-hole axes and bronze vessels can be exactly paralleled in the latest graves at Shihddd, which Mr. Hakemi believes to be ca. 2500 B.C. (see C. Green- well, " Notes on a Collection of Bronze Weapons, Implements, and Vessels found at Khinaman to the West of Kerman in southeast Persia by Sir Percy Molesworth Sykes, C.M.G.", Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 37 (i9o7), PP. 196-200.

18 Compare for instance Fig. 3: A with de Cardi, Iran VI, Fig. 5, 6; Fig. 3: H with Fig. 9: 44; Fig. 3: E with Fig. Ii: 85; Fig. 3: I with Fig. Ix: 86; Fig. 3: P with Fig. 1I: 77. These are but a few of the parallels linking YahyA to Bampur!

19 See de Cardi, Iran VI, Fig. 9: 53, Fig. I : 81, 82.


C1 II II

IOi , i.

III

A 1:1

C

•\ .. ,,,.

D E

1:1? a

Fig. 2. Steatite seals of Period IV B.

IOA


India and Geochron, Cambridge, Massachusetts.20 A date just prior to those above is wholly consistent for Susa C and a Late Uruk assemblage. What is of very considerable interest is the associated material of Period IV B.

The lowermost building of Period IV B (Pl. I) consists of a large rectangular structure (7 . 7 x 2 . 8 m)

divided into two rooms; adjacent to them are smaller rooms containing large storage bins of unfired clay. The bricks are of different size than those of IV C, being rectangular (36-42 x 24 x 12 cm) in shape. The walls of the rooms are one brick thick and finely plastered, both inside and out. The structure is not oriented to the cardinal points. Inside the room were found seven reconstructable pots, including grey-burnished and painted varieties (Fig. 3: F), as well as storage vessels still containing several kilos of charred grain. The grain as well as burned walls and reed matting, resting on the floor, suggests that the building came to a quick end through fire. Resting on the floor of the room (Fig. 2: A) and in the fill directly above the floor were found cylinder seals and stamp seals (Fig. 2). They are all clearly associated with the time of the building. One of the stamp seals is similar in composition of ibex, cattle, half-moon, to one found in Bahrein, and clearly belongs to the " Persian Gulf" type (Fig. 2: D).21 The seal of a man and woman resembles one found at Yahya, the season of 1969 (Fig. 2: A).22 From a preliminary study of both the stamp and cylinder seals it would appear that but for most generalized Meso- potamian similarities the seals are to be identified as of Proto-Elamite manufacture finding their origins in the southeastern highlands of Iran.

The pottery of this period has been illustrated in my monograph, we need reiterate here only its direct continuity from IV C and their parallels to Shahr-i-Sokhta IV, Hili,23 Umm-an-Nar, and the later periods of Bampur and Shahdad.

We have added to our rich corpus of steatite objects. To date we have recovered from IV B contexts over Iooo fragments of steatite, both carved and plain bowls, beads, seals, buttons, etc. The carved steatite bowls incorporate the major motifs of curvilinear and geometric designs, architectural scenes

(hut-pot), and human and animal figures, all readily paralleled at Ur, Ubaid, Tell Asmar, Mari, Khafajeh, Mohenjo-daro, Bampur, to name but a few.24 In Mesopotamia they have been principally dated to Early Dynastic III, however a few pieces in good context indicate an Early Dynastic II date

(Nippur, see Illustrated London News, Sept. 9, 1961). We illustrate here for the first time 3 major pieces found this past season (Fig. 3: S, T, U). The motif of intertwined snakes with feline heads (Fig. 3:U) as well as snake and lion (Fig. 3:T) are both readily paralleled at Mari from the Ishtar Temple.25 At Mari they are dated to E.D. III. Our third piece (Fig. 3:S) is without parallel, but for a rather similar eagle incised on a steatite shaft-hole axe from Yahya.26 Indeed, it can be fairly said that every major motif on steatite bowls known from Mesopotamia can be readily paralleled at Tepe Yahyd.27 Further- more, we have found numerous incompletely cored steatite vessels, unfinished steatite beads, seals, etc. This together with carved solid blocks of steatite indicate that steatite objects were manufactured at

Tepe Yahyd. In addition, this past summer we located a large steatite mine in the mountains to the north of Yahya (25 km) with evidence of strip mining. There can be little doubt of its local origin and

workmanship! Although steatite objects are present in every period at Yahyd it is in this period that one sees its greatest use. We believe that the well known collections of carved steatite bowls in Mesopotamia are of Proto-Elamite workmanship and imports from southeastern Iran where steatite is known to be

present. The local production of this type of steatite begins at Yahyd perhaps as early as 3000 B.C. and is

20 I would like to thank Dr. D. P. Agrawal and Dr. M. S. Nagaraja Rao for accepting and analyzing a series of dates from YahyA to be undertaken at the Tata Institute.

21 See G. Bibby, "Arabiens Arkaeologi ", Kuml (1966), p. 79, f. Note also on pp. 88-89 of that same journal: from Hili, Abu Dhabi, incised grey ware copying motifs of Yahyd IV B steatite. The painted pottery of Hili is also paralleled at YahyA IV B, C.

s22 Additional stamp and cylinder seals of IV B are illustrated in Lamberg-Karlovsky, Excavations at Tepe rahya I.

22 My thanks to Karen Frifelt for showing me her materials from this site while on a recent visit there.

24 See Lamberg-Karlovsky, ibid, and F. A. Durrani " Stone

Vases as Evidence of Connections between Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley " Ancient Pakistan I (1964), PP. 51 ff. for the most comprehensive published catalogue and bibliography.

25 Parrot, A., Le Temple d'Ishtar, (Paris 1956), Pl. XLIX, 267.

26 See Lamberg-Karlovsky, ibid, Fig. 22, B. 27 Miniature steatite vessels and steatite seals with zoomorphic

designs from the Late Uruk-Jemdat Nasr levels at Tell Brak

suggest the extensive use of steatite in Syria at the same time as at Yahyd: see M. E. L. Mallowan, " Excavations at Brak and

Chagar Bazar ", Iraq IX (1947) Pls. VIII-XX, and Pl. LII, Nos. 1-6.

THE PROTO-ELAMITE SETTLEMENT AT TEPE YAHYX 93

Fig. 3. Ceramics and steatite from Period IV B and IV C.


certainly arriving in Mesopotamia by E. D. II times, if not earlier. Carved steatite bowls have not been recovered from Period IV C, and are rare in the lowermost phase of IV B, becoming very common in the later phases of IV B (3000-2800 B.C.). Over 25 complete steatite vessels have been found in the tombs of Shmhddd. In shape and decorations they can be precisely paralleled in our IV B corpus.28

The work and recovery of the Proto-Elamite settlement at Tepe Yalhy has obvious and important implications for our understanding of the chronological and cultural reconstructions throughout this large area of Baluchistan, Persian Gulf and Mesopotamia. Firstly, on chronology: we will be able through a series of radiocarbon dates to establish fixed dates to the Late Uruk, Proto-Elamite configuration in this area, Susa C, and indirectly for the steatite parallels and Early Dynastic parallels in Meso- potamia. Already our C-I4 dates are indicative. Our dating will also establish the first understanding of the period of export of steatite from Yahya and southeastern Iran. The carved steatite fragments in House V, Room 53 in DK area and House III, Room No. 76 at Mohenjodaro can be precisely paralleled at Yahyd.29 It would appear that these pieces can now be dated to the first quarter of the Third Millennium. This together with the presence of Nal sherds in our Period V suggests that the pre-Harap- pan painted pottery (Nal) dates to as early as the end Fourth Millennium while the early Harappan may start even earlier than the reasonably supposed 2500 B.C. Certainly, we cannot accept the lowering and restricting of Harappan chronology to 2300-17oo B.C.30 The presence of a " Persian Gulf " type seal in IV B supports a beginning Third Millennium date for the beginning of the Bahrein sequence, already indicated by the presence ofJemdet Nasr sherds in Barbar Temple I.31 Our strong parallels to Bampur I-IV in Period IV C indicates an end Fourth Millennium date for the beginning of the Bampur sequence and a mid-Third Millennium date for its end, based on IV B parallels with the end of the Bampur sequence. All of the parallels worked out for the Bampur sequence have thus either to shift or to be discarded, particularly for the late Bampur VI assumed date of ca. 2000 B.C. which is far too late!

Secondly, we would like to point out that our site has no evidence for the presence of the Kulli Culture. Much has been made of and suggested for the Kulli " merchant-venturers " of the Third Millennium.32 We find it indicative that at Tepe Yahya with obvious evidence for long range exchange patterns there is a lack of an identifiable Kulli element. Until we hear from the important work of Professor J.-M. Casal at Nindowari it is best to call a moratorium on ascribing to Kulli the responsibility of" international trade "-a conception without evident support.

Thirdly, it becomes evident that with the distribution of Tepe Yahyd, Bampur, Shahr-i-Sokhta Tal-i-Iblis and Shdhddd we have an expansive distribution of contemporary and ceramically related sites. We suggest that there is here a shared cultural " oikoumen " identifiable as Proto-Elamite.33 Clearly, the nature of the settlement pattern, the degree of uniformity between the sites, their socio- political and economic configurations (Yahya's export of steatite, Shahr-i-Sokhta's export of lapis lazuli and alabaster, etc.) need individual attention before the above hypothesis becomes wholly acceptable. 21 I have recently seen numerous pieces of carved and uncarved

bowls of steatite sent to me by Mrs. Bert H. Golding from sites along the eastern coast of Saudi Arabia and the island of Tarut (see G. Bibby, Lookingfor Dilmun (1969), pp. 313-15; 369-72). These steatite fragments incorporate carved designs and shapes paralleled at Tepe Yalhyd. My thanks to Mrs. Golding for sending photographs, drawings and samples on which we will run, together with our samples, analytic tests.

29 See E. J. H. MacKay, Further Excavations at Mohenjodaro (Delhi, (0938), P1. CXCII and J. Marshall Mohenjo-daro and the Indus Civilization (London, 1931), Pl. CXXXI and Lamberg- Karlovsky, Excavations at Tepe rahya I, Fig. 21 : B, D, E and F as well as P1. 23: A, F.

30 D. P. Agrawal, " Harappan Chronology: A re-examination of the Evidence " in Robert Bruce Foote Memorial Vol., Ed. D. K. Sen and A. Ghosh, Mukhopadhyay, Calcutta, 1966. See also Sir Max Mallowan's discussion of the relative chronology in "The Early Dynastic Period", C.A.H. I, Ch. XVI (1968), pp. 7-8 and note 2, p. 7.

31 Paper presented by Mr. Peder Mortensen, " The Barbar Temple of Bahrein " at the Third International Congress of Asian Archaeology, Bahrein, March 1-8, 1970.

32 See George F. Dales, " A Suggested Chronology for Afghanis- tan, Baluchistan, and the Indus Valley ", in R. W. Ehrich, ibid. (1965), pp. 268-74; see also by the same author " On Tracking Woolley Kulli's and the Like ", Expedition I2, No. I (i969), p. 15 ff.

33 In a study of H. Field's surface collections from his reconnaissance in West Pakistan (An Anthropological Reconnaissance in West Pakistan, 1955, Harvard University, Vol. LII, I959). I have been able to isolate precise parallels in the surface pottery from Dundkian, Fort Derawan, Turanwali, Lahrewala, Sullah, Pakoto, Shahi-tump and the ceramics of Yahyd IV B and IV C. Further survey in Iran between Tepe Yahyd and the Pakistan border is being undertaken by Mr. William Fitz, Jr., Miss Martha Prickett, and Dr. E. C. L. During Caspers- all covering different areas and all affiliated with our Yahya Project.

Pl. I. Tepe Yahyad: Period IVC and IVB architecture from above.

P1. II. P

roto-Elam

ite tablets from T

epe YT

ahyd.

PI. III. P

roto-Elam

ite tablets from T

epe Tahyd,

Pl. IV

. Cylinder sealings from

Tepe T

raya.

P1. V

. Cylinder sealings from

Tepe rahyd.

PI. VI. Steatite cylinder seal and impression, Period IVB, Tepe Traya.


I have elsewhere presented an interpretation of the nature and purpose of steatite trade,34 which is concerned with the most peripatetic of archaeological objects of early Third Millennium Mesopotamia, Iran, Baluchistan, and the Persian Gulf. Clearly much more remains to be recovered, considered and classified.

" May the land Magan (bring) you mighty copper, the strength of . . ., diorite, u-stone, shumash-stone ...

Steatite= - u-stone ? shumash-stone ?

'4 See Lamberg-Karlovsky, Excavations at Tepe Tahya I. The entire discussion in Period IV covers this ground.


CATALOGUE OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Illustration Period Locus1 Description Fig. I :-6 IV C BW-20 Unfired clay, tablets P1. I IV C BW-2o Unfired clay, tablets Fig. 2 :A IV B B:BW-7-I Steatite, cylinder seal

B IV B B-6 Steatite, cylinder seal C IV B B-4 Steatite, disc seal D IV B B:BW-TT4-6 Steatite, stamp seal E IV B B-TT3-2 White stone (?)

Fig. 3:A IV B B-Io-2 Black on red B IV C B-i8 Black on reduced grey C IV B B:BW-TT4-9 Black on buff D IV B B :BW-TT5-I Black on red E IV C B:BW-TT4-4 Incised, multiple comb F IV C B:BW-TT4-7-I Black on reddish brown G IV B B:BW-TT3-Io Reserve slip H IV B B-TT4-2 Black on buff I IV C B:BW-TT4-1 Coarse grit buff ware J IV C BW-2o Coarse, chaff grit, bevelled rim bowl K IV C BW-2o Black on buff L IV C B-TT5-5 Black on buff M IV B B-I I Black on reduced grey N IV C B-2o0 Black on reduced grey O IV B B-TT4-2 Black on red P IV B B:BW-TT5-2-I Coarse grit, buff Q IV B B-I I Black on red R IV B B-I I Black on buff S IV B B(e)-TTI-3 Steatite (incised) T IV B XA:TTI-IB Steatite (piece out of context in Period I) U IV B B-2 Steatite

P1. I IV B-IV C B-2o Architecture Pls. II-III IV C B-20 Proto-Elamite tablets Pls. IV-V IV C B-2o Cylinder sealings

1 Area of excavation= B, BW; TT= test trench; followed by strata number and feature number. All finds are from 1970

season and beneath areas evidenced in published sections, Lamberg-Karlovsky, ibid, 970o.

A HOARD OF INGOT-CURRENCY OF THE MEDIAN PERIOD

FROM NUSH-I JAN, NEAR MALAYIR

By A. D. H. Bivar

The Circumstances of the Find The 1967 campaign of excavations at Ntish-i Jan, some seven miles north-west of Malayir, and forty-

three miles south-east of Hamaddn, has been described by Mr. David Stronach in his article for the Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum,, and subsequently in greater detail in the 1969 issue of Iran.2 On the last day of the season, there was uncovered a hoard of silver objects in a bronze bowl (P1. IIIc), buried below floor level at the base of the ramp in the Eastern Building or Fort. This structure is ascribed by the excavator to the phase Ntish-i Jdn I, dated to the period of the Median kingdom during the seventh century B.C. Its abandonment is placed by him c. 6oo B.C., a conclusion which seems to be entirely supported by the present examination of the find. Of over 200 silver objects found in the bowl, some were in the form of jewellery, and included a single earring (139), and numerous double and quadruple spiral beads. These are to be discussed elsewhere by Mr. Stronach. It will be maintained here that the remaining items were not primarily intended for personal adornment or the manufacture ofjewellery, but were rather valued for their bullion content, and are thus of interest for the history of ancient currency prior to the introduction of a formal coinage in the ancient Near East. The present writer is indebted to Mr. Stronach not only for his hospitality at Ntish-i Jan during an earlier stage of the excavation, but also for his kind invitation to publish the monetary portion of the find, and for the illustrative material which is used here. The present examination is also extensively based on the register of the hoard compiled by Mr. 'Ali Sarfariz of the Iranian Archaeological Service, and by Mrs. Stronach, who assisted in many ways, and in particular weighed many of the pieces, and cleaned some of those obscured by encrustation. At the Miizeh Iran Bdstan, Tehran, Mr. Khurramabddi kindly facilitated the writer's examination (during his travel on study leave from the School of Oriental and African Studies in 1969) of the portion of the find which passed to that Museum, and arranged for him to benefit from Mr. Isfandiyari's help in verifying the register numbers, and other details.

Mention of the town of Malayir in a numismatic context will naturally recall the well-known treasure of Greek coins found there in 1934, of which 306 pieces are reported to be in the M1izeh Irin Bastan.3 The precise find-spot of that discovery was not officially disclosed, but since it represents the more recent chronological horizon of the fifth century B.C., attested at our site by only a few minor structures in squares S9 and T9,4 it may be regarded as improbable that the 1934 find had any connexion with the mound of Niish-i Jan. At any rate, it is here assumed to have no relevance, even of a marginal nature, to the present discussion.

The " Silversmiths' Hoards" The occurrence of so-called " Silversmiths' hoards " is a widespread fact in archaeology as late as

the Achaemenid period (550-331 B.C.) throughout the Near and Middle East. Typically such finds contain ancient Greek silver coins, entire or subdivided, and frequently bearing characteristic chisel- cuts; fragments of ancient jewellery and metalware; cut lengths of silver wire; chunks of cut silver hacked from larger slabs (the well-known Hacksilber of the German writers, for which the term " Cut- silver " is here employed as a standard translation); occasionally thickish, rectangular ingots which we

1 " Tepe Nush-i Jan: a mound in Media ", The Metropolitan Museum ofArt Bulletin XXVII (3 Nov. 1968), 183.

2 " Excavations at Tepe Nxish-i JSn, 1967 ", Iran VII (1969), 15-16.

8 D. Schlumberger "L'argent grec dans l'empireach6m6nide ",

in Raoul Curiel and Daniel Schlumberger, Tresors monitaires d' Afghanistan (M6moires de la D616gation Arch6ologique Frangaise en Afghanistan XIV), Paris 1953, P. 50.

4 Stronach, Iran VII, p. I9.

97


may call " Slab-ingots ";5 and flat circular ingots of various sizes formed by metal solidifying on the bottom of a jar6 (the variety known in German as Silberkuchen, here Englished as " Cake-ingots "). The one feature which all these objects present in common is that they are all composed of silver. Finds of this character have been recorded from Kabul, Afghanistan ; from uncertain sites in Iraq;8 from Ras Shamra in Syria;9 from Beni-Hassan (so spelt in the literature), Damanhur and Myt-Rahineh in Egypt.o1 A further considerable list of similar finds from the Palestine area is the basis of the interesting discussion by Mrs. M. S. Balmuth.'1

It is clear that such finds occur throughout the territory of the Achaemenid Empire, and occasionally beyond. When recognisable Greek coins are present in such contexts, their presence has naturally been found helpful for dating purposes. At the same time, the occurrence of Greek coins has had the useful effect of drawing attention to the antiquarian interest of the material. So seldom, indeed, have " Silversmiths' hoards " lacking Greek coins been noticed in the literature that one can suspect casual finds of that class (including, naturally, any pre-Achaemenid in date) may often have gone to the melting-pot without further examination.12 The date indicated by Greek coins in such a find is of course only the date of deposit. The coins do not always have to be regarded as contemporary with any accompanying " Ingot-currency ", which, as the present discussion will show, is often likely to be older, and indeed substantially so.

The hypothesis is at first sight attractive that the finds of the Achaemenid period described above, no less than that from the seventh century B.C. site of Nfish-i Jan, had, as earlier students supposed literally formed the stock-in-trade of silversmiths, who would have accumulated such metal for the manufacture of their wares. This was indeed one of the two hypotheses envisaged by the excavator in his preliminary note on the find. Yet in spite of the arguments there cited in favour of an explanation on these lines of the find from Nfish-i Jan,13 the present writer believes that even stronger reasoning can be assembled in favour of the excavator's second hypothesis: namely, that these miscellaneous pieces of silver performed the function of an early currency. At Nfish-i Jdn, as in the case of other finds, it is plain that the silver jewellery is in process, not of construction, but of destruction. On these, and other lines, a strong case has been made in recent years that such accumulations of " Bulk-silver " from the Achaemenid period in themselves constituted the medium of exchange, being weighed out as required upon the scales.14 Not only a silversmith, therefore, but any person possessing a reserve of wealth could have held it in this form. The new evidence from Nrish-i Jdn further helps to demonstrate, if these views are accepted, that the monetary use of" Bulk-silver " arose well before the Achaemenid period. As we shall see, it can be regarded as a survival from an earlier phase in the history of currency, which lasted on under the Achaemenids in the face of increasing competition from the Hellenic innovation of coined silver. Thus the once-prevalent description of" Silversmith's hoard " should be understood as no more than a picturesque and popular designation; and the excavator's second hypothesis accepted, which refers the find of Niish-iJdn, with those of the Achaemenid period, to the wider, monetary, context.

5 A good specimen appeared in the Taranto Hoard, E. Babelon, " Trouvaille de Tarante ", Revue Numismatique XVI (I912), 3.

6 The casting of silver in jars is noticed by Herodotus III, 96, whose ingots seem likely to have been larger than those reported in the finds. We shall return to the question of 'Cake-ingots' below.

7 Schlumberger, op. cit. 31-35- 8 E. S. G. Robinson, " A 'Silversmith's hoard' from Mesopo-

tamia ", Iraq XII (1950), 44-51; G. K. Jenkins, " Coins from the collection of C.J. Rich ", BMQXXVIII (1964), 90.

9 C. F. A. Schaeffer, " Une trouvaille de monnaies archaiques grecques A Ras Shamra ", Melanges Syriens offerts d Monsieur Rende' Dussaud I, Paris 1939, 461-487.

10 E. S. G. Robinson, " A hoard from Sidon [Beni-Hassan] ", Numismatic Chronicle 1937, 197-9. Fuller references to this, and the two succeeding finds may be found through S. P. Noe, A bibliography of Greek coin hoards, 2nd ed. New York I937, under the several site-names. Note especially H. Dressel and K. Reg-

ling, " Agyptische Funde altgriechische Miinzen ", Zeitschrift fiir Numismatik XXXVII (1927), 1-138, the classic exposition of this whole subject.

n M. Balmuth, " Monetary forerunners of coinage in Phoenicia and Palestine" in International numismatic convention: Jerusalem 27-31 December 1963, Tel Aviv 1967, 25-32.

12 As in the case quoted by Jenkins, see n. 8 above. 13 D. B. Stronach, Iran VII, I6: " Any cache that was being stored

for its intrinsic value would almost certainly have included other cherished materials, particularly gold if not also agate and carnelian. " Yet just the same argument could be invoked in the contrary sense: on the one hand a jeweller could equally have used a stock of gold and semi-precious stones; on the other, a preference for silver as the medium of exchange could have arisen from its greater convenience for moderate values, wider familiarity in the area, and consequent acceptability.

14 cf. Dressel and Regling, Z.f.N. XXXVII (1927), 12; Robinson NC, 1937 P. 198.

INGOT-CURRENCY OF THE MEDIAN PERIOD FROM NUSH-I JAN 99

The Problem of an Assyrian Coinage Coinage has been defined as a medium of exchange in metal, prepared in units of accurately stan-

dardised weight, and marked with the stamp of an authority by whom their accuracy and fineness had been guaranteed. In this precise sense the view has prevailed amongst numismatists that coinage was

developed around 640-630 B.C., either in Lydia or Ionia,15 but at any rate in Asia Minor. The earliest coins were therefore those struck in electrum, the natural alloy of gold and silver, which afterwards came to be compounded artificially. Some decades later, silver was put to use for coinage in European Greece, in the first place on the island of Aegina.

That coinage should not have been in use by the developed civilizations of Babylonia and Assyria has often occasioned surprise, and indeed incredulity. Passages have been cited from cuneiform tablets which seem to imply the existence of something approaching a real coinage, as when payments in silver are described as being in " Heads of Ishtar ", " Heads of Shamash " or " Heads of Ashur", translations which all suggest the existence of currency units stamped with such motifs.16 Again, tablets from Anatolia are quoted as referring to payments in " sealed silver ",17 though not all authorities are

agreed that the phrase necessarily refers to silver pieces marked with some sort of impression. It is best not to overstress such purely verbal interpretations of the Akkadian phrases. A layman could suspect, in the absence of material evidence to the contrary, that such expressions as " Heads of Ishtar " had a purely abstract sense, possibly implying capital funds from the temple of Ishtar. Only material evidence, so far

wholly lacking, of the actual existence of pieces bearing these motifs, could put the old interpretations beyond doubt, and provide a firm base for this view of Assyrian, even Babylonian, currency.

Yet if evidence must be treated as inconclusive for the existence of true coinage in ancient Meso-

potamia, and indeed later in the kingdom of the Medes, the same cannot be said of simpler forms of

currency. Cuneiform texts are replete with references to the media of exchange. Barley, gold and lead, are occasi onally mentioned, but by far the most generally used substance, especially in the later periods was silver.18s Normally, it was weighed out upon the scales, a procedure requiring indeed a generally recognised system of weights, but one which did not necessitate the manufacture of the metal in units of

specific weight or form. At the same time, it will naturally have been convenient to prepare the metal used in business transactions in more or less conventional forms which could be easily handled. A classic summary of textual evidence on this point comes from Bottdro's edition of the Mari tablets:x9

Il ne s'agissait 6videmment pas de monnaie, au sens moderne du mot: pieces de metal reserv6es t l'6change, dont le pois et la valeur constants auraient 6t6 garanties par un controle et une estampille reserv6s a l'Etat... Pour autant que nos textes nous permettent d'y voir clair, I'argent devait etre cependant decoupe en morceaux suffisamment r6guliers, que l'on pouvait peser, commes nous l'avons vue, en sicles et mime en grains. Peut- &tre ces morceaux affectaient-ils souvent des formes usuelles, anneaux sourtout (hullu et principalement .eweru), peut- tre aussi hachettes (hazzinu); la notion de kaspu ~ebirtu s'6claire alors: il s'agit sans doute de m6tal en morceaux informes, c'est-a-dire non could en anneaux, barres, hachettes ou vases: done plus volontiers en rognures, grenaill6 ou cisaill6.

From the literary evidence of cuneiform texts we may turn to that of actual finds containing silver in these, and possibly other, specific monetary forms. By comparison with the much larger number of finds attributable to the Achaemenid period on the evidence of accompanying coins, the material for the

Assyrian period seems sparse. Yet it is enough to supply a background to the large and well-documented find from Nfish-i Jan.

15 E. S. G. Robinson, " The date of the earliest coins ", Numis- matic Chronicle 1959, p. 8.

16 C. H. W. Johns, Assyrian deeds and documents II, Cambridge I901, 286 SAK-MES s'a Ishtar; p. Io8, Ashur.

7 British Museum, Dept. of Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities, Cuneiform texts from Cappadocian tablets I, 192I, 1o; I2: " probably implies a loan for which the borrowers sealed a document ". Seton Lloyd, Early Anatolia 1956, 1 I8 understood the phrase as indicating silver handed out in sealed packages.

as C. H. W. Johns, Assyrian deeds and documents II, 274; C. Fossey, " Les rapports de valeur entre l'argent et divers m6taux sous la dynastie Chaldeenne ", Revue des itudes semitiques VI (I937), 42-45.

19 Jean Bott6ro, Textes iconomiques et administratifs (archives royales de Mari), Paris 1958, p. 332. In a later passage, p. 353, he explains that the axe-ingots (hazzinu) would have been of copper, and the other objects in silver.

11A


Well-known is the find from Zincirli, which contained three large " Cake-ingots ", accompanied by a number of small cast silver blocks of irregular weight.20 The largest of the " Cake-ingots " at 497'38 gm. falls close to the standard of the Babylonian mina, which under the subsequent Achae- menids at least, approached 504 gm. These ingots are inscribed in Aramaic with the name of a local ruler, BRRKB BR PNMW, who may be dated around 712 B.C. Since " Cake-ingots " are also known from Ras Shamra,21 and several of the Egyptian finds, the possibility arises that they may be ascribable to a definite area of distribution, around the western fringe of the Fertile Crescent. To this question of distribution-areas we shall shortly return.

More closely comparable, however, with the find from Nish-i Jan, and evidently nearer in date, was that uncovered in 1908 by the German excavators of Assur. Here the city's destruction in 614 B.C.

provides a lower limit for the deposit, and one not far removed from that suggested on other grounds for the site of Nish-i Jan. To the present writer's knowledge the material from Assur has never been the

subject of a detailed publication, and indeed its present whereabouts is something of a mystery. None the less, its summary description in the preliminary report of Andrae is enlightening for our purpose :22

Ein Topf mit Hacksilber wurde in dD9IV gefunden. Wieder sind hier, wie schon bei friiheren Funden dieser Art, Rohgussplatten und aus solchen gehackte kleinere und kleinste Stiicke, sowie diinne, geglittete Blechstiicke, drahtstift- und ringformige Stticke,

zu unterscheiden, ein weitgehende Abstufung des Gewichts, die es mir wahrscheinlich macht, dass das Silber, zum Zuwiegen zerkleinert, als Zahlungsmittel, d.h. als Geld, gedient hat.

It does not appear that after Andrae's account, the ingot-find from Assur was ever again available for study. In fact the present writer could not establish whether it passed unnoticed into one of the German collections, or was lost to sight during the 1914 war in Mesopotamia. None the less, this brief account is helpful in providing a clear chronological horizon, with stratigraphic indications plainly placing the find before the rise of the Achaemenid Empire. After the find from Assur, we turn directly to that from Ntish-i Jan.

The Contents of the Nfish-i Jdn Find We have already seen that the treasure of silver was discovered in a bronze bowl, illustrated in P1.

IIIc. The treasure consisted of certain pieces ofjewellery, and ingots of silver here interpreted as mone-

tary. Understandably, in the state of society where every fragment of silver has direct monetary value, a distinction between jewellery and currency is not always easy to draw. The earrings and beads of the

present find, though they had once served the purpose of jewellery, at the time of their deposit had already been broken up, and seem to have been performing a monetary function like the remainder. None the less, since their primary purpose was that of adornment, it is in that context that they are best examined.

With regard to the residue of the hoard, the simplest classification is to divide the pieces of which it is

composed into three categories on the basis of their form. The first category, of which complete examples have not been reported from any previous find, may be designated as " Bar-ingots ". Of these, only three are intact. Others have been divided into portions of various sizes. The three complete specimens differ notably in shape (P1. I, AI, A2 and A6), and, in the case of A6 (I5oB), which is

especially small, also in weight. The divided specimens further help to confirm that there was not any single uniform pattern. Evidently such ingots were not cast by repeated use of a single mould, but at this stage each was made from an individual mould, presumably of clay, which was broken or abandoned after the casting of each single bar. As already noticed, complete bar-ingots have not been reported in the numerous finds of" Bulk-silver " from the Eastern Mediterranean. At the same time, the present find contains no example of a " Cake-ingot ". This situation raises the possibility of a distinction

20 Felix von Luschan, Die Kleinfunde von Sendschirli (Ausgrabungen in Sendschirli V), Berlin 1943, 119-I21.

21 C. F. A. Schaeffer, " Une trouvaille de monnaies archaiques grecques A Ras Shamra ", Fest. Rene' Dussaud I, 462 and 486.

Their weights of 274.5 gm., 217-50 gr. and 185"5

gr. are not immediately informative.

22 W. Andrae, Mitteilungen der Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft XXXVI

(190go8), 22.


between the circulation areas of the two currency-forms; it is possible that the "Cake-ingot" was characteristic of the Syrian-Egyptian area, and the "Bar-ingot" of a region further to the East, including, so it seems, the Iranian Plateau, and the eastern margins of the Assyrian world.

Though the find evidence for any general theory of circulation-areas remains for the time being slender, it is markedly strengthened by indications to be derived from the currencies of Ancient India. As is well known, one of the earliest forms of Indian currency is that designated the "Bent-bar" coinage. Twelve specimens were already represented in the find of Chaman Huzfiri, Kabul, of which the deposit is placed towards 380 B.C.23 In the Chaman Huzfiri find the familiar "Punch-marked" coinage, some of which, at least, belongs to the empire of the Mauryas (3rd Century B.C.) was notably absent. This fact tended to confirm the conclusion of Allan that the "Bent-bars" belong to the fourth or even the fifth century B.C.24 It was also once observed of the "Bent-bars" that "all of these coins which are of known provenance come from the area over which Persian influence extended".25 Now with the appearance of "Bar-ingots" in the ancient Median context at Nfish-i Jan, the possibility presents itself that currency in the form of bars circulated on the Iranian Plateau and eastwards well before the rise of the Achaemenids, and that the Indian "Bent-bar" coinage represents a development from this. The "Bent-bars" are of course adjusted to a standard weight, and stamped with the "six-armed symbol" which no doubt represents some unknown issuing authority. Circular coinage of the Greek type is thought to have been inaugurated on the Iranian Plateau no earlier than the reign of Seleucus I (312 B.C.)26 so that the hypothesis can easily be entertained that bar-currency had remained in use there from Median times down to the close of the Achaemenid period. Thus there emerges the vista of a wholly unknown province of ancient numismatics.

Attractive though these speculations must seem, at this point in the inquiry the gap between the find evidence of the 7th century B.C. at Nfish-i Jdn, and that of Chaman Huzfiri from the 5th century B.C. naturally seemed a perilous one. It was therefore particularly gratifying, during the writer's visit to Kabul in 1969 in the course of study-leave already mentioned, that material came to notice partially bridging the gap. Whilst occupied in the examination of the coins from the Mir Zakah hoard in the Kabul Museum,27 the writer's attention was drawn to a small group of residual items, 22 in number, manifestly intermediate between the Median bar-ingots and Indian "Bent-bars". Nineteen of these ranged in weight from 12 - 76 gm. to 8-34 gm. (the last, of course, being the effective weight of the Babylonian shekel, as exemplified in the gold Daric coinage of the Achaemenids). These pieces all had the form of a straight bar; but whilst two bore traces of the regular "six-armed symbol" characteristic of the "bent-bars", the rest were unstamped. Thus they indicated a clear transition from a plain bar- currency to a stamped bar-coinage of the Indian type. Most striking, perhaps, was the plain bar weighing 8-34 gm., as already mentioned. Its shape, with the enlarged ends, was reminiscent of the "Bar-ingot" AI (146) from Nfish-i

Jmn-the "dog's-bone profile", to use a convenient phrase-but the size was much smaller, the surfaces had been finished by hammering, and the reduced weight at 8 - 34 gm. was surely indicative of manufacture under the Achaemenids. The "Bar-ingots" of the Mir Zakah residue plainly deserve close study, and cannot be examined in detail here, but a brief notice is necessary for the present discussion.

"Cut-silver" The second category of pieces in the find from Nfish-i Jan is that well known from the German

publications as Hacksilber, which we here render by the English translation of "Cut-silver". These are pieces of silver cut with a cold chisel from lengths of varying size and shape. Some are pieces of silver foil, roughly cut, and squeezed into lumps. Others are cut from pieces of wire of varying thickness. The most characteristic are however thickish blocks of silver, most of which have clearly been cut from

23 D. Schlumberger, "L'argent grec dans l'empire Ach6m6nide", in Curiel and Schlumberger, Trisors monetaires d'Afghanistan, p. 4.

4 John Allan, British Museum Catalogue of the Coins qf Ancient India, p. xvi.

25 E. H. C. Walsh, Punch-marked coins from Taxila (Memoirs of the Archaeological Survey of India No. 59), Delhi I939, p. 2.

26 E. T. Newell, Eastern Seleucid mints, p. 162. 27 Raoul Curiel and Daniel Schlumberger, "Le tr6sor de Mir

Zakah, prbs de Gardiz" in Curiel and Schlumberger, Trisors mondtaires d'Afghanistan, p. 67 ff. Since this find was the product of a sacred spring, frequented over many centuries, its content covered a wide chronological range, and the upper limit has perhaps never been closely defined.


" Bar-ingots ". Thus we see that the significance of the " Bar-ingots " extends beyond the three intact specimens occurring in the present find. It becomes increasingly obvious that in the Achaemenid hoards of " Bulk-silver " also, a great deal of the " Cut-silver " must have been derived originally from " Bar-ingots ", so that the currency of the latter must have been more extensive than at first appears. The implication seems to be that the period in which " Bar-ingots " circulated intact was a relatively early one. At some moment in time which is not easy to fix precisely, but which was no doubt during the Achaemenid period, and perhaps towards the beginning of the 5th century B.C., the casting of fresh " Bar-ingots " seems to have been discontinued. Those previously current naturally remained in circulation, and they were progressively subdivided for the purposes of day-to-day transactions as time went on. Thus gradually all the surviving " Bar-ingots " will have been reduced to " Cut-silver ", and the latter in turn to smaller and smaller pieces. This " Cut-silver " seems to have achieved a wider circulation than the original bars, and also to have proved a more lasting phenomenon. While the bars were perhaps restricted to the territory of the former Median empire, the " Cut-silver " seems to have been acceptable throughout Achaemenid territory, even far to the West.

Since much of the " Cut-silver " was derived from " Bar-ingots ", it is not easy to maintain a rigid distinction between the two categories. Where the origin is obvious, I have classed the pieces as " Bar- ingots ". Where there is room for doubt, I have listed them as " Cut-silver ", even where it would be reasonable to suppose that a piece had been derived from a bar. This point should be borne in mind when searching the catalogues for a particular item.

A special point of interest in the present find is that one of the pieces of " Cut-silver " [B28(97b), wt. 4 -64 gm.] bears traces of a fragmentary cuneiform inscription. Professor John A. Brinkman, of the Oriental Institute at Chicago has very kindly offered to contribute a note on these cuneiform traces, which is printed on p. I07 below.

Because of its very fragmentary nature, the full purport of the Akkadian inscription in the present case cannot easily be established. However, it is clear since the inscription is itself fragmentary, that the " Bar-ingot " from which this block was originally cut had already been inscribed before it was subdivided. Thus it seems that some of the " Bar-ingots " were made with appropriate inscriptions, and therefore hope exists of a complete inscription being eventually recovered, from which further deductions may become possible on the working of the system of " Bulk-silver ". A block so inscribed naturally brings to mind that from the Chaman IHuztiri find at Kabul, with its Elamite inscription elucidated by the late Professor W. B. Henning.28 The only comment on the latter's view suggested by the piece from Nfish-i J]n is that the Kabul block may likewise (in view of its substantial thickness) have been cut not from a piece of tableware, but from a " Bar-ingot " which once bore the full Elamite inscription. If so, the bar itself presumably originated during the

Achaemenid period, and would help to fix the lower time-limit for this medium of currency.

" Ring-money " The third category of pieces occurring in the Nfish-i Jan find may be described as " Ring-money ".

They vary considerably both in form and weight, the latter from a maximum of no less than 220 gm. to a fraction of a gram, but it seems practical to group them all together. Literary evidence for the existence of " Ring-money " in ancient Babylonia has already been mentioned,29 but actual specimens seem not to have been systematically studied, nor the working of the system explained. The present find presents especially rich material for the study of the question. Certain groups of the rings seem to be of standardised form, and the question must be considered whether their weights were also intended as standardised. As to their shape, several of the rings are rough and irregular, and would not have served the purpose of adornment. Others could possibly have possessed some function as jewellery.

28 "The 'coin' with cuneiform inscription ", Numismatic 29 Above, p. 99. Chronicle 1956, 327-88,where the earlier references will be found.

Fig. I. Niish-i Jan hoard: 'Cut-silver' fragment B.3o with cuneiform traces.

INGOT-CURRENCY OF THE MEDIAN PERIOD FROM NfSH-I JAN 103

The group already noticed have some resemblance to earrings, but they have not been decoratively worked, and such spiral rings could hardly have been inserted into pierced ears without much discom- fort. For wear, slender hooks would also have been needed, as indeed have been present in other finds.30 More probably, therefore, the main r61le of these rings was monetary. We are reminded of the gloss of Photius, to which attention has already been drawn by Schlumberger:31

ailcxos" Kic ti rvdtov Kai aTO0p6 •Spp3aptlc6i, 8uv6pcvog 6Kacb 603ooibs 'Artrco6g.

siklos: (signifies) both an earring and an Oriental weight equivalent to eight Attic obols.

If the Attic drachma, equivalent to six Attic obols, is reckoned at 4"

2 gm., then eight Attic obols would amount to 5 - 6 gm., a weight which indeed corresponds with that of the Persian silver coin known as the siglos. It remains to be verified whether quasi-monetary earrings of the type considered here approximate to the same weight of silver.

The possibility may also be considered whether some of these rings could not have been worn as finger-rings. Several of the spiral rings are of dimensions roughly suitable for that purpose. Again, there are two wider rings included in the find, CI2 (14I) and C5 (145), which have a pronounced resemblance to modern wedding-rings, and could certainly have been worn. It is often claimed that in the modern marriage ceremony, the use of the wedding-ring has a monetary significance, and that it was originally the equivalent of a " bride-price ".32 To explore this idea in detail would be a complex matter, but it seems true that in the period of our find, the boundary-line between jewellery and cash was particularly blurred, and the conditions postulated by the above assumption were to a large extent effective. Further evidence would naturally be needed before the rings of our find could be claimed as actual wedding-rings.

Numbering and Arrangement It is a fact of museum life that objects in a collection tend to receive successive and different numbers

at different stages in their museum history. Finds coming from excavations receive first excavation numbers, which normally follow the sequence in which the pieces have emerged from the soil. On entry to a museum they further receive accession numbers, usually in order of registration, with such modifications as the particular working routines require. When a systematic catalogue is ultimately compiled, a third system of numbering is almost inevitably imposed, on whatever basis seems most meaningful to the cataloguer. With regard to catalogue sequences, the preferences of succeeding generations may also differ, and recataloguing after a lapse of time is likely to produce a fresh crop of numbers. It can thus be a complex matter to follow a numbered find through different catalogues and registers. In the present case also, attention must be given to numbering and concordance. It is true that the numismatist is usually spared undue dependence on arbitrary numbers owing to the strong chronological thread which pervades his subject and makes it possible, once the identification is made, to go straight to the piece in question without reference to any numerical code. However, with " Ingot-currency " such as the present find, there is no immediately manifest chronological order, and a serial enumeration is therefore necessary. At the time of excavation the pieces were registered in the order of their emer- gence from the ground, and these numbers retain their value for designation of individual pieces. The portion of the find which passed at the time of division to the Miizeh Iran Bastan retains with but minor modifications its excavation numbering, and so needs no special concordance. It may be noticed that it is by no means easy, even from a photograph, to distinguish from one another the numerous, generally similar rings. Where the number can be inked on, or a label attached, this has usually proved helpful. The additional check afforded by a record of weights is none the less an advantage, and for systematic

80 e.g. at Shechem, cf. M. Balmuth, " Monetary forerunners of

coinage in Phoenicia and Palestine ", International Numismatic Convention: Jerusalem, 27-31 December 1963, Pl. I.

'1 D. Schlumberger, " L'argent grec dans l'empire Ach6m6nide "

in Curiel and Schlumberger, Trisors monitaires d'Afghanistan, p. 13.

32 For example in the Jewish ceremony, according to Encyclo- paedia of Religion and Ethics VIII, 462.


arrangement in the present article the handiest method seemed to be to arrange the pieces in three main sections (A. Bar-ingots; B. Cut-silver and C. Ring-money); and within each to arrange the pieces in descending order of weight. Thus a fixed sequence is attained, which virtually excludes the need for any qualitative decision by the cataloguer, and in the event of accidental disarrangement, can be immediately restored merely by reference to a balance. Since the main historical indications provided by this " Bulk-silver " arise from the metrology, the arrangement by weight makes these immediately evident, and has much to recommend it as a practical solution to the problems of classifying a find of this rather unusual nature.33 The catalogue is therefore arranged in the manner described, and a concordance of the original excavation numbers is provided at the end of the article. I owe to Dr. O. Muscarella, of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, registration details of the pieces which passed, after the division into his custody.

The Metrology of the Ingots It is no exaggeration to say that the heart of any study of an ingot find such as that of

Nfish-i Jin must be the section dealing with its metrology. Investigators who have touched on this matter in the

past have tended to the conclusion that the weights attested are purely random ones,34 and if this view were shown to be correct, we could expect no conclusion of interest to result from an analysis of weights in this particular case. In view of previous negative results, however, it need not be expected that any significant pattern will be a simple and obvious one. At the same time, it has to be borne in mind that methods of examination applied in earlier cases were admittedly insensitive. For seeking to ascertain a

possible weight-standard in an assemblage of irregular metal ingots, the method of averaging cannot be too strongly deprecated. It is a well-known witticism that a gathering of five four-year-old infants and five octagenarians have an average age of 42. Yet it would be misleading to conclude from that statistic that any person actually aged 42 (or anything approximating to it) would therefore have been present. Similarly in the determination of weight-standards, the calculation of the average may give a useful result when a single, uniform weight-standard is present in the whole material. Yet even in dealing with regular coinages where such a situation prevails, numismatists have preferred to employ the

technique of the frequency-table. Where multiple standards may be present, or multiple denominations of a single standard, the frequency-table is the only reliable method. Indeed the manner of its arrangement and presentation demands some care, a matter to which we shall return after examining some more general considerations.

It has been noticed above that in investigating a currency that lacks any mark of origin, the metro-

logy alone-leaving aside possible future investigation of trace-metals by spectroscopic analysis-offers hope of elucidating the mechanism of the system, and arriving at historical conclusions. We must face the possibility that our inquiry may prove unavailing. Yet the prospect of a wholly new insight into the economic history of the Assyrian and Babylonian worlds cannot lightly be dismissed. If the weight- standards can be shown to have evolved in a chronological sequence, the weighing of an ingot would henceforth give an indication of its date. This is by no means a far-fetched suggestion. It has already been proved of the siglos coinage of Achaemenid Anatolia that only weighing will determine the chronology of certain issues.35 On the other hand, weight-standards could well show a geographical distribution, and the balance provide indications of the direction and volume of trade. In practice, as in the history of coinage, both factors are likely to operate to a certain extent, and the task of unravelling them could prove a complex, yet informative, inquiry. It would also be interesting to know whether any consistent relationship exists between the weight-standards, and the three classes of material, " Bar- ingots ", " Cut-silver " and " Ring-money "

3a The method of arrangement of a find of " amorphous

"

currency in diminishing order of weight seems first to have been used by Professor D. Schlumberger for the 29 " countermarked coins " of the Chaman

.Huzfiri hoard at Kabul, cf. 'L'argent

grec dans l'empire Ach6m6nide " in Curiel and Schlumberger, Trisors monitaires d'Afghanistan p. 42.

34 e.g. M. S. Balmuth, " The monetary forerunners of coinage in

Phoenicia and Palestine " in International Numismatic Convention: Jerusalem 27-31 December 1963 p. 28 " The only conclusion possible after weighing and observing the hoards from Shechem and Beth Shan is that no weight relationship exists amongst the ingots and that they could be negotiable only by mass ".

35 E. S. G. Robinson, " The beginnings of Achaemenid coinage ", Numismatic Chronicle 1958, p. 191.

INGOT-CURRENCY OF THE MEDIAN PERIOD FROM NfSH-I JAN 105

It is usually allowed that the metrological systems of ancient Mesopotamia were internally organised in the majority of cases, on a sexagesimal system:

6o shekels = I mina 60 minae = I talent

Cuneiform texts make constant reference to these denominations and their numerical relationship. The matter is less simple when it comes to determining the absolute values of these denominations in any particular period or location. In practice, the most successful technique for this purpose is the examination of surviving ancient weights, some of which bear inscriptions which are more or less informative, though they do not always specifically name the denomination.36 Best known of the weight-standards current in Mesopotamia during the pre-Achaemenid period is the Babylonian standard. It is, however, most easily determined from the material of Achaemenid date, when fundamentally the same standard was in use, and when the value of the shekel was close to 8 4 gm., and that of the mina to 504 gm. No doubt difficulties were experienced in antiquity in precisely standardizing the weights, and specimens from excavation may often have suffered from the fraudulent manipulation of which there is biblical evidence.37

In addition to the familiar Babylonian standard, the bedrock as it were of ancient metrology, there is considerable evidence, especially in Assyrian times, of the existence of competing systems. There are numerous references to a weight-standard " of the King ",38 and on the evidence of inscribed weights from Nimrud, its mina has been reckoned at approximately double the Babylonian at some IoIo gm.,39 which would result in a shekel (assuming the proportions unchanged) of 16 -8 gm. Whether such a standard remained constant throughout the Assyrian Empire, and in all periods, is a question for investigation. There is anyway cuneiform evidence for the existence of local standards40-which implies that they were different-and for the area of Palestine a clear case has been made from the evidence of excavated weights for a shekel of I I -4 gm.41 The latter finds were linked by Yadin with the Samaria ostraca, ascribed to the date of 738 B.C. It therefore appears that quite a variety of shekel standards may have been current at different dates and places, though there is no certainty that all of these would have been employed for the weighing of silver.

After these preliminary remarks, we may turn to the frequency-table (fig. 2). The data are presented in six parallel ranges, with the scale of each varied proportionately, so that the increasing multiples of the same standard appear conveniently in the same horizontal line. It will be seen at a glance that the weights show a good deal of irregularity, evidence perhaps of unreliable scales, and where the pieces are cut, of imprecise cutting. It is true that there is no massive coincidence in weights that would attest the presence of a single rigid standard. Nevertheless, it can hardly be said that the distribution pattern is a random one. In the two highest ranges there are relatively few specimens, as we might expect. Yet such evidence as the chart does provide is surprisingly coherent. There are two intact bar ingots coinciding closely at a little over Ioo gm. The largest piece of cut-silver falls at 5 1'43 gm.,42 and there is a neat concentration of items around the 24 gm. mark, all of which decidely suggests a range of multiples of 6 gm., 12 gm., 24 gm., 50 gm. and I0oo gm.

The next point to be made is that out of 83 specimens displayed upon the table, no less than 32 fall in what we have designated the Half-Shekel Range, and 22 in the Shekel Range. It is of course evident from the cuneiform documents that the shekel and the half-shekel would have been the most popular denominations in any currency system. The latter in particular, best known under its Aramaic name of

zwz, and the ancestor of the Greek drachma, would have been a convenient piece in ordinary shopping.

36 Perhaps the fullest discussion of the older evidence for Assyrian weight-standards is that of C. H. W. Johns, Assyrian deeds and documents II, 256-73; Sir Max Mallowan, Nimrud I, 326 and 338, mentions a half-mina of 250 - 7 gm., and calls attention to the need for a fresh investigation.

"7 Deuteronomy 25. 14: Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, a great and a small.

38 II Samuel 14. 26: . . . two hundred shekels after the king's weight.

19 Johns, op. cit. II, 262. 40 Balmuth, op. cit. p. 26 (where the preceding, and further refer-

ences will be found); Johns, p. 269. 41 Yigael Yadin, " Ancient Judaean weights and the date of the

Samaria ostraca ", Scripta Hierosolymitana VIII, Io ff. 4* It is interesting in this connexion that the single aberrant

weight in Yadin's table (op. cit. p. 12), that from el-Jib, weighed 51 58 gm., though the norm of his 4-shekel range was between 45 and 46 gm.


Turning now to the question of specific weight-standards, we see groupings in the shekel range at a little over 12 gm., between I I and I

I.5 gm., between 9'5 gm. and Io gm., and, perhaps, around 85 ginm. The second coincides well enough with the Palestinian shekel demonstrated by Yadin, and the last falls close to the Babylonian shekel of Achaemenid times. The other two, though unknown, are quite conceivable shekel standards, and can hardly be dismissed as meaningless. Taking next the half-shekel range, there are evident groupings around 6 gm., and again at

5.6 gm. (the last figure, of course, is known later as the Achaemenid siglos, though the name is something of a misnomer, since rather than a shekel the coin is better regarded as a zwz or drachma, of which the weight represented a key figure for the cross-rates between gold and silver in Achaemenid times43). Disregarding a few stragglers, a further

-,c

5 7 4 28 14 56 112 -J

3.25 65 13 26k- 52 c> 104

25 50 1000, o ?

3 65 o 12 24 48 96

L 23 46 92 ACHAEMENID

,2 SIGLOS D 55 22 0 44 8

0 21 42 84

2"5 0o 5 o 20 40 80

19 38 76

4.5 9 18 36 72 0

BABYLONIAN 7 34 68 SHEKEL 2 4 8 I6 32 64

15 30 60

35 7 4 28 56 KEY TO SYMBOLS

BARS N CUT SILVER L

RINGS o

Fig. 2. Ndsh-i Jdn hoard: frequency-table of weights between zI2 gm. and -'75

gm. The scale of grams in each column is half that of the column preceding.

seeming concentration is found at 44 gm., very close to the half-shekel of the Achaemenid Babylonian standard. There is another peak at 3 - 8 gm., then something of a gap, and a further small concentration at 2 . I gm., which presumably represents the quarter-shekel corresponding to the half at

4" 4 gm. It may be noticed at the same time that there is no clear separation between the standards exemplified by the " Cut-silver ", and those of the rings.

In conclusion therefore, it may be said that the frequency-table indicates a certain irregularity of weight, as might be expected if the ingots had been cut to size by eye, rather than by some precise measurement. Yet the distribution of weights is by no means random. It may rather be the result of the attestation in the find of a series of varying weight-standards, some perhaps representing local shekels of

"4 Since 20 sigloi were intended to correspond in value to the gold daric of 8 - 35 gm., cf. E. S. G. Robinson, " The beginnings

of Achaemenid coinage ", Numismatic Chronicle j 958, p. 19 1.

A I

A2

A3 A4

A5 AI A7

A9 A8 Aio

A 3 A6 A12

P1. I. Bar-Ingots and Fragmentary Bars from Niush-i Jan. Actual size.

B2 BI B3

B4 B5 B6 B7

B9 B 13 BI 4 B 15

B17 B 8 B 19 B 20

B 16

B22 B 24 B 25

Pl. II. " Cut-Silver" from Niish-i Jan. Actual size.

44 17 _

II(- I-:l --

< iiiBll c7_ii~ i~i! .

:: ::-I--I.... ...-In:

:: :

::i-:+! iiii iii iii

_

i--

i 1 I Ii - __I ! I - .:._-l

!i

8- ST%... 73

P1. IIIa. Niish-i Jan, 1967. Small " Cut-silver " (wires and foils). Scale I/z.

P1. IIIb. Nfish-i Jan, i967. Miscellaneous fragments under Excavation No. 167. Scale I/I.

P1. IIIc. HNsh-i Jdn, 1967. The bronze bowl containing the treasure.

:-

:ii :•i :

H :: H .

i..:!

C3 C4 C

.i

!iiiiii::: C

1

.'::}i!

j-~iii--l ..............

" : : ::::i!•ii~il ..... . :: :::iii~:!i~~i~•:•i~i~~f:!~i~~i~i~iii~i,:,! i•: i: :::: : :

•" !i• .......

C8 C: -o

Pl. IV. Nish-i Jdn, 1967. Ring-currency, large and small denominations. Actual size, except for C8 and Cio, which are slightly enlarged.

INGOT-CURRENCY OF THE MEDIAN PERIOD FROM NUJSH-I JAN 107

areas from which the ingots may have been brought, and others progressive changes in the " Royal " standards. Hitherto, for want of evidence either way, there has been a tendency to assume that such " Royal " standards as that of the Assyrian kingdom remained a fixed and unchanging value. What is known of the economic history of other periods in antiquity hardly corroborates this view. The frequency-table of any mixed hoard of 5th century Greek coinage would illustrate a scatter of weight- standards and denominations not dissimilar to that presented here. Between the standards of ancient Mesopotamia, and those (varying widely) established in Classical Greece there are in all probability historical connexions, as such Semitic loan-words as Ava for the mina evidently attest. Further such finds will need to be published, and systematically analysed, before any general conclusion would be justified. Yet it may well prove, and the present material suggests, that the metrology of ancient Mesopotamia was but little less complex than that of every other period in human history.

THE INSCRIBED SILVER FRAGMENT FROM NCSH-I JAN (Fig. 2), by J. A. Brinkman

The small piece of metal bears traces of markings which are probably to be interpreted as fragments of cuneiform signs. The most definite traces are what appear to be the left sections of two horizontal wedges, consisting in each case of a wedge head and the beginning of a tail, and a horizontal dividing line between them, presumably separating two lines of text. There are additional marks, or possibly scratches, on the metal which could point to slightly more complex signs than the simple horizontal wedge.

From these slight traces it is impossible at present to determine anything about context, type or date of script, or place of origin. One cannot at this time establish whether the "text" was written in Akkadian (Babylonian), Old Persian (or some forerunner), Elamite, or some other similar script.


CATALOGUE Section A: Bar-ingots Cat. No. Excavation Weight in Location Plate

No. grams A 146 I0oo'70 New York PI. I

69.24.11 A2 155 I oo0030 Tehran P1. I A3 117 40o 70 Inst. P1. I A4 161 24-00 Tehran P1. I A5 157B 23-50 Tehran P1. I A6 i5oB 18-31 London P1. I

BM 135085 A7 150A 17"58

London P1. I BM 135082

A8 147B I6-42 Inst. Pl. I Ag 157A 1340o Tehran P1. I A io I25C I2.19

Tehran P1. I AI I14oA I151 Inst. PI. I A 12 163B 84o0 Tehran P1. I A 13 135B 3-02 Tehran P1. I

Section B: "Cut-silver"

B i o9 51.43 Tehran P1. II B2 143C 24-85 Tehran P1. II B3 143B 24- 16 Tehran P1. II B 4 133A 20oo8 London P1. II

BM 135074

B5 II2A I6-50 Tehran P1. II B6 143A 13'71 Tehran P1. II B 7 I4oB 13o05 Inst. P1. II B 7 bis 156I 11-56 Inst. B 8 98B I I 14 Inst. B9 135A 1o.87 Tehran P1. II B io 133B 9-8o London

BM 135075 B ix 118A 9'55 Tehran B 12 1 i2D 9'54 Tehran - B 13 I oD 9-02 Inst. PI. II B 14 99 8-51 Tehran P1. II B 5 154C 8-21 Inst. P1. II B I6 Io6 7"34

Inst. P1. II B 17 154B 7"o6

Inst. PI. II B i8 I62C I 6-30 Inst. PI. II B I9 157C 6-25 Tehran P1. II B 2o I4oC 6-o4 Inst. P1. II B21 156H 5"

86 Inst. -

B 22 II2B 5"60

Tehran PI. II B 23 14oE 5'56 Inst. -

B24 x4oD 5'53 Inst. PI. II B25 I54A 5'42 Inst. P1. II B 26 127E 5"26

Inst. - B 27 I27G 5.20

Inst. - B28 147A 5.04

Inst. -

B 29 xIIIxB 4"67 Inst. -

INGOT-CURRENCY OF THE MEDIAN PERIOD FROM NUJSH-I JAN 109

Cat. No. Excavation Weight in Location Plate No. grams

B 3o 97B 4-63 Inst. - This piece bears a fragmentary cuneiform inscription (see pp. 102, 107). B3i I63A 4'58 Tehran - B 32 112C 4'45 Tehran - B 33 162D 7 4'42 Inst. Pi. III B 34 124B 4"17 Inst. B 35 12oB 4*13 Tehran B 36 128D

4.05 Tehran

B 37 12IB 3'91 Inst. B 38 98A 3-84 Inst. B 39 128C 3'72 Inst. B 40 124A 3'45 Tehran - B 41 125D 2'44 Tehran - BE42 135D 2"30

Tehran - B 43 125F 20o8 Tehran - B 44 127D 2-06 Inst. B 45 162A 5 200oo Inst. B 46 (wire) 162A 3 1.96 Tehran P1. III B 47 156A I.81

Inst. - B 48 162G 2 1.80 Inst. P1. III B 49 127C 1"73 Inst. - B 50 127F 1 -66 Inst. B 51 156F 1 -64 Inst. B 52 97D 1"54

Inst. B 53 97C 1-51 Inst. B 54 162C2 "45 Inst. B 55 (foil) I33C I -42 London

BM 135076 B 56 127J 1"37 Inst. B 57 127H 1*35 Inst. B 58 135C I-30 Tehran B 59 I56E I 27 Inst. - B 6o (foil) 162D I 1-26 Inst. Pi. III B 61 121C

1"24 Inst.

B 62 156K I e24 Inst. B 63 144B 1.20 Tehran B 64 162E 1 07 Inst. PI. III B 65 162C 3 0o97 Inst. B 66 1271

o.96 Inst.

B 67 (foil) I62F o'92

Inst. Pl. III B 68 IoIC o082 Inst. B 69 1ix8B o*77 Tehran B 70 12oD 0o67 Tehran B 7I x27A 0o64 Inst. B 72 162D 5 o063 Inst. PI. III B 73 (foil) x62D 2

o.6I Inst. PI. III

B 74 Io7C 0-60 Inst. -

B 75 162D 4 o057 Inst. P1. III B 76 (wire) I62A2 0o48 Inst. P1. III B 77 (wire I62A4 o'45

Inst. P1. III hook)

B 78 (wire) 162A I 0o*42 Inst. PL. III B 79 I20oC 0*40 Tehran -

B 80 (foil) I62D 3 o.27 Inst. P1. III


Cat. No. Excavation Weight in Location Plate No. grams

B81 1ooC 0o25 Tehran B 82 127B 0o24 Inst.

Section C: Ring-money C i 102 220

0O Tehran PI. IV

C 2 158 90-50 Tehran Pl. IV C 3 (coil) Io7A 33'44 Inst. P1. IV C 4 116 21-80 Tehran Pl. IV

No. 134 C 5 145 I7-88 London -

BM 135085 C6 I0o7B 13'92 Inst. PL. IV C 7 134 12I12 Tehran - C 8 I IoA II 30 New York P1. IV

69-24.6 C9 I28A 10-07 Inst. - C Io IoIA 1o.oo New York Pl. IV

69.24.7 C Ii 126 9-88 London

BM 135073 C 12 141 6-oo Tehran P1. IV C 13 IooA 5'25 Inst. C 14 164 5- 2 Inst. C 15 121A 5-o6 Inst. -

C 16 97A 4-85 Tehran -

C i7 137 4'48 Tehran C i8 152 4'38 London

BM 135084 C 19 128D 4-05 Tehran C 20 125B 3'70 Tehran -

C 21 I IiA 3.30 New York 69'24'9

C 22 131 3"06

Inst. C 23 105 2.8o Tehran -

C 24 124C 2-27 Tehran -

C 25 144A I-82 Tehran No. I41

C 26 148 I 6o New York -

69.24.10 C 27 12oA z"43 Tehran C 28

130? 140 Tehran C 29 I IoB .

130 New York 69-24.8

C 30 I44B i"I9 Tehran -

C 31 (broken) IIZ4B 0.95 Tehran -

C 32 iioC 0"92

Inst. -

C 33 II4A o.80

Tehran -

C34 I28B 0o77 Tehran -

C 35 123 0O75 Tehran -

C 36 zooB o0.75 Inst. -

C 37 I65C 0o70 Tehran -

C38(broken) Ii4C 0o47

Tehran


CONCORDANCE OF EXCAVATION NUMBERS

Note: Items classified as jewellery, to be published elsewhere, and not included in the present catalogue, are indicated by the letter J in this concordance.

96 J II2D B 12 I25D B 41 133A B4 I5oB A 6 162C 1 B 18 97A C 16 II2E B69 125E J 133B B io

I51 J 162C 2 B 54 97B B 3o 113A J 125F B 43 134 C 7 152 C 18 162C 3 B 65 97C B53 II3B J 125G J I35A B9 i53 J I62D I B6o

97D B52 II3C J 126 C II I35B A I3 I54A B25 162D 2 B 73 98A B38 II3D J 127A B 71 135C B58 I54B B 17 162D 3 B80 98B B8 I13E J 127B B 82 135D B 42 154C B

I5 I62D4 B75 99 BI14 II4A C33 127C B49 135E J 155 A2 I62D 5 B 72

IooA C 13 II4B C31 127D B44 136 J I56A B47 I62D 6 *48

IooB C36 II4C C38 I27E B26 137 C 17 i56B J I62D 7 B33 iooC B8I 115 J I27F *44 138 J x56C J I62E B 64 ioiA C io ii6 C4 127G B27 139 J I56D J I62F B67 IoiB J 117 A 3 I27H B 57 14oA A ii I56E B 59 162G I *

IoIC B68 II8A B II 1271 B 66 14oB B 7 I56F B51 I62G 2 B 48 102 C I II8B B69 127J B 56 I4oC B20o 56G j47 162H * 103 J 119 J 128A C 9 i4oD B24 I56H B21 1621 104 J I2oA C 27 128B J 140E B23 156I B 7 bis 1-17 * 105 C 23 20oB B35 I28C B 39 14 C 12 i56J J I62J Io6 B 16 120C B 79 128D B36 142A J46 I56K B62 1-5 *

Io07A C3 12oD B 7o I29A J 142B J I56L J47 I62K * Io7B C 4 120E J I29B J 142C J I56M J I62H Io7C B 74 12oF J 130 C 28

I43A B6 I57A A9 1-3 *

io8A J I2IA C 15 131 C 22 143B B3 157B A 5 163A B 31 io8B J I2IB B37 132A J45 143C B2 157C B 19 163B A 12

Io8C J I2IC B61 I32B J I44A C25 158 C2 I64 C 14 I9o B I 122A J 132C I *45 I44B B63 159 J I65A J IIoA C8 I22B J 132C 2 J 145 C5 I6o J I65B J IroB C29 I22C J 132C 3 J 146 A

I 161 A 4 I65C C 38

IIoC C32 123 C 35 132C4 J I47A B28 162A B 78 I65D J IIoD B 13 124A B 4o 132C 5 J 147B A8 162A2 B 76 i65E J iIIA C 21 I24B B 34 132C 6 J 148A C26 162A 3 B 46 166 Bronze IIIB B29 124C C 24 132C 7 J I49A J I62A 4 B 77 bowl II2A B5 I25A J 132D J I49B J 162A 5 B 45 (Plate II12B B22 I25B C20 132E J I49C J I62B I J IIIc) II2C B32 125C A Io 132F J i5oA A7 I62B2 J

44 This item is a small piece of " Cut-silver ", of which the weight is not at present on record. It will be included in the forthcoming catalogue ofjewellery, together with the first two items in the note following.

45 I32A and B are two very small rings which have not been weighed, but which were possibly monetary. No. 132C I is a very small piece of" Cut-silver ".

46 I42A is a minute ring of unknown weight. 47 I56G and J are pieces of "Cut-silver" made from lengths of

wire, and are being published with the jewellery as also is I56L, a flat triangular piece, apparently of foil.

48 Items marked with an asterisk were registered en bloc under this serial, and have not been individually carded.

TOWARDS A CHRONOLOGY FOR THE " LURISTAN BRONZES "

By P. R. S. Moorey*

The appearance of Dr. Peter Calmeyer's Datierbare Bronzen aus Luristan und Kirmanshah (Berlin, 1969) marks an important stage in the developing study of the pre-Achaemenian metalwork of western Iran. It has been clear to some students ever since the early I930s, soon after the first major wave of clandestine excavation, that the so-called " Liristan Bronzes " were a very heterogeneous collection of objects ranging over a period of at least two thousand years, derived originally from many sources, Mesopota- mian as well as Iranian, and made not by one, but by a number of bronze workshops varying widely in the time and place of their greatest productivity. Yet apart from a comprehensive but extremely concise essay by Schaeffer included in his Stratigraphie compare'e et chronologie de l'Asie Occidentale of 1948, no one has until now made a systematic attempt to unravel this material by comparative typological analysis. Two scholars, Deshayes and Potratz, have done vital work of this kind on the tools and the horse-bits respectively, but in neither case was the central Zagros region their primary concern.' Calmeyer has now isolated over seventy groups of bronze artefacts which he believes may be dated on the basis either of the cuneiform inscriptions some of them bear or close parallels from controlled excavations, generally outside Iran. All future students will be indebted to him for the care with which he has assembled his lists, with full bibliography. The types are usually illustrated in line-drawings with a few selected items only on half-tone plates. It is the very excellence of his documentation and the apparent finality of the general conclusions he draws which have prompted me to a divergent view in the following pages, since Calmeyer's book is certain to be a standard work of reference for some time to come in this field of study. I have no fault to find with the method in principle, nor, with very rare exceptions, in application. My prime concern is to point out what I believe to be a false perspective which may follow from relying exclusively upon these closely dated groups in any future attempt to reconstruct the bronze industries of south-western Iran before the Achaemenian period, particularly when so many of the groups are so far only dated through foreign parallels and may often indeed include objects made outside Liristan. It must be remembered in reading this book that Calmeyer is primarily concerned with providing a corpus, not an interpretation.

I

It will be immediately apparent to any reader of Calmeyer's book in the least acquainted with " Liristdn Bronzes " that the most distinctive objects from this region, those with elaborate cast bronze decoration in an often extravagant zoomorphic style (notably cheekpieces for horse-bits, standard- finials, decorated tubes, pins, especially those with opencast heads, bracelets etc.) and their sheetmetal relatives, are virtually absent.2 The reason is obvious: since they are not strictly speaking " datable " they fall outside the author's chosen terms of reference. As yet they have no close parallels beyond the

* I am most grateful to Dr. Peter Calmeyer for discussing his views with me and allowing me to muster his groups as on figures t and 2 (I alone am responsible for the arrangement); to Mr. Joost Crouwel for reading a draft of this paper; and to Mrs. Pat Clarke for the drawing. In figures I and 2 the object representing each group is only a general guide to its contents, which may on occasion be various. Both Dr. Clare Goff and Mr. W. Lerouge kindly read a draft of this paper and I have benefitted considerably from their comments; but for what remains I alone am to be held responsible.

Note on terminology: As there is no agreed terminology for the stages of cultural development in Lfiristin I have used the Meso- potamian chronology with Calmeyer, until c. I2oo B.C. and then that proposed by Dyson and Cuyler Young for N.W. Iran (Early Iron I-III). In doing so I have used them conventionally with no implication of cultural relations.

x J. Deshayes, Les Outils de Bronze de l'Indus au Danube... (Paris, 196o) (hereafter Outils); J. A. H. Potratz, Die Pferdetrensen des Alten Orient (Rome, 1966) (hereafter Pferdetrensen).

' With the exception of Groups 3o, 38 and 52 and one vessel in Group 26 (0).

113


primary zone of discovery, broadly extending from slightly west of the Saimarreh river to the Nihavend region in the east, from the Kashgan river in the south to the Baghdad-Hamadan road in the north. With a very few notable exceptions they have still to be found in controlled excavations within the region of origin. The author is thus perfectly justified in excluding them from his system of classification, but in doing so, and in then virtually ignoring them, he runs the grave risk that his general conclusions will be to this extent deficient. Of all the bronzes reported from the central Zagros region these are the very ones which may most reasonably be taken as products of local workshops. Their very isolation emphasizes this. With objects closely paralleled to the west in Mesopotamia or Syria or to the south in Elam, some indeed bearing Elamite or Babylonian inscriptions, it is always a viable possibility that the type, if not the actual object, is an import into the central Zagros area. As such they are very instructive in defining Lfiristan's commercial relations, and the range and direction of foreign military and political contact, in any particular period. But they are far less significant in elucidating the cultural history of Liristin itself.

Calmeyer's general presentation of his evidence is clear and systematic. He begins with a critical review of previous conclusions on the chronology of the " Liristdn Bronzes ". This is always a hazardous undertaking as each authority has tended to define his terms of reference slightly differently. Though this is only a brief review, and the author makes no claim that it is comprehensive, more mention might have been made of the pioneer studies of Godard, Pope, Dussaud and Przeworski whose books and articles in the 1930s opened virtually all the lines of research subsequently pursued.

The dated groups are next considered in detail. The majority, 1-53, are arranged consecutively in chronological order with full lists and select comment on points of style, provenance and chronology. All this is most welcome and useful; naturally, where Deshayes has been before, Calmeyer simply follows with further examples and modifications in detail. Generally speaking Calmeyer argues for a more precise chronology than Deshayes believed the evidence would normally support. Groups 54-68 are separated (pp. I 17 ff.) and arranged typologically, using the evidence assembled in the earlier part of the book to date them. In a way this is unfortunate as the reader must do a lot of flicking backwards and forwards in order to muster, for instance, all the information offered on maceheads and daggers. Though the objects in these groups may be more various and not so closely datable as those already considered, physical separation from the basic groups to which they are most nearly related hinders rather than advances the main argument. Two at least of the earlier groups-26: Gefdsse mit konkaver Wandung and 23: Addahuau-dxte-are almost as mixed.3 No such objection may be raised to the total isolation of forgeries and pastiches (pp. 137 ff.). The questions raised by pastiches are particularly difficult to resolve and in certain cases there may be more ground for confidence than the author allows.4

With his evidence mustered and ordered Calmeyer proceeds to his general analysis and conclusions, considering in turn matters of provenance, style, inscriptions, local production, and imports and exports.

His first general conclusion is basic and vital. Through an examination of the places in western Iran commonly associated in the past with clandestine excavation of bronzes he demonstrates that even in its primary geographical sense the term Lfiristdn has little or no force in describing objects reported from an area extending well beyond the frontiers of this province. No-one would dispute this, but his analysis does not allow sufficiently for what accurate information there is and its relevance to the question of local industries. Both Dr. Goff5 and the Danish Lfiristdn Expedition,6 not to mention the pioneer records of Herzfeld and Godard,7 have demonstrated that through careful questioning of the local residents some facts may still be gleaned about the general distribution of specific types of bronze. Emphasis might also be made to a dangerous trend in the opposite direction. In recent years irrespon- sible and arbitrary attributions to Liristdn or Amlash, to mention but the two favourites, by dealers more

3 Group 23-Tchoga Zanbil: R. Ghirshman, MDP XXXIX, pl. LIII.5; cf. Susa-Inshushinak deposit-MDP VII, p. 8I, fig. 184-thirteenth to twelfth century B.C. Group 26B =

Giyan IV: later third millennium B.C. Group 26o = Iron Age II-IIIA.

4 Close examination of Ashmolean Museum I951.332, for

instance, leaves little reason to doubt that the handle belongs;

see P. R. S. Moorey, Catalogue of the Ancient Persian Bronzes in the Ashmolean Museum (Oxford, forthcoming), no. 522.

6 Iran VI (1968), pp. 128 ff. It should be noted that Calmeyer always puts art-market designations of provenance in paren- thesis in his lists.

6 J. Meldgaard, Acta Archaeologica XXXIV (1963), pp. 0oo f1. SE. Herzfeld, AMI I, (1929-30), pp. 65 ff.; A. Godard, Les

Bronzes du Luristan (Paris, I931), passim.

TOWARDS A CHRONOLOGY FOR THE "LURISTAN BRONZES " 115

interested in pleasing customers than in preserving archaeological evidence, have all too easily led to confusion when no comparable examples of certain context are known. Objects from workshops in northern Iran are gratuitously attributed to Liiristdn and vice versa. This uncertainty is well illustrated by Calmeyer's group 24: Tierprotomen- und Rimsin-Gerate. It is possible that objects of this form have been found both in Lairistin and the south-west Caspian region, but from their Mesopotamian analogies these are probably west, rather than north-west, Persian artefacts.

The pioneer stages of copper and bronze metallurgy in Liiristan, before the middle of the third millennium B.C., are so far unknown. Neither clandestine nor controlled excavations have yet revealed metal objects which may confidently be attributed to this period. For the next thousand years, c. 2600-

16oo B.C. evidence may now be adduced from both sources. The appropriate sections of Deshayes's corpus of tools had already made clear that during this time there was little or no marked typological distinction between the products of workshops in Mesopotamia, Elam and Liristan. Calmeyer's first twenty-five groups emphasize this wide area of affinity through constant reference to excavated parallels outside Iran for the undecorated tools and weapons from Liiristan. The wide range of metalwork from gallery-graves at Bani Surmah and Kalleh Nisar excavated by the Belgium LiIristan Expedition now indicate unequivocally the close links then existing between the forms favoured by the metalsmiths of southern Iran and Elam, central Iraq and western LUristdn, even on occasion north Syria and Lairistan.8 Less satisfactory evidence from excavations further east in the mountain-zone separating Iraq and the central Persian plateau, primarily at Tepe Giyan and Tepe Djamshidi, at Kamtarlan and Chigha Sabz, suggest that they also shared a comparable range of plain metal types. It is only in the use of simple cast bronze zoomorphic and anthropomorphic decoration on tools and weapons that western Iran seems to stand alone. The extreme rarity at this time of such decoration in Iraq and Syria serves to emphasize its importance in Iran though surviving examples are not yet very numerous.

In isolated cases, particularly the Early Dynastic chariot reinrings (Calmeyer's Group I), both Sumer and western Iran appear to share a common decorated form. Much more often the decorated forms may only be traced back to Susa, not into Iraq. Calmeyer dates the development of a distinctive West Iranian bronze style, characterized by this decoration, to the period between the death of Shulgi and the end of the First Dynasty of Babylon. The chronology is well founded, but the question of its cultural affinity remains. It is most likely to be " Old Elamite ". Though some examples, for instance the axes in Calmeyer's group 20, might even be " Old Babylonian " or " Old Assyrian ". Only in an extremely general sense, by using such animals as the lion and goat, does it anticipate the later (Early Iron I-IIIA) cast bronze decoration of" L ristin bronzes ". In no case so far published is there any close stylistic affinity between the decoration of these axes, adzes, pick-axes etc., and the later finials, pinheads and horse-bits.

From every point of view it is most unfortunate that for the period from c. 1600oo-12oo00 B.C. (Cal- meyer's BergvOlkerzeit) controlled archaeological excavations both in Iraq and in Iran have so far revealed comparatively little metalwork. For this period Calmeyer has two groups of maceheads and daggers (Groups 27, 31), with very wide geographical and chronological distributions, a spearpoint, bearing an inscription of Humbanumena (Group 29) which Dr. Reiner has condemned as spurious,9 and the simple naturalistic caprid standard-finials (Group 30). The dating of this last group is crucial, for if it really belongs even as early as the thirteenth century B.C. then there is at least some evidence for an individual local Larist1n bronze style in the second half of the second millennium B.C. (i.e. Late Bronze Age) as such objects are so far unknown from Iraq or further west.

This early dating is based exclusively on iconographic parallels between these standard-finials and similar pairs of rampant caprids cut on Mitannian, Kassite and Middle Elamite cylinder seals; a method of dating these bronzes first used extensively by Herzfeldmo and more recently applied by Miss Porada, whom Calmeyer cites to support his dating. But Miss Porada does not argue for such a high date and is, even so, very cautious in her application of the glyptic evidence: " It is conceivable, therefore, that the earliest goat standards should be associated in time with the rings (i.e. finger rings in a

S L. Vanden Berghe, Archeologia XXIV (Sept.-Oct., 1968), pp. 53 f.; XXXII (Jan.-Feb., 1970), pp. 65 ff.

9 E. Reiner, JNES XXIV (1965), p. 339, n. 7. 10 Iran in the Ancient East (London, I941), pp. 16I if.

12


EARLY DYNASTIC TO EARLY AKKADIAN

(Zk?

LATER AKKADIAN TO ISIN-LARSA

\ V

At illustrbed.

OLD BABYLONIAN TO KASSITE

I. 0

,, • (•"

Fig. I. Diagram of Calmeyer's Groups r-3o. (After P. Calmeyer, Datierbare Bronzen aus Luristan und Kirmanshah, passim.)

TOWARDS A CHRONOLOGY FOR THE LfJRISTAN BRONZES " 117

'Modelled Middle Assyrian style of the twelfth and eleventh centuries B.C. '), although the similarity in posture between the goats of the standards and those of the cylinder from Surkh Dum may also point to a later date ".11 Van Loon subsequently pointed out that evidence from the Dum Surkh shrine necessitated revisions in Miss Porada's scheme which would involve among other things a lower chronology.12 Recent finds by the Belgium Liiristan Expedition and Dr. Goff, which will be cited later in this paper, do not favour a Late Bronze Age date for the standard-finials.

It is opportune here in view of Calmeyer's high chronology to look again at an historical hypothesis recurrent in work on the " LfiristTn Bronzes ". Though Calmeyer himself avoids ethnic or political affiliations for the makers of the bronzes he lists, his chronology may well be taken to strengthen the arguments of those who would attribute the most exotic to the Kassites. Godard was long the main exponent of the view that the most highly decorated bronzes were to be associated with the Kassites after their withdrawal or expulsion from Babylonia into the Zagros mountains in the later twelfth century B.C. Ghirshman has already raised some cogent objections.13 There is nothing in common between the bronzework of Babylonia as we know it and that distinctive of Lfiristan in the crucial period. Objects they shared, like the flange-hilted dangers, were so widely used at the time in south-west Asia as not to be diagnostic. Although a people known to the Assyrians and later Greek geographers as " Kassites " were probably to be found at least on the periphery of western Lfiristdn, it may not be assumed that their material culture had anything in common with that of the Kassites of Iraq in an earlier period.

There is virtually no evidence for the systematic expulsion of the Kassites from Iraq after the collapse of their political supremacy there c.

I1I8o B.C. Indeed there is a distinct possibility that the

Second Sea-land and Bazi Dynasties may mark a renaissance of Kassite political influence in Babylonia after the native Babylonian Second Isin Dynasty.14 Close links persisted between the centres of political authority in the plain and the eastern mountain regions, presumably much as before the twelfth century B.C. As far as it is possible to judge the eastern Kassites at this time and well into the Neo-Assyrian period dwelt in the foothills and lower ranges of the Zagros mountains between the Little Zab and the Diyala, if not also further to the south.15 As the excavations of the Belgium Lfiristdn expedition have shown, this region used metalwork with strong Mesopotamian affinities, very rarely exhibiting the distinctive characteristics of contemporary metalwork further to the east in the heart of L-iristan. The plain ware, pedestal-goblets typical of the second level of occupation at Tepe Guran, which have been compared to " Kassite " pottery from Nippur and Ur,16 are exactly like Middle Elamite pottery from Susa, c. I150-1000oo B.C.1' They are as likely to reflect some kind of Elamite penetration into the Hulai- lan plain as they are Kassite influences.

Among the " Lfiristdn bronzes " the last two centuries of the second millennium B.C. are marked by an ever-increasing number of weapons and vessels, at first generally flange-hilted daggers, later arrow- heads and situlae, inscribed for Babylonian and Elamite rulers and their officials. Calmeyer offers an excellent list of these objects with detailed refutation of Ghirshman's " Cimmerian hypothesis ", now generally agreed to be untenable.'s Calmeyer argues cogently that the inscribed bronzes must be taken individually as the reflection of contemporary political or military interest in the region by the rulers whose names they bear. Though, as they were all robbed out, the ways they reached the Zagros will always remain mysterious, no single comprehensive historical explanation is satisfactory. It perhaps needs to be made clear that no inscribed bronze which may confidently be attributed to a local L&ristin workshop has yet been published, save for the Pusht-i-Kuh statuette, whose inscription is neither

1x E. Porada in Dark Ages and Nomads (Istanbul, 1964), P. 22

(hereafter Dark Ages); see note 88. 12 Bib. Or. XXIV (1967), pp. 24-5. 13 Persia from the Origins to Alexander the Great (London, 1964),

pp. 284-5. 14J. A. Brinkman, A Political History of Post-Kassite Babylonia,

I158-722 B.C. (Rome, 1968), pp. 258 ff.

15 T. Cuyler Young, Jnr., Iran V (1967), fig. I. 1x H. Thrane, Archaeology XXIII (1970), pp. 34-5. 17 R. de Mecquenem and J. Michalon, MDP XXXIII (1953),

pl. XIX. 47-9; for earlier types see MDP XXXIX (1966), pl. XCVI.G. T-Z.53, 41.,

18 C. Goff, Iran VI (1968), pp. 130 ff.; M. van Loon, Bib. Or. XXIV (1967), pp. 22 ff.; W. Lambert, AfO XXII (1968-9), pp. 9 ff.


MIDDLE BABYLONIAN, ecb.

NEO- BABYLONIAN, etc.

D

@ 1

@ @ ? @

Fig. 2. Diagram of Calmeyer's Groups 31-53. (After P. Calmeyer, Datierbare Bronzen aus Luristan und Kirmanshah, passim)

TOWARDS A CHRONOLOGY FOR THE c"LfRISTXN BRONZES" 119

contemporary nor local.19 Incidentally it well illustrates the chequered history of some of these bronzes even in antiquity.

Inscriptions indicate that to the period from c. I200-Iooo B.C. belong the earlier flange-hilted bronze daggers (Group 31), and the spike-butted and crescentic axes (Groups 33-34) so commonly reported from Liristan. Both the daggers and the spike-butted axes are occasionally reported with traced designs, but it is only the bronze shaft-holes of axes and adzes which bear the richly modelled plastic decoration. They encourage the suggestion that it was through such imported objects as these that various foreign styles, " Middle Babylonian " perhaps as much as " Middle Elamite ", stimulated fresh developments in Lfristdn workshops in Early Iron I. On the crescentic axes especially it is possible to trace the stylistic changes through which the lion and lion mask so often chosen to decorate them passed from a fine naturalistic form-perhaps the Elamite prototype-to the stylized geometric patterning and " coil-style " modelling so characteristic of the Lairistin smiths.20

It is here that the limitations of Calmeyer's exclusively comparative method become most apparent as he passes from Einheimische Stile ca. I2oo-9oo B.C. to Einheimische Stile der assyrischen Weltreichszeit entirely on the basis of his few dated groups, completely ignoring an enormous range of other metalwork whose stylistic homogeneity, if nothing else, indicates that it should at least receive passing mention here. Even the three groups 31, 33 and 34 may contain objects more recent than 9oo B.C. Weapons of these types both entirely of bronze, and those combining bronze and iron, were in production well into the first millennium B.C. A bronze spike-butted axe-head with lion mask was found in the eighth century level at Dum Surkh21 and spike-butted axes are shown in use on ninth century Neo-Assyrian carved ivories from Nimrud.22 Calmeyer associates a group of iron bracelets decorated with a stylized lion- mask (which has bronze prototypes) with the crescentic axes (Groups 34 and 69). The comparison is cogent; but the chronological implications are even more telling since such a bracelet is worn by Adda-Hamiti-Inshushinak, ruler of Elam, c. 653-648 B.C., on a fragmentary stela from Susa. What the metal was is naturally unknown, but this does not affect the basic chronological point.23

For the first quarter of the first millennium B.C. Calmeyer has mustered a varied series of artefacts many of them, if not actually made outside western Iran, then made there under strong Assyrian or Urartian influence (especially Groups 42, 44, 46, 50). They offer interesting corroborative evidence for increasing military and commercial contacts between Ltiristin and the north-west after the ninth century B.C.

The dilemma to which Calmeyer's scrupulous application of his comparative method leads is high- lighted by a paragraph where he takes issue with Ghirshman (p. I59). Ghirshman has said that the art of Lfiristan showed no coherent stylistic development based on recognizable creative phases.24 Calmeyer in contrast claims to have isolated a number of such stages. But there is a distinct sense in which the two scholars are not speaking of the same thing. The style to which Ghirshman refers is that of the very objects which scarcely feature in Calmeyer's groups and do not emerge at all in his concluding survey. The genesis of this style, though perhaps not so obscure as Ghirshman's generalization would suggest, is indeed still very difficult to discern from the available evidence. It does for the moment appear, almost certainly misleadingly, as a sudden phenomenon without obvious antecedents. What Calmeyer has traced so well is something rather different. He has shown conclusively that the nature and distinctive characteristics of West Iranian bronzework, as distinct from that of Iraq and Syria, has nothing to do with an " Animal Style " in the sense understood for the Scythians and related cultures, nor is the oft- cited zoomorphic juncture a sudden, or even a very important diagnostic, trait in this style.25 In every respect it is possible to trace back to at least 200ooo B.C., through bronze artefacts reported from western Iran, the slow and steady development of a style of cast bronze zoomorphic decoration, including the

19 E. F. Weidner, AfO XVI (1952-3), PP. 148-9; on whether or not the inscriptions on these bronzes are local see the interesting comments of W. G. Lambert, AfO XXII (1968-9), p. I I.

20 A. Godard, Les Bronzes du Luristan, pl. XXIII.68, cf. pl. XXII.

67. 21 M. van Loon, Bib. Or. XXIV (1967), p. 24.

22 M. E. L. Mallowan, Nimrud and its Remains I (London, 1966), fig. 24.

23 See the Encyclopidie Photographique de l'Art: L'Art de Mesopotamie ancienne au Musie du Louvre I (Paris, 1935), pl. 274.

24 Sept Mille Ans d'art en Iran (Paris, 1961), p. 30. 26 H. Frankfort, The Art and Architecture of the Ancient Orient

(London, 1958), p. 212.


zoomorphic juncture. But Calmeyer stops at the very point when this style emancipates itself from its origins and takes on a complexion entirely its own within a unique range of artefacts. Before about Ioo000 B.C. it is by no means distinctive of Loiristdn alone; after this time there is a sense in which it may be.

It is in the two sections on local bronzes (pp. 175-6) and imports and exports (pp. 177-84) that the nature of the stages Calmeyer has traced become most apparent. He makes clear himself how few of the artefacts reported from the central and south western Zagros region before c. 00ooo B.C. may confidently be attributed to local workshops. Even objects so far reported only from this region, like the spike-butted and crescentic axes and the decorated situlae, might arguably be described either as " Middle Babylo- nian " or " Middle Elamite " on the basis of iconography, style and inscriptions. With them, to varying degrees, go all Calmeyer's groups from the earliest to the latest, though as time went on Assyria and Urartu replace Babylonia and Elam as the main sources. The position is well illustrated by a small anomaly in the book's arrangement at this point. Although a still unexplained group of cast bronze fittings of Babylonian or Elamite origin are isolated (Group 70o) as imports, the Louvre and Toronto Old Babylonian standards, of very similar origin and arguably of comparable date, inconsistently find a place much earlier in the main sequence of groups (no. 25).

It is to be regretted that Calmeyer does not set his conclusions about Lfiristan and its bronzework into their wider Iranian context, examining particularly in the light of his proposed chronological scheme the whole question of relations with the north on the one hand, Elam and the south on the other. Indeed throughout the book relatively little attention is paid to historical problems, more precisely the various political situations underyling each historical phase distinguished in the stylistic analysis (pp. 151-6o). Documentary evidence is admittedly meagre, but it can give some life to the chronological skeleton Calmeyer has so admirably constructed. This is not such a serious weakness as the virtual absence of reference to local Iron Age bronzework from

Ltiristmn. This will be the central concern of the rest of

the paper. I shall attempt to show in very concise form that if Calmeyer's terms of reference are extended,

admittedly into less well-explored territory, a rather different picture emerges in which it may be reasonable, accepting all the abuses to which the term has been subjected, to speak of distinctive local bronze styles, at least during Early Iron II-IIIA, c, Iooo/950-650/600 B.C., in Lfiristdn and southern Kurdistan.

II

At the beginning of this article it was noted that certain groups of objects long associated with Liiris- tan are conspicuous by their absence from Calmeyer's book. Though many of these objects are still without an exact chronology, they are not so ill-dated as their absence from his book might be taken to indicate. Indeed it is the more closely dated objects among them which offer vital clues to the range and character of the metalwork used in Lfiristan in the first four centuries of the first millennium B.C. They may be concisely reviewed by category, with special emphasis on present evidence for their date.

Bronze harness-trappings have long been taken as particularly characteristic of Lfiristdn and more than one scholar has used them to reconstruct the nomadic origin of their creators.26 Potratz classified the horse-bits into five main groups which admirably cover the range of objects, though further sub- division, especially in his group V, will eventually be required to embrace an ever-increasing variety of types.

Group I (partially covered by Calmeyer's Group 38): cheekpieces in the form of rectangular or sub-rectangular openwork plaques, almost invariably mounted on rigid mouthpieces; many with zoomorphic decoration:

Outside Iran this type of horse-bit, which developed from a narrower Late Bronze Age form, is shown in the ninth century on the glazed brick friezes of Tukulti-Ninuta II at Assur27 and on the reliefs

26 I have argued against these assumptions in Iran VII (1969), pp. 137-8, 148.

27 Perhaps also the earlier " White Obelisk "--Unger, Mitteilungen der Altorientalischen Gesellschaft VI (1932), pp. 3 ff., pl. VIII-

my suggestion is based on personal examination of the original which is very damaged; W. Andrae, Coloured Ceramics from Ashur (London, I925), pl. 7.

TOWARDS A CHRONOLOGY FOR THE ccLORISTAN BRONZES" 121

Fig. 3. Bronze cheek-piece for a horse-bit of Group I: Ashmolean Museum, 1951. 192a.

of Assurnasirpal II at Nimrud.28 By the reign of Tiglath-Pileser III (744-727 B.C.) such cheekpieces appear to have passed out of use in Assyria, where there is so far no evidence for the zoomorphic decoration used on them in Lairistan.29 A plain bit of this form was reported from the mountain shrine at Tang-i-Hamamlan in Liristdn,30 contemporary with those in Assyria. Two decorated cheekpieces of this type from Iran may indicate that they were still current there until at least the later eighth century B.C. when they had passed out of fashion in the west. The horse-head protomes on a pair of cheekpieces in the Azizbeglou collection31 wear paddle-shaped blinkers commonly shown on Neo-Assyrian reliefs and found, of ivory and bronze, in contexts of the later eighth and seventh centuries from western Iran to the Aegean. In many ways more significant is another cheekpiece decorated with a horse protome whose distinctive silhouette and modelling bears a much closer relation to the sloping planes and sharp arises of Scythian art than to the styles of western Asia.32 Such influences are unlikely to have penetrated to the central Zagros before the eighth century B.C. The terminal of a bone or horn cheekpiece carved in a typically " Scythian " style was found in level IV at Hasanlu.33 In Liristan bits of this group may be dated from c. 900/850-750/700 B.C.

Group II: circular cheekpieces.

Fig. 4. Bronze cheek-piece for a horse-bit of Group II: Ashmolean Museum, 1951. 210o.

The function of a wide variety of spoked and unspoked wheel-shaped objects reported from Lairistdn has given rise to debate. Although round cheekpieces appear on the earliest metal horse-bits yet found in south-west Asia, they are not shown on Neo-Assyrian reliefs and may have passed out of use in Iraq and the Levant after the Late Bronze Age. At least two complete horsebits with round cheekpieces, reported as from LUristan, may date to the Late Bronze rather than Early Iron Age.34 In one case the ends of the mouthpiece are not reversed as is invariably the case with Early Iron Age horsebits from Liristan in groups I, III-V. The other wheel-shaped objects from Liristan either have one or two

28 Pferdetrensen, pl. XL.89. 29 Ibid., p. I05, pl. XLVII.0o5-6. 30 H. Thrane, Acta Archaeologica XXXV (1964), p. 158, fig. 5,

lower left. 31 R. Ghirshman, Artibus Asiae XXIV (1964), pp. 49 ff., fig. 8.

32 A. Godard, Athar-d Iran III (1938), p. 239, fig. 153. 38 R. Dyson, JNES XXIV (1965), p. 211 and ILN 6528 (1964),

PP. 372-4, figs. 2-3 cf. J. A. H. Potratz, Die Skythen in Siidruss- land (Basle, 1963), fig. 27, p. 49 and A. Godard, Athar-e Iran III (1938), fig. 209.

34 Pferdetrensen, pl. L. i 18-9.


suspension loops on the back, or none at all. The rare examples with two loops and a strong central hole with a collar to take a mouthpiece might well have been mounted in the normal manner as cheekpieces.35 The " wheels " without loops are ambiguous. Some have central re-inforced holes with collars and are quite strong enough to have been mounted on a mouthpiece as a bit with the cheekstraps knotted round the ferrule as required. Others are too weak and have no collared central hole.36 They are to be classified with the largest group of all, those with a single loop and often elaborate zoomorphic decoration, whose central aperture is virtually never suitable for mounting on a mouthpiece as a horse-bit. Sometimes it is much too wide, at others when the wheel is spoked too small and weak; and in a number of cases the circular frame is completely filled by a semi-human figure.37 It is also surprising that, if the numerous " wheel-fittings " from Liristan really were cheekpieces, almost none have survived mounted on mouthpieces, whereas all other forms of cheekpiece from Lfiristan are as often reported in complete as in detached examples. These objects are best regarded as ornamental " horse-brasses". Since the cast decoration is exactly that found on the range of pinheads from Ltiristan dated from the ninth to seventh centuries B.C. (see p. 126) at Dum Surkh, they may be taken as an aspect of the local industry at this time.

Group III: bar cheekpieces, cast separately from the canons which pass through a hole in the centre of the cheekpiece; on flexible mouthpieces.

Fig. 5. Bronze horse-bit of Group III after J. A. H. Potratz, Die Pferdetrensen des Alten Orient, fig. 59a, b.

Exact parallels for horse-bits of this type have been found in tomb 74 of cemetery " B " at Sialk.38 Also in tomb 74, was a bronze bit with rein-rings passing freely through a loop cast as a human hand.39 Not only is exactly this type of bit reported from L-iristdn, but more significantly there are examples with the terminals of the bar cheekpieces cast as goats' heads and also as lions, in the characteristic coil- technique of the Liiristan workshops.40 The time span of cemetery " B " at Sialk, the later ninth and eighth century B.C., is now reasonably well established.41 No close relative of these horse-bits seems to be represented on Neo-Assyrian reliefs, though it is impossible to judge certainly from the shape of the cheekpieces alone.

56 Ibid., pl. XLIX. x 6. 86 Ibid,. pl. XLIX. I I7a, c with collar; I I7b without. 37 Survey IV, pl. 58E. 88 Sialk II, pl. XXV. x, pl. LXXV S.924. 39 Cf. Late Assyrian example from Nimrud. D. Oates, Iraq XX

(1958), pl. XXXV. I, p. 175.

40 Pferdetrensen, pl. LV. 131, fig. 59a, b; Medelhavsmuseet, Stockholm (MM Lur 13 I-wild goat-unpublished).

41 R. Dyson, JNES XXIV (1965), p. 208; Cuyler Young, Jnr., Iran III (1965), pp. 61 ff.; see also R. Boehmer, Archdologischer Anzeiger 8o (1965), pp. 80o2 ff.

TOWARDS A CHRONOLOGY FOR THE "LcORISTXAN BRONZES " 123

Group IV: V-shaped cheekpieces with zoomorphic terminals; some examples on flexible rather than the more common rigid mouthpieces.

Fig. 6. Bronze horse-bit of group IV after J. A. H. Potratz, Die Pferdetrensen des Alten Orient, fig. 6o.

Cheekpieces of this form do not appear on Neo-Assyrian reliefs and no examples have yet been reported from controlled excavations in western Asia; but two very similar cheekpieces were found by the French excavators at Delphi in Greece.42 Though they are not exactly like examples from Lfiristdn, their relative isolation in the Greek range of horse-harness suggests that they follow closely an eastern pattern. Their archaeological context is obscure, but most unlikely to date before the earlier seventh century B.C. As the animal-heads used to decorate these cheekpieces in Liiristin in no way depart either in style or form from the repertory so familiar in this area they fall, like the bits already considered, in the later ninth to eighth centuries B.C. The mountain goat and mouflon appear, but not so commonly as the horse, and a bird's head found also on the standard-finials and almost certainly intended for a cock, crude as casting sometimes is.

Group V: (partially covered by Calmeyer's Group 52) opencast cheekpieces in the form of animals, real and imaginary, or groups combining sub-human figures and monsters; with very rare exceptions43 set on rigid mouthpieces.

Fig. 7. Bronze horse-bit of Group V after J. A. H. Potratz, Die Pferdetrensen des Alten Orient, fig. 64d.

It is the horse-bits of this group which above all epitomize the iconographic range of the Lfiristin smiths and have generally been held to be particularly characteristic of their work. Zoomorphic cheekpieces, always horses, appear on Neo-Assyrian reliefs only in the reign of Sennacherib (704-681 B.C.) and even then are confined to the chariot-horses of the King or the model horse's head set at the end of the yoke-pole of his ceremonial wheeled chair.44 Such a cheekpiece, of electrum, was found at Nimrud among debris dumped about 614 B.C.45 Fragments of what are almost certainly similar Assyrian, not

Lilristmn, bronze cheekpieces cast as horses have been found at Lindos and Samos46 in seventh century

contexts. Like the Nimrud cheekpiece and those shown on Neo-Assyrian reliefs the horse does not stand on a ground line as is invariably the case in Ltiristln. The isolation of this zoomorphic form in the

42 P. Perdrizet, Fouilles de Delphes V., (Paris, 90o8), p. I I8 figs. 429-30; H. V. Herrmann, Jahrbuch des Deutschen Archda- ologischen Instituts LXXXIII (1968), pp. 17 ff., fig. 9a, b.

43 S. Lloyd, The Art of the Ancient Near East (London, 1961,) pl. 2oo. '4 C. Gadd, The Stones of Assyria (London, 1936), p. 135, 216, pl.

23; Paterson, The Palace of Sinacherib (The Hague, 1915) pl.74-5-

45 M. E. L. Mallowan, Nimrud and its Remains I, p. 128, fig. 7o. 46 Blinkenberg, Lindos I (Berlin, 1931), p. 200, no. 613, pl. 24.360;

also the article by Herrmann referred to in note 42.


Assyrian tradition might be taken to suggest that it was a fashion adopted, perhaps as briefly as the reliefs suggest, through increasing military and commercial involvement in Liiristan where the development of such bits is yet another aspect of a very long-standing artistic predilection. How much earlier than Sennacherib's reign the bits were used in Lfiristan is still totally obscure, though certain iconographic and stylistic traits indicate that it is unlikely to go back more than a century or two.

Miss Porada has drawn attention to the iconographic parallels between the most elaborately decorated of these cheekpieces, particularly those cast as mythological monsters or demons and beasts in conflict, and scenes on glazed bricks found at Susa.47 The importance of this link has been increased by Amiet's subsequent attribution of many of these bricks to a small temple at Susa built there by Shutruk- Nahunte II about 7oo B.C.4s Previously these fragments had been variously attributed to the Middle or Neo-Elamite periods. Similar mythological monsters were used in the decoration of a group of faience vessels found both at Susa and in the seventh century level of the shrine at Dum Surkh.49 It is a small link in the chain of evidence which leads to a generation or two c. 750/725 B.C.-675/65o B.C. as the crucial phase in the creation of the most exotically decorated horse-bits and " wands "

(see p. 126). In the following half century these bits were superseded. Slowly accumulating evidence indicates that by the later seventh century B.C. and through to the end of the Achaemenian period the most common type of bronze horse-bit in western Asia was made with bar cheekpieces cast in one with the corresponding canon. The canons interlock, or are joined by a large ring, and are often covered with tiny spikes.50 The prototype appears in Assyria and Urartu by the eighth century B.C. and may be the type of horse-bit worn by Assurbanipal's hunters; very slightly later examples were found at Khorsabad.51 In Iran they are reported from excavations at Kaluraz and Persepolis.52

Even to a society where metal was so readily available as that of Liiristan, metal horse-bits were

probably used only as military or ceremonial equipment. It may be tentatively suggested on the basis of the chronological evidence assembled here that the types of horse-bit used in Lairistan until the end of the second millennium B.C. differed not at all from those used in the west. Groups I, III and IV may be taken to represent the horse-bits most commonly used in Liristan from the ninth to seventh centuries B.C.

The horse-bits of Group V are in many ways a special case. The form, like that of Group I, is archaic. It is still basically the Late Bronze Age form with long rigid mouthpiece and flat studded

cheekpieces. Mrs. Littauer has explained the role of both in the directional control of driven horses.53 There is good reason for thinking that such bits were used in Lflristdn for driving, not for riding, horses. Indeed one very small group of these bits has cheekpieces cast as chariots.54 Many scholars, notably Ghirshman,55 have argued that absence of wear and the elaborate cheekpieces indicate votive, or, at most, exclusively ceremonial horse-trappings. Careful examination of the collars round the central holes in many of these cheekpieces, through which the mouthpiece passes, reveals more evidence for use, some of it very hard, than is commonly acknowledged. Certain of these collars show wear at between six and eight, rather than between six and four, o'clock as would be expected from the method of harnessing these cheekpieces clearly shown on Assyrian reliefs.66 Now a horse may more easily fight a bit with rigid mouthpiece, by getting his tongue over it, than it could a snaffle. This may only be counteracted by fastening the bit very high in its mouth. It is likely that the bits of Group V which show this distinctive wear would have been worn by horses who had this bad habit. Since they would be

47 Dark Ages, p. 30, n. 73; Ancient Iran (London, 1965), pp. 68 ff.

48 Syria XLIV (1967), pp. 27 ff. and Elam (Paris, 1966), pl. 383 ft. cf. the Lfiristdn cheekpieces in Pferdetrensen, pl. LXIX, I65, I67, LXX. 169a; H. Thrane, Nationalmuseets Arbejdsmark (1968), p. 23, fig. 20.

9 For Susa see P. Amiet, Elam, pl. 375-6; for Dum Surkh see M. van Loon, Bib. Or. XXIV (1967), p. 24.

0o Pferdetrensen, pp. 16 ff., fig. 47. 51J. A. H. Potratz, AfO XIV (1941-4), fig. 33 (Nimrud); Hall,

Babylonian and Assyrian Sculpture in the British Museum (London, 1928), pl. XIIX; Loud, Khorsabad II (Chicago, 1938), pl. 62.

189-90; Urartu: G. Azarpay, Urartian Art and Artifacts (1968), p. 42.

62 E. Schmidt, Persepolis II (Chicago, 1957), pl. 78; Kaluraz-Iran Bastan Museum, Tehran.

U Antiquity XLIII (1969), pp. 289 ff. "4 Survey I, fig. 299; Ghirshman, Persia from the Origins to Alexander

the Great, fig. 73; The Pomerance Collection of Ancient Art, Brooklyn Museum, 1966, pl. 34.

65 Iranica II (1962), p. 168; see also earlier Weidner, Der Alte Orient XXXVIII (2-4) (1939), PP. 76-7.

56 The following suggestions owe much to discussions with Mrs. M. Littauer.

TOWARDS A CHRONOLOGY FOR THE " LORISTAN BRONZES" 125

a minority among Liristdn chariot horses, a small portion of bits, as is the case, would be expected to show such wear. Since the collar is occasionally worn right through this seems a more likely explanation than the viable alternative that such bits were worn by horses harnessed up to a vehicle and led from the front. A horse resisting or rearing up in this position would wear the collar like this; but it would take very considerable use to wear it through.

Standard-finials: This large group of highly distinctive objects, so far without parallel outside Lfiristan, is central to

any assessment of its bronze industry. The weaknesses of an exclusively iconographical approach to their dating have already been briefly examined above, (pp. I 15-6). Though still scanty in the extreme, archaeological evidence provides at least two fixed points. Only two finials, both elaborate " masters- of-animals " and a fragment of an anthropomorphic tube have yet been reported from excavations and in one case the circumstances of discovery leave much to be desired. No objects of this type were found in the shrine at Dum Surkh during controlled excavations, but " Gilgamesh " finials are said to have been found there in subsequent clandestine excavations.57 A bottle-shaped support for a standard-finial is reported among the material found in what was probably a contemporary mountain shrine at Tang-i-Hamamlan.58 At Bdba Jan in eastern L-iristin part of a spirally decorated bronze tube terminating in a grotesque " Janus-head " was found in a deposit dating to the latest phase of Bdbd Jan II,

Fig. 8. Bronze standard-finial and mount from a grave at Tepe Tattulban (Chinan) after Vanden Berghe, Phoenix I4(1) (1968),

pp. 125-7, fig. 45-6.

during early Iron III,59 above a level which had produced " genre Liristin " pottery, wares typical of the seventh century fort at Nfish-i Jin, and two bronze elbow fibulae, a type used from the seventh to the fifth century B.C. In grave 4 at Tepe Tattulban (Chinan) in western Liiristan, excavated byVanden Berghe, a " master-of-animals " finial with faces on the central tube was associated with pottery indicating a date in the second half of the eighth century B.C. or slightly later.60 A less elaborate finial of exactly this form was reported by Madame Maleki from a grave in Hulailan in association with a flange-hilted bronze dirk and two baked clay tripod jars.6' It remains an open question whether or not the grave was salted by the clandestine excavators to satisfy their visitors; the results of subsequent controlled excavations at Godin Tepe, Tepe Guran and Tepe Biba Jan do not inspire confidence in the association. Dr. Goff observed as a result of her careful surveys and questioning of local Lurs that standards were usually reported and produced from sites with a thick Iron Age occupation, including several where there was little or no Bronze Age deposit.62

57 J. Meldgaard, Acta Archaeologica XXXIV (1963), p. 98 n. 5. 58 H. Thrane, Acta Archaeologica XXXV (1964), fig. 5, P. 158. 59 C. Goff, Iran VIII (1970), p. 176.

60 Phoenix 14(1) (1968), pp. 125-7, fig. 45-6. "1 Iranica IV (1964), p. 8, pl. III. 1-4- 62 Iran VI (1968), p. 129.


Both Potratz and Miss Porada have accepted the stylistic premise that the naturalistic finials stand at the beginning of the series (Calmeyer's Group 30) which culminates in the exotic " master-of- animals " form."3 If this is viable, on the evidence just cited, the end of the series falls somewhere in Early Iron IIIA, during the seventh century B.C. It might be expected then that the most natural rampant wild goat finials would appear during the course of Early Iron I-II (c. I Ioo-9oo B.C.), but certainly not much earlier.

Pins: An enormous variety of straight pins with richly decorated heads and upper shanks have been

reported from Laristan. For the purpose of rapid chronological review they may be broadly grouped into three main classes:

A: those with simple cast heads, either geometric (discs, domes, cones etc.), or shapes of floral or zoomorphic inspiration.

Unlike the two following classes B and C, these pins are neither distinctive of Liristan alone nor, with rare exceptions, as yet very closely dated. In common with the rest of western Asia, Lfiristan used relatively plain pins with geometrically shaped heads and moulded upper shanks from the third until well into the first millennium B.C. Only an already-growing corpus of excavated examples both inside

Liaristin and from sites to the west will allow the construction of a well-dated typological series. Certain

points are already clear. Western Iran, Lfiristin in particular, is remarkable for the range and elaboration of design found there on bronze pins, particularly in the Early Iron Age. Only Caucasia, it seems, supported a comparable range. Though the geometric forms may often be paralleled in the west, those of floral or zoomorphic inspiration are more commonly confined to western Iran. In the Dum Surkh shrine64 the tenth century level yielded pins with pomegranate or globular heads with horizontal disks, though by the seventh century very simple geometric shapes outnumber floral ones. But this is a fashion, as also is the taste for pinheads in the form of ducks and ibexes, which runs the length and breadth of the Zagros. It is only when the peculiar stylistic traits of the LDristan smiths transform these creatures, or create pinheads in the form of linear lion masks, highly stylized lions or winged monsters that a local industry and local fashions become more evident. A single pin of this type was found at Baba Jan in a ninth to eighth century context.65

Fig. 9. Bronze pin from Tepe Bbad Jdn after C. Goff, Iran VI (1968), p. 129, fig. 12.

B: large openwork cast bronze heads, often on an iron shank, usually with figures and animals set in crescentic or square frames; described as " wands " by Schmidt.

The full publication of the Dum Surkh shrine will throw considerable light on the date of these

objects which occurred there in quantity, varying from " simple forms to finely modeled winged animals and intricate 'Gilamesh' patterns, showing a person in combat with two animals ".66 The simpler forms appear at Dum Surkh in the ninth century, but the most elaborate designs seem to be commonest there in the eighth century at a time when Elamite imagery, as has already been noted with

regard to horse-bits of Group V, was again exerting considerable influence, at least in southern Liiristln. Pins of this class have not yet been reported outside LUiristan.

63 Dark Ages, p. 2 1. 64 M. van Loon, Bib. Or. XXIV (1967), p. 24; for earlier plain

pins see Kalleh Nisar: Vanden Berghe, Phoenix 15 (1969), pp. 267 H.

15 Iran VI (1968), p. 129, fig. 12. 66 E. Schmidt, Bulletin of the American Institute for Iranian Art and

Archaeology V (i937), P. 211; Bib. Or. XXIV (1967), p. 24.

TOWARDS A CHRONOLOGY FOR THE "LfJRISTAN BRONZES5" 127

C: normally circular hammered sheet copper or bronze heads with chased and repouss6 designs: This type of pin is again apparently confined to Liristdn in Early Iron II-IIIA. They appear first

at Dum Surkh in the ninth century, but only develop elaborate decoration in the following century or so.67 There are two major groups. In the first the pinhead is treated as an open field and a simple, often crudely executed design is not necessarily dependeit on a central fixed point. The designs are geometric or floral. In a second group the designs are composed of elaborate floral, animal or human motifs, normally arranged round a central boss or symmetrical about a central figure. The boss is either a plain hemisphere or protruding cone, more frequently a female face, or occasionally a lion-mask. The iconography of these fascinating pinheads, varying greatly in the skill of design and execution, has not yet been the subject of detailed study. Indeed, it would be premature until those from Dum Surkh are fully published. Neo-Elamite imagery is again clearly a very important source of inspiration. Intimately associated with these pinheads is a whole range of similarly decorated sheetmetal disks and vessels reported from LUiristdn, also awaiting systematic study.

The fibulae from Lairistan (Calmeyer Group 46) have often been dismissed as late imports into Liris- tdn from the west haphazardly associated on the antiquities market with the other richly decorated bronzes from the region. Though it is probably correct to regard most of them as imports, it becomes increasingly apparent that their presence among collections of typical "

Lfiristan Bronzes " is not wholly

fortuitous. At Bdbd Jan a fragment of an anthropomorphic tube was stratified above two elbow fibulae.68 So far as I know no fibula has yet been reported with the cast bronze decoration characteristic of Lairistdn at this time. A small number of richly decorated elbow fibulae reported as from Loiristdn69 have exact parallels in Palestine in the later Neo-Assyrian period.v0 Since the figure represented on them bears a striking affinity to the Assyrian demon Pazuzu71 it is most probable that these fibulae were made in the seventh century either in Assyria itself or in a workshop under strong Assyrian influence, but not, as Mrs. Amiran suggested, in Lfristin itself. A bronze pendant Pazuzu-head was found at Nfish-i Jan72 in association with a plain elbow fibula. Evidence from other sites in central and western Iran indicates that the fibula was virtually unknown there, as in Mesopotamia, before the late eighth century B.C. and only became popular in the following two centuries.73 Though the number of fibulae so far published from LUristdn is still comparatively small their very existence urges caution in arguing too high a date for the end of the local industry. Although the fibulae were probably not made in the same workshops, their appearance in the seventh century presages the slow rundown in the production of elaborate straight garment pins.

The numerous bronze bracelets with zoomorphic terminals from Ltiristdn are intimately linked to the zoomorphic pinheads, for identical designs are commonly used on both, and once again bronze and iron are occasionally combined. The excavations at Dum Surkh, where animal-headed bracelets first appeared in the ninth century level,74 make clear that this typological link indicates a common period of production. It may also be taken to show that the two categories of object were made in the same workshops.

Only one cast bronze vessel75 and a single stand for a vessel76 in the style of the standard-finials has been published as from Lairistdn. All other vessels are raised from sheetmetal and sometimes decorated with cast bronze affixes. Of the vessels reported by far the greater number may now be attributed to the period from the tenth to the seventh centuries B.C. Apart from the very individual spouted vessels, whose Iranian origin seems unquestionable (Calmeyer's Group 47), there are many others whose form or decoration proclaims their western origin. Such vessels were reported in the earliest days of clandestine excavation and Vanden Berghe's excavations in a cemetery at War Kabud have yielded a whole range of others whose Neo-Babylonian or Neo-Assyrian affinities are immediately apparent."77 Calmeyer

67 M. van Loon, Bib. Or. XXIV (1967), p. 24. 68 Iran VIII (197o), p. 176. 69 R. Ghirshman, Iranica IV (1964), pl. XXV. 14-15. 70 R. Amiran, Iranica VI (1966), pp. 88 ff. 71 P. R. S. Moorey, Iraq 27 (1965), pp. 33 ff. '7 D. Stronach, Iran VII (1969), p. x6, pl. Xb, c. 7 O0. Muscarella, AJA LXIX (1965), p. 233; see now also the

evidence from the Ilam region, Vanden Berghe, Phoenix XIV (1), (1968), fig. 42, left, p. 123; Opgravingen in Pusht-i Kuh I (Brussels, x968), pl. 36b, c.

74 Van Loon, Bib. Or. XXIV (1967), p. 24. 75 Survey IV, pl. 67 B. 76 A. Moortgat, Bronzegercit aus Luristan (Berlin, 1932), pl. XII. 40. 77 Vanden Berghe, Opgravingen in Pusht-i Kuh I, pl. 8c, 27b, c.


himself has provided us with detailed studies of the decorated situlae.78 It is not yet known how far east such wares penetrated into Liristdn, but the appearance of a bronze lamp in the horse-grave at Bdbd Jan, exactly paralleled at Assur,79 may be taken to indicate that by the later eighth and seventh century B.C. imported metal vessels travelled as widely as fibulae into these mountain regions.

Ironwork and chronology in Lfiristdn The intimate association of Lfiristdn's most typical cast bronze decoration and the pioneering phase

of iron metallurgy in the same region has never been in doubt, since the two metals are occasionally used in the same object, notably the crescentic and spike-butted axes with iron-blades and decorated bronze shaft-holes (Calmeyer's Groups 33-4) and the elaborate bronze pinheads set on iron shanks (Class " B " pins: Schmidt's " wands "). Certain characteristic bronze types, particularly the flange- hilted daggers and some zoomorphic pinheads, have exact counterparts entirely of iron. A unique position is held by the well-known series of iron swords, mass produced to a standard pattern, with richly decorated hilts. Although the techniques used in their manufacture are now well understood, their date is still not firmly established through controlled excavations. Vanden Berghe has found iron flange- hilted swords with crescentic pommels, exactly modelled on bronze prototypes, in cemeteries in western

Lfiristdn which he dates to the second half of the eighth or early seventh century B.C. At Chinan an iron sword was associated in a grave with a " Master-of-animals " finial.80 As the decorated iron swords characteristic of Lfiristdn since the earliest days of clandestine excavation there are, typologically speaking, only an elaboration of this basic form, using iron rather than bronze or bone for hilt inlay plates, they are unlikely to date much before c. 750 B.C. (Early Iron IIIA).

Such a dating accords with other evidence for early ironwork in western Iran. At Hasanlu iron first appears in quantity, and bronze flange-hilted daggers are exactly reproduced in iron, in the later ninth century B.C.81 At Giyan iron is rare before level I(1), in the second half of the eighth century B.C., when 23% of the objects, including daggers, recovered from graves were of iron.82 At Dum Surkh iron had appeared by the later tenth century, but was four times more common by the seventh.83 At Guran a rare unplundered grave contained a skeleton with a bronze flange-hilted dagger, iron bracelet and a number of iron finger rings and two bronze spouted vessels similar to those in use at Sialk in the eighth century.84 A later grave contained a skeleton equipped with an iron sword and spearhead.85 At Bdba Jan the contexts of iron tools and weapons confirm their association with typical decorated

Lfiristdn bronzes in Early Iron II-IIIA.86 The chronological range is the same at Sialk. In cemetery " A ", approximately contemporary with Hasanlu V, the only iron objects-a dagger blade and an arrowhead-appeared together in the same grave which may be later than the rest of the cemetery.87 In cemetery " B ", objects of bronze, bronze and iron, and entirely of iron all occur together.

Conclusions: Calmeyer's methodical approach, and my brief, more general extension of it into less well-charted

fields, makes clear, if it had ever really been in doubt, that there is no sense in which the term " Loiristan bronze " is meaningful. It is neither geographically nor culturally useful, conveying no more, often even less, than would such a phrase as " Egyptian " or " Syrian " bronze. Nor has it any chronological significance. Unfortunately, archaic terminology, particularly when reinforced by years of commercial exploitation, is virtually impossible to discard. Yet still a conscious attempt must be made to loosen the shackles. Each bronze object reported without context from western Iran must be taken singly, first united with others of comparable type to establish if possible its date and closest cultural affinities and only then attributed. Many will indeed be found to derive from Loiristin, but such a description will only be the most superficial.

7 P. Calmeyer, Berliner Jahrbuch V (1965), pp. I ff.; VI (1966), PP. 55 ff.

79 C. Goff, Iran VII (1969), p. 126, fig. 7. 2; cf. A. Haller, Die

Griber und Griifte von Assur (Berlin, 1954), pp. 0o9-I o, pl. 22b. so Phoenix 14 (1) (1968), p. 126, fig. 46. "A Dyson in Dark Ages, pl. IX. p. 42.

82 Cuyler YoungJnr., Iran III (1965), p. 68. 88 M. van Loon, Bib. Or. XXIV (1967), pp. 21 ff. 84 H. Thrane, Archaeology XXIII (1970), p. 32, figures. 86 Ibid., p. 33, figures. 86 C. Goff, Iran VI (1968), p. I19; VII (1969), p. I23. 87 Grave IV--Sialk II, pl. XXXIX S. 458-9.

TOWARDS A CHRONOLOGY FOR THE "LiRISTAN BRONZES5" 129

Contrary to the general tenor of Calmeyer's argument, I have argued that if the bronzework reported from central western Iran which may be dated between c. 2500-600 B.C. is rapidly surveyed, the period in which the greatest range of distinctive types is seen to concentrate runs not from c. 16oo/ 1500-100/900 B.C., but from c. Iooo/95o-650/600 B.C. in the period now generally described as " Early Iron II-IIIA ". But I doubt whether even these may be described as Lfiristdn bronzes in any useful sense. The little bronzework of this period published from controlled excavations in Lfiristan, from the region of Ilam in the west, through Dum Surkh and Tepe Guran, to Bibdt Jan and Giyan in the east, shows local variations, not so marked perhaps as the ceramic ones, but no less relevant to Ltiristdn's cultural history at the time. Forms and stylistic influences may be expected, if present trends continue, to follow predictable geographical bias, with Mesopotamian influences predominant in the west, Elamite in the south, and Iranian (in the widest sense of the word) in the north and north-east, to cite but the most obvious. Yet still, it was in this short period that workshops in and around Liiristin showed an independent creative spirit. Until standard-finials, zoomorphically decorated harness-rings, richly decorated cheekpieces for horse-bits, elaborate votive pins like those from Dum Surkh, and elaborately decorated iron swords are reported from outside this region these artefacts, made between c. 1000/95o-650/600 B.C. have good claim to be regarded as Liristdn's own peculiar contribution to the great tradition of metalworking in the ancient Near East.

The general criticisms I have offered here should not be allowed to detract from Calmeyer's achievement; indeed they are a tribute to it. All students, and not a few collectors, of ancient Persian metalwork will be grateful for the range and clarity of his documentation. It is to be hoped that once his promised monograph on the decorated situlae (briefly considered in this book as Group 36) is com-

pleted, he will be encouraged to move as systematically and comprehensively through the other sadly scattered products of

Liiristmn's highly accomplished bronze workshops.

88 Professor Vanden Berghe's latest researches (Archeologia XXXVI, Sept.-Oct. 1970, pp. Io ff.) have revealed the direct association in one grave of a bronze spike-butted axe, bronze flange-hilted daggers and a bronze whetstone socket cast as a naturalistic caprid. This group probably belongs to the eleventh century B.C. (Early Iron I). It suggests that the caprid

finials at least may have appeared during the latter part of Early Iron I, though comparable whetstones still appear at Susa in the Neo-Elamite period (R. Ghirshman, AJA 74 (1970), p. 223). More well-stocked gallery-graves of the middle and later third millennium B.C. have also been found.

LURISTAN BEFORE THE IRON AGE

By Clare L. Goff

The following article is an attempt to summarize the results of six months' survey work in the Pish-i Ktih, undertaken between 1963 and 1967. The first millennium material has already been discussed in an earlier paper' but for some time I hesitated to publish the sherd collections from earlier periods because of the lack of stratified comparative material. Recent work in the surrounding areas2 and my own deep sounding at Bibi Jan3 have at last provided a chronological framework into which the Central Lfiristin material can be fitted.

Acknowledgements I am extremely grateful to the following people and institutions for their help and encouragement:

the Iranian Archaeological Service, particularly Mr. A. Pourmand, Director General; Mr. Khorrama- badi, Deputy Director, and Mr. T. Asefi, my Representative in 1963; the Department of Education in Khorramabad, particularly Mr. Mohammed Reza Jazaeri who was my host for much of the time I was in the field, and from whose intimate knowledge of the area much of the following information is derived; the sepah ddnesh of Haft Cheshmeh, Niirab~d, Sinjhbi and Alishtar in 1964; my guides Mr. Qabadi and Mr. Naseri, and 'Ali Zamin, Katkhodd of a branch of the Noir 'Ali tribe who allowed me to accompany him on the annual migration at considerable inconvenience to himself and his family! I am also deeply indebted to the hospitality and help of Jorgan Meldgaard, Peder Mortensen and Henrik Thrane of the National Museum of Copenhagen, both in the field and afterwards in Denmark; and I owe much to the support and advice of my companions of 1964 and 1967: Mrs. Prag (Miss Kay Wright), and Price Meade.

The work of the first season was undertaken while I was a Wolfson Fellow at the British Institute of Persian Studies, my grant being supplemented by a further award from the Pilgrim Trust Fund. Later expeditions were financed by grants from the Central Research Fund of the University of London, the Royal Geographical Society, and the Gerald Avery Wainwright Near Eastern Fund. I am very grateful to Sir Mortimer Wheeler, Sir Max Mallowan, Professor Seton Lloyd, and Mr. David Stronach for their help in obtaining this support. Finally I should like to thank my draughtsmen, Alan Bates, Richard Jones, and Mrs. Munday, who between them did many of the illustrations.

THE AREA

For a detailed description of the Pish-i KIh, its various sub-divisions, its connections with other regions of Iran, and its tribal economy the reader is referred back to my account and the associated bibliography in an earlier volume of this journal.4 This can now be supplemented by new information collected during the spring of 1967.

1 Goff Meade, " LfiristAn in the first half of the first millennium B.C. ", Iran VI (1968), pp. 126-32.

2 See R. H. Dyson Jr., " Relative Chronology of Iran 6000-2000 B.C. " in R. W. Erich, Chronologies in Old World Archaeology (Chicago 1965), p. 222f., (Susa). T. C. Young Jr., Excavations at Godin Tepe (Occasional paper I7, Art and Archaeology, Royal Ontario Museum 1969). J. Meldgaard, P. Mortensen and H. Thrane, " Excavations at Tepe Guran, Luristan ", Acta Archaeologica XXXIV (1963), pp. 97-133. H. Thrane,

" Archaeological Investigations in Western Lfiristin ", AA XXXV (1964), PP- 153-69. H. Thrane, " Bronzerne fra Lfirist~n-ogret dansk pionerarbejde ", Nationalmuseets Arbejdsmark 1968. L. Vanden Berghe, " La Necropole de Bani Surmeh ", Archeologia Sept. -Oct. I968, pp. 53-62.

S C. Goff, " Excavations at BdbA JYn, 1968 ", Iran VIII (1970), p. 142, Fig. I.

4 GoffMeade, Iran VI, pp. 105-9.

131


During this last survey I was concerned with two main areas and their associated problems:

I. The links between Khfizistan and southern Loiristan. This involved visiting the Saimarreh valley and the northern half of Bdld Giriveh between Khorramabdd and Pol-i Dokhtar together with the migration route running through it.

2. The links between the garmsir, or summer quarters of the tribes between the Kabir Ktih and the Kiih-i Sefid, and the higher sardsir to the east. To this end we surveyed the migration route of the

Niir 'Ali from eastern Rumishgan through to Niirdbdd.

In each case it was hoped that a detailed examination of sites along these routes would give us some indication of when they were first in general use. This, in combination with other factors, might help us to determine when a pastoral economy based on transhumance, such as is still practised by the tribes today, was first introduced into the area.

I also hoped to throw light on some problems of historical geography. Just how great a barrier to

population movements was the Kfih-i Sefid before the introduction of transhumance largely nullified its importance ? Similarly, how much of a barrier could the mountains of Bild Giriveh have formed to the expansion of civilisation from Khtizistan ?

Bdld Giriveh (See Map, Fig. 8) The old tribal migration routes through this area have been considerably disrupted by the con-

struction of the modern road from Khfizistin to KhorramTbZd, along the Kashgan valley. The older route through the mountains has also been straightened out and simplified to accommodate the jeeps of the oil company, but is still roughly on its original alignment. It leaves the main road about 15 kms. to the west of Khorramibad and runs south west through low rolling hills as far as Rikhan, a mud brick fort on an isolated hill overlooking the river bed. A lihaq5 cemetery was reported from this area. A short way on is the Tang-i Chemeshk where the Ab-i Chulhul runs through a narrow gap in the hills and a modern army fort guards the ford. Directly beyond, the river valley widens out and is flanked by stretches of

sloping pasture, which support a large village. In prehistoric times there was a third millennium settlement and a large lihaq cemetery. A similar village, Khabgan, lies off to the right and is also reported to have graves in the vicinity. Beyond Chemeshk the country grows more rugged, after fording a further tributary of the Ab-i Chulhul, and then following it on foot for about two kilometres upstream, one reaches a second stretch of riverside pastures. These are guarded by Tepe Afrineh, a high mound with a sequence running from the Chalcolithic to the seventh century B.C. A further kilometre up the water- course, through a narrow tang, one reaches Qal'eh Nasir, the headquarters of the Ntseri tribe.

Once over the ford, the road grows progressively worse, switchbacking up and down a series of rolling gypsum hills covered with scrub and with no inhabitants beyond migrating tribes. At Dalicheh is an

exceptionally difficult pass which two men could hold against an army. One finally reaches the plain of Washiyan, the eastern end of which is covered by " boulder ruins ", probably modern and tribal.6 At the other end of the valley is a large village and tribal centre not far from a second high prehistoric mound, Karieh Tepe, and a further two lihaq cemeteries.

The first impression of the area is that it is the least fertile part of Lfiristmn.

There is little fodder for animals apart from scrub oak, the only large plain is at Washiyan, and none of the other river valleys can support permanent occupation except Afrineh, Chemeshk, Rikhan-and probably Ab-i Sard and

Khabgan which I was unable to visit. It is precisely in these areas too that one finds the only traces of

prehistoric occupation. Otherwise the economy is a tribal one. According to my guide a few families

spend the summer round Afrineh. The remainder migrate from northern Khizistan to the valleys

9 A large communal tomb with a gabled roof, see below p. 146. 6 Boulder ruins were first noted by E. Schmidt in his aerial

reconnaissance of Lfiristan. E. Schmidt, Flights over Ancient Cities of Iran (Chicago 1940), pp. 84-93. Whereas some, particularly those in the Saimarreh valley between Sar Tarhan and E. Hulilin, and in Kishmahar, date to the second and first

millennia, the vast majority are modern tent footings, set up and then abandoned by migrating tribes. See Thrane, AA XXXV, L. Edelberg, " Seasonal Dwellings of Farmers in North-western Lfiristin ", Folk 8-9, (1966/7), pp. 373-401. I hope to publish the Kishmahar boulder ruins in a forthcoming report.

LURISTAN BEFORE THE IRON AGE 133

immediately to the north of Khorramabad. Furthermore the whole area appears to be governed by a single family. My host Agha Naseri, the charming and sophisticated governor of Pol-i Dokhtar, was brother to the katkhodd of Washiyan who entertained us, in full tribal regalia, to a durbar; a second brother or cousin ruled from Qal'eh Nasir. My Washiyan guide could name relatives from Pol-i Dokh- tar to Khorramdbdd and owned land in both areas. If one can postulate similar conditions in prehistoric times this would mean that despite the physical difficulties of travelling through the area, the ruler of Susa, or any town on the Khfizistdn plain, would only have to win over the following of a single " marcher lord " to have his routes in to the Pish-i Kiih guaranteed. Moreover he could easily apply pressure by controlling the winter grazing grounds. Thus in normal times, the south of Lfiristan would seem to have been part of the Elamite confederacy, and the location of Shimash in KhorramTbad, already argued on linguistic grounds,7 is quite feasible archaeologically.

The Nfr 'Ali migration route (See map, Fig. 8) There are two main routes by which the Nir 'Ali and the Mirbegi can travel from their summer

quarters round Rumishgan and Ktih-i Dasht to their winter ones around and south of NiirabId. The majority follow the motor road from Kfih-i Dasht to Khorramab•d and from there north west into the mountains. The main drawback of this route, even today, is the scarcity of good drinking water before Khorramabdd. A more difficult, but more direct route runs straight across the Kiih-i Sefid.

The summer encampments of'Ali Zamin, a Katkhodd of the Noir 'Ali, lie in a deep valley running due west from Rumishgan below the Baijnar Ktih. The area today is bleak and inhospitable, but until very recently the flanks of the hills were covered with trees. Drinking water has to be fetched on horseback from springs at the extreme western end of Rumishgan.

The migration route follows the edge of the hills to the north of Rumishgan as far as Tang-i Gushti when it turns north into Lakarfidara from which runs the trail to Kfih-i Dasht. The slopes of the hills along the whole of this section are lined with " boulder ruins " but only Mirvali (see below p. 148) would appear to be prehistoric.

On reaching Kfih-i Dasht, the route skirts the western edge of the plain till it reaches the foot of the Diyali valley. Then it turns and zig-zags up the precipituous flanking ranges to the north east, crosses the high saucer of Sarsurkhtan, and descends to the wooded trough of Houmyoun. All three valleys are full of boulder ruins, which in Houmyoun at least go back to the late second millennium B.C. and are said to have produced hoards of bronzes.

From Houmyoun the route leads north over a further pass giving the first view of the wooded bulk of Kfih-i Henjis which dominates the skyline for the next few days. Directly below lies Sar Kih, a small green valley dotted with Itiwand tents, and the remains of stone walls of uncertain date. The Sar Kfih pass beyond, crosses a spur of Kiih-i Henjis, with Dom Ktih, a broad green alp studded with wells, running up on its flank. The area is a major tribal staging post and here again a prehistoric cemetery was reported. An investigation revealed several illicit digging pits, and a few large pithos sherds, but no grave structures.

Beyond Dom Ktih the road runs through broken and increasingly barren country, till only a small oasis by a spring provided a temporary camping site. A further day's journey, and several extremely steep passes beyond is Piri Chinaran, a stretch of farmland in the very heart of the mountains. It is the haunt of gipsies, very much like their English counterparts, looked down on by the tribespeople to whom they peddled wooden spoons and other trinkets. We were shown three sites where illicit digging had undoubtedly taken place and where graves were said to have been found, again leaving no definite traces. The isolation of the region could, however, explain the absence of pottery.

From Piri the road led up the steep pass over the Magni Ktih, with fantastic views across to the MihrTb Kiih-a huge mass of rock cleft by hundreds of vertical ridges and grooves into a thousand tiny peaks. Directly below is a broad, fertile valley, TezTb (see fig. 8), with expanses of green farmland, and settled villages. In the course of the next two days we explored as much of the area as possible and found ourselves already among the cultures of the Delfan region from which we were separated only by a

' W. Hinz, " Persia, c. 2400oo-1800oo B.C. ", CAH I, Ch. XXIII (I963), pp. 12-13.


final pass over the Ktih-i Buzkdn. The most important site is Tepe DerijS, about the same size as Bdbd

Jdn lying on a natural bluff overlooking a stream. It appears to be late fourth millennium with a thick genre Laristdn overlay. Of the five other tepes reported from the area, two were also late fourth millennium, two possibly Parthian, and one was not visited. The migration route finally crosses the Milleh Argenar pass and debouches on to the Delfin plain near the big second and first millennium sites surrounding Golbakhi. Here the tribes disperse to their various pastures, but the route on through the Nehavand gap is marked by a further string of sites, notably at Bdbd Jan, Nfirdbad, and Chid Kdbud. The significance of the route, and the various sites along it, will be discussed in greater detail below.

THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SEQUENCE8

The archaeological material from central LiIristan (between the Kabir Kih and Ktih-i Garin) can be classified under the following heads:

I. Aceramic. Equivalent to Ganj-e Darreh Tepe. 7th millennium B.C. ? 2. Early Ceramic. Extends from the upper Neolithic levels at Tepe Guran through to Giyan VA,

6000 B.C. ?--c. 4500 B.C.

3. Chalcolithic. A. Black on buff painted wares equating with Tepe Giyan VB-C. B. Black on red wares or red on buff wares of uncertain affinities. C. Red slipped and impressed wares in part linking up with assemblages from Dalma Tepe in the Solduz valley. c. 4500-3500/3300 B.C.

4. " Uruk ". A. Fine reddish, orange or buff wares with bichrome decoration in red and black largely confined to the Western Pish-i Ktih. B. Plain straw tempered buff wares, related to Bibd Jdn V. c. 3500 B.C. onwards.

5. " Early Dynastic ". Storage jars and metal types relating to the Diyala assemblages and Susa D; associated with mounds and cemeteries of large megalithic tombs known locally as lihaq. Mid third millennium B.C. onwards.

6. Giydn IV-II. Red and buff wheel made wares with black decoration related to assemblages from Bdb Jin IV and the graves at Tepe Gurin. Associated with tepes, graveyards, and the earliest " boulder ruins ". By the end of the second millennium plain wares and ribbed pithos fragments predominate, with footed goblets appearing on the Mahi Dasht plain to the north and extending south to Hulilan. The earliest elaborate Lfiristdn bronzes may also come from tombs in the Hulilan area. Late third and second millennia.

I. Aceramic.

Tepe Abdul Hosein in western Khawa.9

2. Early Ceramic (Figs. I and 2) At Chia Zargaran, Kiih-i Dasht the following wares can be distinguished:

A. Straw tempered wares. (i). Unpainted, heavy fabric, often I . oo-I .

50 cm. thick, unevenly fired with a grey insufficiently oxidised core, and a mottled buff to pinkish grey exterior. The surface is rather soft and floury and can have a paler slip. The only distinguishable shapes are flat-based and carinated bowls (Fig. 2: 9, I o). (ii). Painted wares, similar to the above, but finer and thinner, with the same soft, pinkish, surface. The decoration, in rather fugitive red paint, consists of simple linear designs (Fig. 2:

I-5). The fabric seems to me to be very similar to some of the painted wares from Tepe Guran. The designs perhaps come nearest to those from the Archaic Painted Wares, but are otherwise dissimilar. One rather fine example has Giyan VA--Smarra affinities (Fig. 2: 2)10

8 References are given in the detailed descriptions of the various cultures below. The terms " Uruk " and " Early Dynastic " are used for convenience, since an acceptable terminology has

yet to be worked out for the Iranian sequence. They do not imply that the Lfiristan cultures are identical to their Mesopo- tamian counterparts.

9 C. Goff and J. Pullar. " Tepe Abdul Hosein ". Iran VIII

(1970), pp. 199-200.

10 I am indebted to P. Mortensen for allowing me to study the Gurdn pottery, both while visiting the site, and later in Copen- hagen. See also P. Mortensen, " Additional remarks on the chronology of early village farming communities in the Zagros area ", Sumer XX (1964), Fig. 3. For the Samarra parallel see note I I, below.

LORISTAN BEFORE THE IRON AGE 135

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Fig. 2. Early Ceramic and Chalcolithic pottery from Pfsh-i KIh. z-ro Chid Zargardn, KIh-i Dasht; 11-17 Chid Sioh, Kgh-i Dasht; i8-22 Khargoar, Robat; 23-31 Bdb& Mohammed, Sinjadb; 3r-34 Sedesefur, Robdt; 35-40 Daurai, Khorramadbd; 4V-46 Chid Sabz, Rumishgdn; 47-50 Boulerdn; 5r-56 Kareh Tepe, Hulildn; 58-59 Chid Fateld, Hulildn.

LJRISTAN BEFORE THE IRON AGE 137

B. Grit tempered wares. The core is buff with small grits, fairly coarse and crumbly, the paint dark brown. The surface has a floury feel to it. The designs consist of a combination of thick bands, with rows of thinner lines as infilling, small deer, and rows of little men (Fig. 2: 6-8). The ware is similar to that from Giyan VA and the designs would appear to link both with this site and Samarra ".11

At Tepe Siah, also in Kiih-i Dasht, similar varieties occur (Fig. 2: I I-I3, all straw tempered) but there is also a class of hard, straw-tempered wares, with a yellow ochre slip, and fine geometric designs, in a faster, purplish paint (Fig. 2: 14-16). There is perhaps a transition from straw to grit-tempered fabrics, and from simple linear to highly complex geometric and semi-naturalistic designs. The pottery from the two sites would appear to span the hiatus between the top of Tepe Guran and Giyan VA.

Apart from the Kih-i Dasht sites, similar fabrics, mainly of Giydn VA type, appear at Khargoar-e Robat near Khorramabdd (Fig. 2: I8-22); on the plain of Khorrambhad itself (Fig. 2: 35); at Babd Mohammed on the Khawa plain (Fig. 2: 25), at BdbdJan, at Chid Sabz in Rumishgan (Fig. 2: 42 and possibly 43 and 44). At Kozegaran in Saimarreh, contemporary pottery occurs but in the Susiana b tradition.12

3. The Chalcolithic Following on from the fine, grit tempered fabrics of Giyan VA, there is a notable break in the

sequence, and at Tepe Giyrn itself two new types of ware are introduced.'3 One is the black on buff " Ubaid " pottery which continues into VC and VD, and which occurs in varying local traditions all over south west Iran. The other ware occurs only at the base of VB between 15 and 17 metres and is utterly different. It is thick, buff, straw tempered and crumbly. The interior is red slipped. The exterior usually has a buff burnished surface and decoration in red, but it can also have a streaky red finish and decoration in black. The paint is usually thick, glossy and vitrified, and stands away from the surface. The designs are large, bold and exclusively geometric. There appears, sometimes, to be more than one design on the same vessel.14 The pottery may be a variety of Dalma painted ware, since Dalma plain wares are extremely common from sites on neighbouring plains and are reported from Tepe Giyan itself.15

A. Black on Buffwares. (Figs. I and 2). The earliest " Ubaid " type pottery of the Pish-i Kiih corresponds closely to the bulk of the sherds of Giyan VB. A type site is provided by Chid Sabz in Rumishgin (Fig. 2: 41, 45, 46). The core is pinkish buff, hard, fine and well levigated, usually with a paler buff or cream slip. The decoration consists of simple geometric motifs, loops, hatched diamonds, triangles and chevrons, applied in a brown or black, often vitrified paint. The main shapes are bowls with slightly flaring sides, hole-mouthed bowls and jars with out-turned rims. Clubbed rims decorated with semi-circular blobs of paint are highly characteristic. The ware occurs all over the Pish-i Kfih, notably at Bdbd Mohammed in Khawa (Fig. 2: 29-31); Robat (32-34); the Khorramdbid plain (36-38) and Rumishgan. It is linked to the Susiana sequence by the upper levels of Tepe Jowi, Susiana c equating with Ubaid 3.16

This very characteristic early ware degenerates into a much less spectacular simple type of" Ubaid " pottery, fine walled with simple rims, and even simpler geometric motifs (Fig. 2: 47-50 from Bouleran; 51-56 from Kareh Tepe, Hulildn). Typical VC and VD designs with their naturalistic motifs are not common except on the Khorramdbad plain itself (Fig. 2: 39-40), and at Chia Pahan in Kfih-i Dasht

n I am indebted to P. Amiet and the Persian department in the Louvre for allowing me to study the original material from Tepe Giy~n. Comparisons: fine hatching between borders: J. Oates, " Prehistoric investigations near Mandali ", Iraq XXX (1968), P1. VIII: I, 2; Contenau and Ghirshman, Fouilles de Giyan (1935), P1. 43: top row, 4, 5, (both VA fabric); interlocking key borders similar to Fig. I: 7: Oates, op. cit., P1. VIII: 7, 8; little men: Contenau and Ghirshman, op. cit., P1. 43: bottom row, 1-4.

12 A. Stein, Old Routes in Western Iran (1940), P1. VIII: 28. 13 Contenau and Ghirshman, op. cit., p. 63 and Louvre collec-

tions.

14 Sherds of this type illustrated in the Giyan report are as follows: Contenau and Ghirshman, op. cit., P1. 44: second row down, 3; P1.45: top row, 2, 5, 6 (and probably the remainder from this row as well); third row: 3 (part of P1. 44, second row, 3). The profiles in every case have been drawn too thin.

15 T. C. Young Jr., " Dalma Painted Ware ", Expedition V, no. 2 (1968), pp. 38-9. Many of the designs are somewhat similar, e.g. half-and-half vessels, interlocking chevrons, bands of solid triangles. Dyson also pinpoints a Dalma design in Giyan VB (P1. 44: second row, 6), Dyson, " Relative Chronology", p. 231.

16 Dyson, " Relative Chronology ", pp. 230-I.


(Stein, Old Routes, P1. XI: 4-10o). The end of this phase in Kiih-i Dasht can be dated by the appearance of spotted leopards with single front and back legs. These equate with examples from Giyvn VD and Sialk III 5-6 which are possibly as late as " Middle Uruk " (Dyson, " Relative Chronology", p. 229, 237). Equally uncommon are the fine cemetery wares of Susa A, though they occur in Saimar-

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reh (Stein, Old Routes, P1. VII: 15-16) and possibly Chid Pahdn (idem. P1. XII, 2, 9). " Ubaid " wares occur in isolation in the Western Pish-i Kih, but in the east are accompanied by the red slipped, straw- tempered wares characteristic of this region.

B. Red slipped andpainted wares. The red slipped and painted wares of Giyan VB so far occur only at one site in the eastern Pish-i Kfih, Bdbd Mohammed (Fig. I: 24). Two other sherds from the same mound have a rather finer texture and a red slipped interior with an exterior design in black on a buff ground (Fig. 2: 26, 27). A third (28) is entirely red slipped. Finally a single sherd of uncertain affinities (23) has a bold design painted on in thin red paint with a large brush.

C. Red slipped wares. (Fig. 3). The fabric is normally coarse, straw tempered and thick walled (c. I - oo cm.), varying in colour from buff to reddish brown, with a darker, greyish centre due to imperfect oxidi- sation. The surface can be left plain, but is usually red slipped, the slip either being thick and opaque, or alternately streaky as if slapped on with a large brush. It can vary in colour from yellow ochre, through red to dark brown or even black, depending on the firing. Certain vessels are covered with mottled black patches.

Three surface treatments occur: matt, burnished, and impressed. The decorative impressions, which cover the side of the vessel like an irregular carpet can be made by fingers, grains of corn, combs, pieces of stick etc. (Fig. 3: 32-45).

The main shapes seem to be common to both the plain and impressed series: shallow or deep bowls (Fig. 3 : 1-8, 32, 33) ; hole-mouthed bowls, or jars with a slight lip (Fig. 3: 9-22, 36-39). Shallow, angular dishes, with knobs and lugs (Fig. 3: 16, 23-25) frequently occur in the unslipped fabrics. Since all three varieties of fabric can occur on the same mound it is impossible from a surface survey only to tell whether more than one period or culture is represented. The impressed wares however seem to be confined to the north of the region in the valleys around Chid Wizan. They are similar to the red slipped and punctuated wares excavated at Dalma Tepe on the Solduz plain and subsequently distinguished on at least twelve sites immediately east of Lfristan in the Asadabad, Kangovar and Nehavand valleys."7

Conclusions. With the appearance of the Group 3 wares a situation develops which continues throughout the prehistory of the province. Whereas the south and south east come increasingly under the influence of Susa, the north and north west link up with cultures from north Iraq and Azerbaijan. The frontier between the two cultural groupings is never stable. It sometimes lies on the Kfih-i Sefid, sometimes further back behind the Kiih-i Garin, when the Nehavend gap serves to draw Tepe Giyan into the orbit of the west. This cultural duality is reflected in the history of the area, which at times seems to be part of Elam, at others to be influenced by Kassites or Hurrians.

The penetration of the Khfizistin cultures seems to have been a gradual one, for, though pottery typical of Susiana b was found in Saimarreh, it does not spread over the rest of the province until the following period. The main thrust would seem to have gone east to Khorramibid and thence to Khawa and Giyan, for the pottery of Hulilan and Boulourdn further west is less typical, and there is nothing around the Kfh-i Sefid migration routes. Later Chid Pahan of Kaih-i Dasht would seem to have become the main site of the region, with wide trading links-a position it was to continue to hold until at any rate 3000 B.C.

4. The" Uruk "period (Figs. 4-7). A: Painted wares. The most characteristic fabric has a very fine light red or orange core with no visible inclusions, and is probably wheel-made. The surface treatment shows considerable variety. The vessels can be covered with paint which varies in colour from brick red to maroon and which is normally applied only to the exterior and rim. The paler shades are often applied rather streakily as if with a large brush. A bichrome effect is obtained by applying bands of red and white paint, or red bands on a white slipped ground. Simple geometric decoration is then added in black.

17 T. C. Young Jr., " Survey in Western Iran I961 ",JNES XXV (1966), pp. 228- 39.

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58

CM. 63

Fig. 5. " Uruk "potteryfrom Western Pish-i Kah. I-zz Chia Darmd, Hulildn; 12--29 Chid Fateld, Hulildn; 25 Kaldtd, Hulilan; 30-46 Chid Pahdn, Kih-i Dasht; 47-60o Chid Bal, Rumishgan; 6z-66ChidaPahan, Tarhan.


40 43 40

F9 1C3 8309 11

oL7, 7jJI 121

15 16 f1IMf1TV) /92 180

40 34 40

' CM.

Fig. 6. " Uruk " Pottery from Southern Pish-i Kiih and migration routes. 1-14 Chia Sabz, Saimarreh; I5-31 Kozegardn, Saimarreh; 33-38 Afrineh, Bdld Giriveh; 39-40 Karieh Tepe, Washiydn; 4r-44 Derijd, Tezdb; 45-46 Khdvardi, Tezdb.

LUIRISTAN BEFORE THE IRON AGE 143

Also found are vessels of the same fabric as the finer varieties of common ware described below, with a buff or pink straw-tempered core, covered with the same maroon or red slip, or with simple red or black bands painted directly onto the pink or buff ground. A dark red slip, or a band of paint along the rim, are also occasionally applied to the heavier varieties of common ware.

The fine red slipped wares would appear to equate with fabrics of Level XIII onwards at Warka, and with related wares in Susa of the couche interme'diaire.'8 The added refinement of polychrome decoration is, however, rare outside the Liristan mountains. It occurs in Dehlouran in the Bayat phase,'9 which would appear to be rather earlier within the " Ubaid " period, and in Levels XV-XII at Warka which are transitional Ubaid-Uruk.20

The shapes are also somewhat " local ". The most commonly occurring form-the small bowl with a wide mouth and abruptly inturned rim, decorated with a red and black rim band-has, to my knowledge, no exact parallels outside Lfiristin (See Fig. 5: I2-13, 30-32, 47-49, 64. Fig. 6: I, 7, 9).21 Also common are small globular jars with flaring necks and a loop design around the shoulder (Fig. 5: 3, 4, and Stein, Old Routes, P1. XXVII: 7) which have parallels in Susa Bd-Ca.22 Jars with short necks and four shoulder lugs (Fig. 5: 5 I) also have parallels in Susa C, but the form originates in Ubaid levels, and can be compared with examples from Warka VII and later.23 In the earlier Uruk levels at Warka a variety ofjar rims with a red band on the interior are probably related to similar Liristan examples.24 Decorated hole mouthed vessels, usually with some form of club rim, are also typical of the Warka sequence generally without being exact parallels, and also have protypes going back to Susa A.25

B. Unpainted Wares: The Western assemblages. Heavy common wares are buff to pinkish, straw-tempered, with a rather " floury ", often pitted surface, and are frequently wheel-made. Finer common wares have a reddish, or pale orange surface, and an imperfectly oxidised dark grey core. The most typical shape for both fabrics is a large, possibly hemispherical, club rimmed bowl, frequently decorated with an applied cordon ornamented with finger-tip impressions just below the rim. (Plain: Fig. 5: 41-44; Fig. 6: 8-Io, 28-30, 34-36; Cordoned: Fig. 5: 27, 45; Fig. 6: 25-27.) Hole mouthed bowls with similar rim treatment are also fairly common (Fig. 6: 44, 46).

Alongside these rather thick walled vessels one also finds a class of fine common ware, a thin walled, peach pink to buff fabric, straw-tempered, with a very soft " floury " surface. The characteristic shape is a rather crude, hand-made bowl with an upturned rim, and a flat base with an angular " heel " (Fig. 5: 24, Fig. 6: 33).

Specialised types of vessel include bevelled rim bowls, (Fig. 5: 19), widely distributed during the Uruk period; and flint scraped bowls (Fig. 5: 29: Fig. 6: I3, 18), which conversely have parallels in the late Ubaid period in north Iraq at Grai Resh and Tell Uqair.26

The Eastern assemblages. A small, stratified sample of this pottery occurred at Bdbdt Jdn, Phase V (Central Mound, Levels 6 and 7), beneath the Giyan III wares of Phase IV (Fig. 7).

is Personal communication from R. H. Dyson Jr. who was kind enough to go through my sherd collection and point out the KhfizistTn and Mesopotamian affinities. See also Dyson, " Relative Chronology ", pp. 223-4-

19 F. Hole and K. Flannery, " The Prehistory of South Western Iran: A Preliminary Report ", Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society XXXIII (I967), p. 196.

20 A. V. Haller, " Die Keramik der archaischen Schichten von Uruk ;; Uruk Vorlufiger Bericht ... (hereafter UVB) IV, Taf. 17C: t and 2 1: a-b (XV); Taf. I7D: 1 and 2Ic (XIV); Taf. 17D: u and 21: d (XIII).

21 But compare an example from Warka XV, UVB IV, Taf. I7C, t and Taf. 21, a, b, with Fig. 6: 21. The only other parallels occur in the Jamdet Nasr period. The shape of the bowls recalls the Ninevite V pedestal vases, while polychrome work is typical ofJamdet Nasr. However the Luristdn fabrics would seem to be different from these Mesopotamian types.

22 L. le Breton, " The Early Periods at Susa, Mesopotamian Relations ", Iraq XIV (1957), Fig. 14: I.

23 Idem, Fig. 14: 3-5. For earlier examples see idem, Fig. 7: 40, 45 (Susa), 35 (Uqair). Also UVB IV, Taf. I8D: z, m'

24 Compare Fig. 6: 6 with UVB IV, Taf. I7D, a, (Level XIII); Fig. 5: 22 with UVB IV, Taf. I8C, a, (Level XI-X); Fig. 6: 19, 20o, with UVB IV, Taf. i8C, g', (Level IX-VIII).

25 UVB IV, Taf I7D, b, z; Taf. I8B, f, r. Le Breton, op cit., Fig. 7: 39.

26 Flint scraped bowls are made from a thinner, homogeneous buff clay, very hard and rather coarsely grained. The lower part of the outer surface has been scraped diagonally before firing with a sharp edged stone. See S. Lloyd, " Iraqi Govern- ment soundings at Sinjar ", Iraq VII (1940), p. i9; also S. Lloyd and F. Safar, "Tell Uqair ", JNES II (I943), P1. XXII; 4 and P1. XVII.


2 6 4

10 11

121

15 16

19 20 21 22

32 41

23 24 25 282 cm. 30 29

Fig. 7. Pottery from Phase V, Baba Jan (Central mound, Levels 6b and 7).

Only one fine red slipped fragment was recovered. The remainder of the wares resembled those from the west, with certain additions and modifications. These include a heavy brown or blackish cooking ware, coarse, with large grits beside the straw tempering, and occasionally a rough burnish. The ware occurs only in crude bowls and fragments of hearths. Another unusual variety mica ware, between I - oo and 0 - 40 cms. thick has a reddish brown paste with grit and mica tempering, and a self-slipped and burnished surface.

The bulk of the pottery however is similar to the common ware further west, with a grey core, a buff to reddish brown surface, and a smooth, sometimes slightly burnished finish. Finally a class of burnished

fine wares has a smooth polished surface such as the jars illustrated in Fig. 7: 14, 23. The shapes are

basically those of the west, though there is an absence of the flat based bowls, their place being taken by bowls of the type illustrated in Fig. 7: 2-6. Another new, but rather rare vessel is the jar in fine buff ware which gradually narrows in diameter towards the rim (Fig. 7: 14-16). A few sherds of one of these vessels were painted.

Comparisons. The lack of detailed descriptions of the Mesopotamian buff wares makes comparisons difficult, but Lloyd's account of the " pink wares " from Grai Resh27 could equally well be applied to

any of the finer Luri common wares. Similarly the club rim bowl shapes characteristic of this ware form

21 S. Lloyd, op. cit., p. I8.


close parallels to the Pish-i Kfih examples.28 Examples from Southern Iraq occur at Warka, sometimes combined with finger printing.29 A similar western, or north western alignment can be given for the bevelled rim and flint scraped bowls. These specialised types apart however, the closest parallels for the buff ware assemblages, both in shape and fabric come from Godin Tepe V.30 There are also numerous parallels between BbdT Jan V, and the so-called " Ubaid " phase at Godin, Period VI. Club rims first emerge in this level (Young, loc. cit. Fig. 8: 4, I2), while deep jar bowls with constricted necks (idem. Fig. 7: I-Io, Fig. 8: I ), many of them painted, are the obvious protypes for the rare Bdbd Jan examples. Bdba Jan V (which contains flint scraped bowls, but so far no bevelled rims) would thus seem to be transitional between Godin VI and V, supporting and strengthening Young's argument for a carry-over in fabrics.31

Conclusions. Although the assemblages are related to those of the Uruk period in Mesopotamia, there are important local differences. Certain features, such as the ubiquitous bichrome bowls of Western Pish-i Kiih, are peculiar to the mountains; conversely other features such as angular profiles, tall shouldered jars, spouts, twisted handles, grey burnished wares and heavy polychrome jars of the Jamdet Nasr type are rare there.32 Many of these features are peculiar to the Jamdet Nasr phase in Mesopo- tamia, which does not seem to be represented in Lfiristin by a change of culture. Indeed much of the pottery from the mountains has its best parallels in the Early Uruk assemblages, or even in late Ubaid and transitional Ubaid-Uruk contexts. The tie up between Godin VI and V and Bdbd Jan V also suggests that the buff ware aspects of this culture evolved in the mountains and were not introduced from Iraq. Indeed the influence could well have gone the other way. How this is to be reconciled with other evidence from western Iran indicating that the " Ubaid " culture continued in the mountains for some centuries after it had been superceded further west is still a problem.33 Excavation at Chia Pahan, and perhaps at Giyan itself in the light of our increased knowledge, might indicate that the two cultures overlap. On the other hand, not a single piece of" Ubaid " pottery was found at Chii Bal where there is a very thick deposit of bichrome wares. What is urgently needed is a stratified excavation in the Western Pish-i Ktih.

Were such an excavation to take place it might be found that the link between Mesopotamia and the mountains extended to more than pottery. Many of the Lfiristan sites are large by Persian standards, suggesting that here, as in Iraq, villages were turning into towns. Each of the large plains in Western Lilristan-Tarhan, Kiih-i Dasht, and Rumishgan-are dominated by one or more major tepes of this period.34 There are also large sites on the Mahi Dasht producing this pottery, but the gigantic overlay from later periods makes it difficult to determine how much can be attributed to the fourth millennium.35 It is tempting to think that in Lfiristan itself we are dealing with a petty kingdom, possibly based on Chia Pahan in K~ih-i Dasht, with its frontier on the Kiih-i Sefid and linked by trade with Tepe Giyvn, and sites further east on the plateau. Why Sumer and Khtizistan managed to develop a civilisation based on the city state, whereas the Luri townships remained at the state of glorified villages, to be suddenly abandoned in the first half of the third millennium, cannot at the moment be answered. It seems to be connected with developments in Khiizistin, and a radical change in the mountain economy which took place during the " Early Dynastic " period.

28 Ibid, Fig. 7: 8. Note that the figures have been incorrectly numbered in the text.

29 UVB IV, Taf. I8A, x, a'-f', also Taf. 19C: 1. 30 Young, Excavations at Godin Tepe, pp. 7-8. Pottery comparisons

include: Bowls with incurving rims: Fig. 7: 2-6; Young, Fig. 9 : 24. Flat based bowls: Fig. 5: I3, 2o, 21; Young, Fig. 9: I, 3. Hole mouthed bowls: Fig. 5: 13, 20, 21; Young, Fig. 9: 6. Nicked decoration: Fig. 7: 23; Young, Fig. 9: 4, 6.

3~ Young, loc. cit., p. 6. 32 Two grey ware sherds were found at Chid Fatela (Fig. 5: 17,

I8), and one drooping spout (Fig. 5: 23). 33 Dyson, " Relative Chronology ", p. 249, Fig. i, and above p. 138. 3* Tarhan:

Chi. Pahan, c. 2oo m. across and 5-7 m. high; Cen-

tral Mound, c. Ioo m. across and 2 m. high. Rumishgin: Chii Bal, c. 200 m. across and 20 m. high with smaller mound at the side. Kiah-i-Dasht: Chid Pahdn, 400 metres across and ii m. high, see Stein, Old Routes, pp. 261-5 and Fig. 78.

35 Besides the fine bichrome painted wares, and thicker buff wares, the Mahi Dasht plain also produces a third class of pottery which can probably be assigned to this period: buff or reddish with a brick red slip on both surfaces, and sometimes a burnish. Sherds tend to be thicker than the finer bichrome wares and are straw-tempered. The chief shapes are small bowls and hole mouthed jars with simple club rims like Fig. 5: 17, i8. Simple Uruk and Protoliterate pottery was first reported from this area, by R. J. Braidwood, " The Iranian Prehistoric Project, 1959-60 ", Iranica I (I961), pp. 3-7.


The development towards larger units is not found in the Eastern Pish-i Kfih, where sites of this period are small and scattered. The typical wares do, however, occur at three sites in Tezab, and at Afrineh and Washiyan along the Pol-i Dokhtar traverse. They also occur at Giyan in the hiatus between Levels V and IV.36 This suggests that trade was increasing in importance, and new routes were being opened up through the mountains.

5. The " Early Dynastic." (Fig. 8) It is now generally accepted that the cultures of Giyan IV-III " originated under the influence of

the Susa D type of Elamite painted pottery ... in the second half of the third millennium B.C. ",3 but the actual transitional period when the culture of Early Dynastic Susa was first penetrating the mountains of the north, is poorly documented. The clue to the situation lies in the distribution and dating of the large communal tombs known as lihaq.

There appear to have been two types of tomb in use at this period. One is the lihaq proper, a long low stone-built chamber about one and a half metres wide and anything up to six metres long. Its most characteristic feature is a pitched pent-house roof of huge capping stones. These tombs were first described by Freya Stark,38 and a plundered example was excavated by H. Thrane at Sar Tarhan.39 The other type, cemeteries of which were excavated by L. Vanden Berghe at Bani Surmeh40 and Kalleh Nisar near Ilam, is considerably larger (up to 16 20 m. by 2 Io0 m.), and has a flat roof. The differences in construction may have been due to local idiosyncracies, the pitched roof variety being found in the Pish-i Kiih, and the flat roofed ones, west of the Kabir Kfih.

The tombs from Bani Surmeh were dated by Vanden Berghe to 2600-2500 B.C. and their contents compared with objects from Susa Dc-d (ED IIIa). They contain in fact a typical Khizistan assemblage with " Scarlet Ware " of a type (Vanden Berghe loc. cit. p. 56), monochrome wares, and simple daggers and shafted axes (p. 58). The tombs from Kalleh Nisar were first constructed at a similar date but were re-used in the Isin-Larsa and Old Babylonian periods. Individual cist graves of Akkadian- Gutian affinities were found at the same site. While there is no absolute proof that the pitched roof tombs further east lie in the same chronological and cultural bracket, the evidence, as listed below, certainly points in this direction.

Tepe Jarali. The tomb was said to have originally contained six skeletons and eleven pots. Two of these, both pithoi, were illustrated (AA XXXV, p. I67). With their ribbed shoulders and pierced shoulder lugs they recall rather similar Early Dynastic types from Khtizistin and the Diydla.41 Thrane originally suggested a tentative Iron Age date for them, while postulating that the tomb, on analogy with the Gilwaran finds discussed below, may have been constructed rather earlier and re-used. In a later report he suggests that they may be earlier than the contents of the Bronze Age tombs at Guran.41 Similar pottery was also said to have been found at a small cemetery of six graves at Sheikh Hassan, Kishmahar (AA XXXV p. 165).

Gilwaran, Khorramadbd. An untouched tomb of this type was excavated by E. Herzfeld.43 He described it as being 17 ft. long and 4-5 ft. wide with a rich hoard of pottery and bronzes. Only a very few of these finds were illustrated, but those that were have third millennium affinities. Two metal juglets have their closest parallels in Susa D, and a pottery spouted vase is said to be identical with another E.D. form from Susa.44 Fifteen large pithoi, some with relief decoration, recall the Jarali vessels.

*s Louvre collections.

37 R. H. Dyson Jr., " The Archaeological Evidence of the Second Millennium B.C. on the Persian Plateau ", CAH II, Ch. XVI (1968), p. 9.

38 F. Stark, " The bronzes of Lfiristdn ", Geographical Journal

LXXX, p. 400. 39 H. Thrane, AA XXXV, pp. 165-6, Fig. 12.

40 Vanden Berghe, Archeologia, Sept.-Oct. 1968, p. 54, and " La Necropole de Kalleh Nisar ", Archeologia 1970, pp. 65-73.

41 Compare AA XXXV, p. 167, fig. 13: 4 with Le Breton, loc.cit., P1. XXVI: ii (Db, ED I-II); also with vessels from large brick tombs of this date in Deh Luran, J. E. Gautier and G.

Lampre, " Fouilles de Moussian ", MDP VIII (1905), p. 141, Fig. 286. Fig. 13: 2 with a shorter neck and shoulder lugs can be compared to ED I examples from the Diydla; see P. Delougaz, Pottery from the Diyala Region (OIP LXIII, Chicago, 1952), P1. 41 a-c and PI. 191 D.5o4, 353b.

41 Thrane, Jationalmuseets Arbejdsmark, 1968. 43 E. Herzfeld, " Bericht iiber archdiologische Beobachtungen im

siidlichen Kurdistan und im Luristan ", AMI I, (Berlin 1929- 30).

44 Compare Herzfeld, op. cit., Taf. VI and VII with Le Breton, loc. cit., fig. 41: 5, 7, and 8, (Db). For the jug see MDP XIII, P1. XXV: 7; and compare Le Breton, op. cit., fig. 35: 13, (Dd). See also Thrane, AA XXXV, p. 168, n. 17.

LORISTAN BEFORE THE IRON AGE 147

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Fig. 8. Map of Pish-i Kiih showing the positions qf the main Bronze Age sites. Abbreviations: BJ Baba Jdn; GIR Girairdn; G Gilwadeh, K Khabgin, QN Qal'eh Ndsir, AF Afrineh, DAL Dalicheh Pass, S Chia Sabz, MIR Mfrvali, SH Sheik Hassan, KAZ Kazabad, GUR Tepe Guran, C MAHI Cheshmeh Mahi, MU Mureh Kdn, HAM Hammamldn, SD Surkh Dom, QG Qal'eh Gauri.

14


Mirvali, Rumishgdn. The site consists of a large stone town incorporating a cemetery of rectangular stone cists. Only one jar related to Khizist~n " Scarlet Ware " 45has so far been published from the area, but sherding in the immediate vicinity produced a Susa D/Giy5n IV assemblage: large jars with ribbed and painted decoration on the shoulder, and finger printed bases. The lihaq cemetery lay a few hundred yards above the site on the north bank of a stream on the edge of the hills. It may be contemporary, with the settlement, but diagnostic pottery was not forthcoming.

Chid Bardina, Rumishgdn and Qal'eh Gauri, Kah-i Dasht. See Stein, Old Routes, pp. 219 and 258. At both these sites Stein reported mixed cemeteries of flat and gable roofed tombs. The published pottery from Qal'eh Gauri included painted Giyan IV-III wares and pithoi.

Surkh Dom, Kzfh-i Dasht. The main shrine at Surkh Dom probably dates to the early first millennium, " but ", reports Schmidt, " in testing the downhill slopes, cist graves with gabled roofs of the third millennium B.C. were recovered . .. crushed vessels and simple bronze pins were found with the skeletal remains ".4" These may be the graves containing Giyan III tripods reported by Dyson (CAH II, p.

I4). Chemeshk, Bdld Giriveh. The site lies on the banks of a small river valley about a half a kilometre beyond the modern village. The ancient settlement lies on a bluff about 75-100oo m. long, covered with sherds of Giyan IV-Susa D affinities, recalling those from Mirvali. A short way to the west was a large graveyard entirely composed of lihaq. There were signs of careful planning. In one case about seven

- 45.4

T I 124i

37-5-

Fig. 9. Field sketch of pithos from Chemeshk.

tombs had been arranged in a neat row, all aligned approximately north to south, and about one metre apart. Sherds picked up from the edges of the tombs consisted of heavy pithos fragments, ring bases, cable decoration, elaborate moulded decoration from the shoulder of large vessels, and painting. The fabric again had Susa

D-Giymn IV affinities. A complete jar said to have come from the graves was

shown to me in the village (Fig. 9) recalling the Jarali examples. Washiyan. The plain supports a single conical tepe, approximately 21 m. high and I8o m. across,

known as Karieh, and occupied from the Chalcolithic through to the Islamic period. In the immediate vicinity are two lihaq cemeteries, all completely robbed out. The local people complained bitterly that their contents had been very poor, but they may have been plundered in antiquity. Further cemeteries were recorded at Rikhan and Khabgan, but I was unable to see them.

Discussion. With the possible exception of Dom Surkh, all the tombs so far discussed have been associated with fragments of ribbed and painted pithoi, and, although this class of pottery continues in LUristan

's E. F. Schmidt, Flights over ancient Cities of Iran, pp. 41 and 88. A. U. Pope, "A note on some pottery from the Holmes Lfiristin Expedition of the Institute", Bulletin of the American Institutefor Iranian Art and Archaeology (1936), p. 122, Fig. 3. The vessel is rather similar in shape to the Jarali jars, and practically

identical to Le Breton, op. cit., P1. XXVI: II. It is to be hoped that the Rumishgin sites will soon be published.

46 E. Schmidt, " The Second Holmes Expedition to Lfiristan ", Bulletin of the American Institute for Iranian Art and Archaeology V, 3 (1938), PP. 211-2 2.


for two millennia into the Iron Age, all the fragments I have been able to examine personally are of third millennium type. It thus seems most likely-and I make this suggestion with some diffidence since I have not seen the pottery concerned-that the Jarali pithoi should also be dated to the mid-third millennium, and that the vast majority of the gable-roofed lihaq belong to the same horizon as the flat roofed tombs of Bani Surmeh. The type continues into the Giyin III period, 47 by which time the smaller cist grave is becoming the predominant type of burial chamber. The sudden revival of gable roofed tombs in the first millennium at Tepe Sialk would appear to be a local phenomenon.48 The origin of the tombs is still an open question. It is customary to quote Early Bronze Age parallels from the west, and to suggest that cist graves were introduced from Turkey and North Syria along with tripod pottery in the Giyan IV-III transition.49 We can now see that the lihaq, from which the cists may derive, are considerably earlier, have a distribution pattern confined to southern Liristan only, and predominately Elamite associations. It is possible that they are an attempt to translate the typical Elamite brick tomb with its corbelled vault into stone50-in other words a reaction of invaders from the south to local conditions.

That the onset of the Susa D-Giytn IV culture represents a radical break with the past is suggested not only by the new pottery and grave types, but by a new settlement pattern. Many of the important " Uruk " sites were abandoned, and new settlements were founded in different parts of the valleys. The situation is well demonstrated in Rumishgan. Here Chid Bal continued to be occupied although the third and second millennium overlay does not appear to be very great. Large new settlements were however founded by the springs at the western end of the valley, at Mirvali, and Kamtarlan I and II, while the old Chalcolithic site of Chid Sabz was used as a cemetery.51 As we have seen, today this area marks the limit of settled agriculture. A short distance to the west lie the winter pastures of the Nfr 'Ali, and 'All Zamin's migration route runs along the foot of the northern hills past Mirvali and Chid Sabz, before swinging north.

The situation is repeated in Kfih-i Dasht. The great mound of Chid Pahin was abandoned, and the new Giyan IV and III sites occur nearer the edges of the valleys, and also up the Kishmahar valley to the north. In Hulilan, Kazabdd and later Cheshmeh Mahi are reasonably central, but a move to open up the western end of the river valley and the north eastern migration route started with the foundation of Mureh Kan, and continued in the later second millennium with sites round Tang-i Hammamlan.52 Even in the Eastern Pish-i KSih, where several of the second millennium sites are sizable towns, a large proportion of them tend to hug the fringes of the valleys close to the mountains.

A possible explanation for this phenomenon is a shift from agriculture to stock breeding and the beginning of transhumance. Recent research has shown that agriculture in Khfizistan and Dehlourdn was dependent on irrigation, as in Mesopotamia, and was presumably as vulnerable to salination.53 Adams has indicated that during the Early Dynastic period, there was a decline in the number of sites on the Khfizistan plain itself,54 yet we know from historical sources that there was no actual decline in the Elamite nation, even if for long periods Khfizistdn came under direct Mesopotamian rule. Faced with a declining economic situation, and hostility from their more powerful neighbours to the west, there would be every incentive for the Elamites of Khfizistdn to colonise their cooler mountainous hinterland. Such expansion would have been helped by the conquests of such enterprising monarchs as Kutik Inshushinak, who is known to have campaigned as far as the upper Diyvla.55

The invaders may first have settled those parts of the valleys which were not already occupied by the Group 4 people. Later, an increase in population would in turn lead to more efficient farming, and the exploitation both of the flanks of the mountains, and of the smaller mountain valleys. These valleys

47 Dyson, CAH II, p. 13. 48 The question is discussed in some detail by Thrane, National-

museets Arbejdsmark (1968). 49 Dyson, CAH II, p. 2 and note 4. 50 e.g. MDP VIII, Fig. Ioo and IoI from Deh Luran, where they

occur with Early Dynastic pottery. s5 Dyson, CAH II, pp. i o-i I and references. Pope, loc. cit., p. 12I1,

Fig. 2.

82 Stein, Old Routes, pp. 242-4. Thrane, AA XXXV, p. I58, 161.

53 Hole and Flannery, Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society XXXIII, p. 181 f. and references.

54 R. M. Adams, " Agriculture and Urban Life in Early South- Western Iran ", Science CXXXVI, pp. o9-22.

55 Hinz, op. cit., pp. I 1-12.


which are narrow, steep-sided, and thickly wooded, are uneconomic to farm, but provide excellent pasture for sheep, goats and cattle. By siting their towns on the edges of the larger valleys, the colonists would be able to indulge in the form of mixed agriculture and stock breeding practised so successfully all over the area today.

Once large herds of livestock are introduced, however, transhumance becomes necessary, for although an arable farmer can store enough food for the winter to feed himself and his few animals, a stock breeder will have to find new pastures. This in turn would break down the cultural barrier hitherto imposed by the Kiih-i Sefid, and one finds Giyan IV-II pottery distributed over an incredibly wide area from the Kabir Kiih to the Kangovar valley. It is to the regional divisions of this pottery in

Liristin that we must now turn.

6. The Giydn IV-II Cultures.56 (See Fig. 8) Giydn IV pottery is fairly widespread in the Pish-i Kiih, though the early " oiseau peigne "57 vases

have been recovered from only a few sites, notably Telyib, east of Harsin. More characteristic are large jars with purely geometric decoration, such as are found in Level IV at Tepe Jamshidi.58 Recent work at Bdba Jan indicates that varieties of this particular type of jar continue throughout the subsequent GiyRn III period, and since fragments of such jars are very noticeable on survey, I may have over- estimated the number of Giyan IV sites in my original reconnaissance.

The beginning of Giyan III is marked by the introduction of polychrome tripod pottery, possibly from the north west. It appears before 1600 B.C. and probably not far from 2000 B.C.59--a period when Elam finally shook herself free from Mesopotamian hegemony, and when one would expect to find a reopening of connections with the north west, perhaps connected with the ramifications of the tin trade. Once established the culture split up into various regional styles-presumably connected with the establishment of local kilns. Classic Giyan III tripods and black on red wares prevail in the larger plains of Khawa, Alishtar, Delfdn and Mirbeg. Further north in the summer pastures of the Kakawand and Itiwand tribes, polychrome, or black on buff " kite wares " predominate,60 though classic Giyin III wares also occur along the main trade routes; finally west of the Kiih-i Sefid, in Hulilan, a third style predominates, characterised by rows of hatched triangles, and hatched bands.61

Fragments of Giyvn II " bird and sun " vessels are difficult to find on survey, and there is increasing evidence that these wares represent a specialised type of grave pottery rather than a separate cultural period. More common are the fine banded " Habur wares " that occur alongside them in the Giyan II tombs. A footed Habur ware vessel occurred with a small cup, a bead necklace, and alabaster lid, and ten arrow heads in a grave at Bdbh Jdn.

The patterns of settlement within the Eastern Pish-i Kfih would appear to have been almost identical with those prevailing today. This suggests a similar economy based on mixed farming with a bi- annual migration of part of the population along with the bulk of the livestock. In the large plains of Khawa, Alishtar and Delfan we find large town sites of which the biggest is Girairan,62 equivalent to the modern Qal'eh Alishtar with its school, hospital and local administrative offices. Other, slightly smaller sites are Chii Kdbud63 and Tepe Jamshidi guarding the passes over the Kuh-i Garin, and Bibd Jan and the Golbaki sites in Delfin at the end of the main migration route. In the tribal regions to the north however, large sites, such as Telydb, are in a minority. The vast majority are small villages, often little more than fifty metres across, scattered over the flanks of Chii Wizan and Gul-i Nab, and down the

16 A detailed study of the Giyan sequence in Lfiristan appears in C. Goff, New evidence of cultural development in Lfiristdn in the late second and early first millennia B.C., Ph. D. thesis submitted to the University of London (1966), pp. 105-66. A revised assessment, incorporating both my Lfiristan material and many unpublished graves from Schmidt's sites in Rumishgin and Kfih-i Dasht, appears in Dyson, CAH II (1968), and in Dyson " Relative Chronology ", p. 232. At the risk of being repeti- tious, the main points needed to elucidate the distribution map Fig. 8, together with additional material which has come to light since the papers quoted above were written, is presented

here. For detailed arguments of the points raised, and a bibliography, the reader is referred to the original sources.

7 Contenau and Ghirshman, op. cit., P1. 35, T. 117: I, 2, 4, 5. 58 Idem, P1. 79-81. 59 Dyson, CAHII, pp. IO-12. 'o See Goff Meade, Iran VI, p. 126 and Fig. I : 1-4. 6l Meldgaard et al., AA XXXIV, p. 132, Figs. 34, 34a and 35.

Y. Maleki, " Une fouille en Luristan," Iranica IV (1964), p. 135, P1. III, nos. 3 and 4; P1. IV nos. i and 2.

02 Stein, Old Routes, pp. 280 f., Fig. I8. 63 Idem, p. 289.

LU!RISTAN BEFORE THE IRON AGE 151

tributaries of the Ghiz and Badavar. Many of these sites are somewhat inaccessible, and there is a tendency for them to be placed in easily defensible positions-on the tops of natural rock outcrops, and above the main passes. Moreover the appearance of isolated graveyards along the river valleys, suggests a substantial nomadic element within the population.

One sees in these patterns a reflection of the differing economy of the two regions, and, probably, the need for defence. In the larger valleys, the population tended to gather into large, easily defensible units. Girairan was probably the centre of a petty kingdom; smaller forts controlled the neighbouring valleys; in the hills beyond a semi-nomadic population spread out into the upland pastures and produced its own, individual culture, which may have survived when the cities perished.

The end of the III/II cultures appears to have been a dramatic one. Tepe Jamshidi and Bibd Jan were both abandoned and the same fate was probably suffered by Girairan and the other larger sites, since not a sherd of Iron Age I ware has so far been found west of the Kfih-i Sefid. The desolation may be attributed either to the raids of the Elamite kings in the late thirteenth and early twelfth centuries B.C. or to counter raids of invading Iron I people across the Nehavand passes.

The situation west of the Kiih-i Sefid appears to have been rather different. Here, the Hulilan hatched wares appear to have continued till the end of the thirteenth century.64 The two subsequent levels at Tepe Gurin have produced footed goblets comparable to similar forms from Kassite levels in Mesopotamia.65 Rather similar goblets were picked up by the writer in 1963 on numerous large sites all over the Mahi Dasht plain. Although, as Thrane cautiously remarks, we cannot necessarily equate a style of pottery with a particular linguistic group, there is textual evidence for Kassites in LiIristan as late as the campaigns of Sennacherib. In which case may one regard the Hulilan sites as a late southern extension of Kassite influence from an original centre on the Mahi Dasht ?

Besides the goblets, the intermediate levels at Tepe Gurdn are also said to have produced fragments of ribbed pithoi.66 Pithos fragments, accompanied by little or no painted pottery, also turn up at numerous sites in the Hulilan and Kishmahar region, particularly the boulder ruins and graveyards situated up in the mountains away from the main valleys. Thus both in East and West Liiristan the end of the second millennium seems to have been characterised by a general shift to the mountains-the end of a process started by the lihaq users I500 years earlier, and a reflection of the increasingly disturbed conditions prevailing all over the Middle East at this period.

64 Dyson, CAHl II, p. 27 f. 56 Thrane, Nationalmuseets Arbejdsmark (1968), p. 18, Fig. 13.

Dyson, CAH II, p. 28.

66 Thrane, AA XXXV, p. 161.


CATALOGUE

Fig. 2.

For a description of the wares see pp. 134, 137 and 139-

Fig. 3- For a description of the wares see p. 139. All red slipped except nos. Io, I I, 18, 21, 22, 25. Burnished examples: 2, 3, 5, 7, 10, 13, 23, 25, 39-

Fig. 5- For a description of the wares see pp. 139 and 143. Hatching: red paint; solid black: black paint. Pink, orange or red fine wares: I, 3, 4, 5, 8, Io, II, 25, 31, 48, 63, 64, 66. Grey wares: 17, 18. Flint scraped bowls: 29, 58. Bevelled rim bowl: 19. Remainder: fine common, common and heavy common wares depending on weight. Unusual sherds: 8. Pinkish orange fine ware; maroon slip inside, pale buff slip outside, black paint. 9. Buff fine ware; light red slip inside and outside, brown band on rim, ladder design in black. Io. Pinkish-orange fine ware; paint originally black. 25. Pinkish-orange fine ware: black paint. 51. Buff common ware with straw and grit tempering; streaky buff slip on outside and rim; thin brown paint.

Fig. 6. For a description of the wares see pp. 139 and 143. Hatching: red paint; solid black: black paint. Pink, orange and red fine wares: I, 4-7, I I, 19-21, 23- Flint scraped bowls: 13, 18. Remainder fine common, common and heavy common wares depending on weight. Unusual wares: I. Pink fine ware with small white grits and straw temper; white slip, black and red paint, exterior burnished. 7. Pinkish fine ware with tiny white grits and straw temper; white slip, red and black paint. 19. Pink fine ware with cream slip; maroon and black paint. 24. Buff common ware; paint brown (black solid) and streaky reddish brown (hatching).

Fig. 7. For a description of the wares see pp. 143 and 144. Flint scraped bowls: 2, 3 and 13: Mica ware: 20, 2 I, 27, 28. Painted ware: I6. Buff clay with pale green slip, black paint. Remainder common or fine common ware, normally with darker core. The following are burnished: 4, 14, 19, 21, 23 (highly); 5, 6, 1o, II, 15, 30 (lightly).

SHORTER NOTICES

UNE DOUBLE HACHE DU LORISTAN

By Jean-Louis Huot

Il y a quelques annies, une hache d'un type probablement inconnu a ce jour1 est apparue sur le marche des antiquites de Teheran. Aucune indication concernant sa provenance n'a pu etre recueillie. Bien qu'on ne puisse tirer que fort peu de renseignements interessants d'un objet aussi denu6 de tout contexte archeologique, il a paru indiqu6 de la faire connaitre au public, en raison de son aspect insolite.

L'objet (Fig. i, P1. Ic) est long de io,6 cms. et 6pais de 2,2 cms. au niveau du collet. Le tranchant de la hache simple est large de 4,5 cms. et celui de la hache fenestree de 4,8 cms. Le trou d'emmanchement, 1egerement elliptique, mesure a la base 1,7 cms. sur 1,9 cms. L'objet a ete vraisemblablement fabriqu6 par moulage en moule ferm&.

Fig. I. Une double hache du Luristdn. Echelle I: 2.

C'est une double hache a collet: d'un c6te une lame simple ta tranchant transversal; de l'autre, une lame fenestree, a tranchant transversal egalement. La lame simple, plate, est de profil at peu pres trapezoidal: les c6tes sont tres lCgerement concaves et divergents. Le c6te supdrieur est pratique- ment perpendiculaire t l'axe du collet, tandis que le c6te infdrieur presente une inclinaison marquie vers le bas. Mais l'axe principal de la lame reste droit. Le tranchant est l1gerement incurv6, et les angles arrondis. Si l'on fait abstraction de la lame opposee, cette lame simple est implant6e sur un collet, prolong6 son extrdmite inf6rieure par un manchon tubulaire. L'extrdmit6 superieure du collet depasse 1kgerement le bord de la lame, et presente un profil nettement echancrd, tandis que l'extremit6 infdrieure du manchon est coupee perpendiculairement. Le lame se raccorde au collet sans aucun ressaut.

A l'oppose, et sur toute la hauteur du collet, est implant6e une hache plate fenestrde, a tranchant transversal. Celui-ci est incurv6, le c6te sup6rieur de la lame est droit, et le c6td infdrieur convexe convergent. Deux petites fenetres elliptiques s'ouvrent le long du collet.

1 Avril I970, date de la r6daction de ces lignes.

153


On peut analyser cet objet de deux fagons diff6rentes: ou bien l'on y voit une hache 'a crete, en considerant la " hache fenestree " comme une crete particulierement 6laboree. Ou bien il s'agit d'une double hache a collet, chaque partie de l'instrument exergant la meme fonction.

Dans le premier cas, si l'objet est une hache a crete, les comparaisons possible sont assez peu nombreuses: des haches a crete existent dans le domaine sumerien, et sont fgalement attestdes dans le Lfiristdn. Aucune, toutefois, ne pr6sente d'analogies exactes avec l'objet publie ici.2 Les haches

B crete sum'riennes offrent peu de points de comparaison precis: on peut citer une hache d'argent provenant d'Ur3 qui pr6sente une lame a c6te inf6rieur pendant, et, de l'autre c6to du collet, une crite arrondie. Mais l'aspect g'n'ral de cet objet est fort diff6rent du n6tre. Une autre hache d'Ur serait plus proche:4 & l'oppose de la lame simple, et sur toute la hauteur du collet, s'implante une crete en arc de cercle. Mais l1 encore, il s'agit d'une crete beaucoup moins elaborde et sans aucune trace de fenestrage. Les cretes des haches du Lfiristdn sont plus developpees. Des diff6rences essen- tielles demeurent cependant, et aucune des haches connues ne presente d'analogies frappantes avec celle publiee ici:5 sauf sur un exemplaire6 le manchon est assez diff6rent, puisque son extremit6 infdrieure dessine une courbe parabolique caracteristique. On ne remarque aucun fenestrage.

A vrai dire, il n'est peut- tre pas exact de voir dans cet objet une hache a crete: la partie fenestrte de l'objet n'apparait guere en effet comme un appendice d6coratif, mais bien comme une veritable hache; I'aplatissement de la lame, la finesse du tranchant ne laissent guere de doute a cet egard. On aurait affaire, dans ce cas, a une double hache a collet: d'un c6to, une lame simple avec collet

prolong6 son extremite inf6rieure par un manchon tubulaire, et lame de profil a peu pres trapezoidal; de l'autre, une hache fenestr&e de type classique. Si cette analyse semble plus juste, les com-

paraisons 6ventuelles n'en deviennent que plus difficiles: en effet les doubles haches connues sont dans leur 6norme majorit6 d'origine 6geenne, et n'ont aucun rapport avec l'objet qui nous occupe ici.7 Aussi est-il peut-etre plus profitable d'6tudier s6parement les deux parties de l'objet.

La hache a lame simple, avec collet prolong6 son extremit6 inf6rieure par un manchon tubulaire, et dont l'extremite sup6rieure d6passe de fort peu le c6te superieur de la lame, est tres repandue en

Iran:8 c'est la variante tres homogene A 5b de J. Deshayes, qui comprend cinq haches " du

Lfiristan " et un exemplaire de Tepi Djamshidi IV. Cet ensemble se rapproche passablement de

l'objet publi6 ici: lame a c6tes concaves divergents, tranchant arrondi, bord superieur du collet relev6 vers le talon, bord inf6rieur du manchon tubulaire coupe horizontalement. J. Deshayes pro- posait de dater l'exemplaire de Tep6 Djamshidi, le plus simple (donc peut-etre le plus ancien) des

epoques proto-dynastique III et akkadienne; les autres haches pouvant d'ailleurs etre plus ou moins r6centes par rapport a celle de Tepe Djamshidi. P. Calmeyer, s'appuyant sur les fouilles recentes de Tchechmah Mahi, assigne la tombe 17 de Tepe Djamshidi, d'odi provient l'exemplaire en question, a l'poque babylonienne ancienne, ou un peu avant.9

Plus interessante est la hache fenestree. Mrs. Maxwell-Hyslop avait deja attire l'attention sur ce

groupe, dont on connait l'importance en Syrie au debut du Bronze Moyen. Aucune n'est une double hache; mais on peut evoquer la hache d'dlectrum de la tombe de Meskalamdug, a Ur, exemplaire unique d'un type de double hache a collet, a lame fenestree.10 Les haches fenestries simples existent en Iran: Mrs. Maxwell-Hyslop notait l'existence, dans ce pays, de deux exemplaires,11 l'un provenant de Suse et l'autre conserve au British Museum, en proposant sans grande justification de les dater

beaucoup plus tardivement que les exemplaires syriens du second mill6naire. Une carte de la distribution de ce type avait ensuite &t6 dress&e par C. Hillen,12 qui ne comportait, pour l'Iran, que le

2 j. Deshayes, Les Outils de Bronze de l'Indus au Danube I (Paris, I960), p. 163 et suivantes.

3 Ur II, p. 305, pl. 223, no U. 12478 (= Deshayes, op. cit. no 1334).

4 Ur II, p. 305, pl. 223, no U. 12739 (= Deshayes, op. cit. no 1335).

6 Sur l'ensemble des haches A crete du Lfiristan, voir Deshayes, op. cit. pp. I65-6, sous-type A 5c.

6 Bruxelles, Cinquantenaire n o.2010oo (= Deshayes no 1349).

7 Deshayes, op. cit. pp. 253-61. 8 Deshayes, op. cit. p. 165. 9 P. Calmeyer, Datierbare Bronzen aus Luristan und Kirmanshah

(UAVA, Band V, Berlin, I969), P- 43- 10 Ur II, pp. 156, 306 et 552, pls. i55b, 156 et 224, n0 U. Iooi8. 1n K. R. Maxwell-Hyslop,

" Western Asiatic Shaft-Hole Axes ", dans Iraq XI (I949), PP. 90-125-

12 C. Hillen, " A Note on Two Shaft-Hole Axes ", dans Biblio- theca Orientalis X (I953), pp. 211-15-

SHORTER NOTICES 155

seul exemplaire de Suse. Cette question vient d'etre reprise de fagon detaillke par P. Calmeyer13 et l'on se permet d'y renvoyer: cette fois, la liste comporte six numeros: Suse et l'exemplaire du British Museum, un exemplaire du Mus&e de Berlin, et trois exemplaires provenant de collections particulieres. P. Calmeyer propose de placer ces haches a fenetres iraniennes entre l'epoque akkadienne et l'epoque babylonienne ancienne, et plus precisement durant Ur III/Isin.

Il serait donc tentant de voir dans notre double hache une simple combinaison, ainsi attest&e pour la premiere fois, de deux types iraniens, une hache a collet de type Deshayes A 5b et une hache fenestr6e. Cette creation du Lfiristan ne serait pas pour &tonner, au debut du second millenaire en ce creuset de formes nouvelles qui combinent des types d'origine sumerienne et des 6Clments propre- ment iraniens.

EIN ELAMITISCHER STREUFUND AUS SOCH, FERGANA (USBEKISTAN)

By Burchard Brentjes

Im Historischen Museum Taschkent wird ein eigenartiges Objekt (P1. Ib) aus schwarzem Stein aufbewahrt, das aus Soch in Fergana stammt. Pugatschenkowa14 bestimmt es als Amulett, jedoch erscheint es dafiir als ein wenig groB. In der Form dhnelt es einem Kultobjekt aus Aserbaidschan im Museum Teheran,15 das wie eine Tasche geformt ist. Im Dekor jedoch schlieBt das Objekt aus Soch an eine Gruppe von Steatitschalen an, die in die zweite und dritte friihdynastische Zeit zu datieren sind. Sie stammen aus Nippur, Fara, Chafadschi (P1. Ia) und anderen Orten Mesopotamiensle und Indiens,"7 doch verweist bereits Poradais auf die Wahrscheinlichkeit eines Imports dieser Steatitar- beiten aus Elam. Unterstiitzt wird sie durch die Inschrift auf dem Bruchstiick einer Steatitschale in der Vorderasiatischen Abteilung der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin, die das Stiick als Beute Rimuschs aus Barachschi in Nordelam bezeichnet.19 Das Objekt von Soch zeigt zwei Schlangen als Dekor, die v6llig mit denen der Steatitschalen fibereinstimmen. Die Datierung Pugatschenkowas fiir das Soch-Objekt in das 2. Jahrtausend vor Chr. diirfte zu niedrig sein. Es ist wie die mesopota- mischen Funde in die Mitte des 3. Jahrtausends vor Chr. zu datieren.

A CIRCULAR SYMBOL ON THE TOMB OF CYRUS

By David Stronach

The spare, precise use of ornament on the tomb of Cyrus gives each decorative device a prominent role. Those mouldings that are most obvious, namely those that mark the base of the plinth, the base of the cella, the outline of the doorway, the transition to the roof and the line of the raking cornice, each serve to articulate the different parts of the building as a whole. But just because of this-because each of these elements has a clear architectural value-none of these motifs can be said to lead us very much closer to Cyrus himself; that is, towards any more explicit, personal statement. In one sense, of course, this remains one of the virtues of the monument, for solely as it stands the existing fabric succeeds in communicating a rare sense of dignity and integrity.

At the same time, however, such stark anonymity presents its own drawbacks. At a guess, this last aspect of the monument may have driven some frustrated early Greek visitor to compose the suitably laconic but still highly unlikely lines that are frequently reported to have been " inscribed "

13 Calmeyer, op. cit. pp. 44-6. 14 G. A. Pugatschenkowa, Geschichte der Kiinste Usbekistans (Moskau

1965 [russ.]), Abb. 5, S. 24. 15 J. L. Huot, Persien I (Miinchen 1965), Nr. 77. 16 H. Frankfort, The Art and Architecture of the Ancient Orient (1954),

fig. 9, pl. XI u.a. D. P. Hansen, G. F. Dales, " The Temple of Inanna, Queen

of Heaven at Nippur ", Archaeology XV, 2 (New York 1962), T. VII.

17 H. Mode, L'Antica India (Rome 1960), Abb. 6 und 7. 18 E. Porada, Alt-Iran (Baden-Baden 1962), S. 30. 19 Vorderasiatische Abteilung der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin,

Nr. 5298.

Pl. Ia. Dekor der Steatitvase von Chafadschi (Ausschnitt). Nach Frankfort.

P1. Ib. Altelamisches Kultobjekt aus Soch, Fergana (Usbekistan), Historisches Museum, Taschkent.

P1. Ic. Une double hache du Luristan. Long de io6 cm.


on the tomb.20 And most more modern visitors, in something of the same spirit, have, no doubt, regretted the absence of some more manifest, personal label. Yet as I hope to show, the survival of still another moulding, which appears to have escaped all previous notice, may provide a more direct link with Cyrus-as well as a potential new insight into his beliefs.

In March 1969 a brief return to Pasargadae allowed me to embark on a fresh examination of the tomb of Cyrus. Certain of the upper mouldings were not then fully recorded and after measuring various parts of the cornice I decided to take a second look at the mouldings immediately over the door from the unusual vantage point of the top of the building. As I lay down on top of the roof to obtain as close a view as possible, I became aware of an unexplained protuberance on the gable end

directly below me. Further examination revealed clear traces of carving round the edges of the raised area so that, without yet knowing precisely what sort of design we might be dealing with, I and my companion, Mr. Audran Labrousse, were able to complete an immediate record of some of the better preserved features.21

// N'--. / \ ,-"\ / x,\ / \ /-" \

/ "K, / \ "

[ NK-

\ I

-" li/i..

/-7, )

'

/_ 7/

.. " .,,,

/" iz'------" 7,

-\t '- "N 1 •

'-/ 7 N

.

7

\

I -/ s - - '," ' - . -

I ".x. ...

\ - '--- .,7

•

- 7 /

/ "" ' :-

/, .i ,: h,', 7 >

- section. A-A

/ /

/. ..• , "t- i:T ....' " - \,/

i/ *

i ...., \ \

/7 I i i '

/ \ I I-

I I

/N I /

/N, 7

1 /

\ •\ / ..

'• A

/\ I

/i •\ / \

At /. I---~~~ssto fetoe or remai ~ .tpopeenhh~tl

5 0 5 10 15 20 25 cms. -l KLFL . JL .

Fig. 2. Extant and restored elements of the disc found on the north-west pediment of the tomb of Cyrus. Diameter of disc, c. 49 cm.

20 Cf. Strabo, Geography XV, 3, 7. •- Mr. M. E. Weaver's present drawing, fig. 2, depends on the

testimony of a squeeze that was taken last June, as also on various detailed photographs taken by the writer.

SHORTER NOTICES 157

The newly discovered moulding consists of a raised disc, some 49 cm. across. Since the entire upper half of the disc was carved on the missing capstone of the pediment (Pl. II), we now have only the much-damaged lower half of the device (Pl. III) on which to base any reconstruction. From the presence of several sharply modelled, almost triangular " rays " along the lower edge of the raised design it can be calculated that 24 alternately large and small rays once marched round the circumference of the disc (Fig. 2). The large rays at least may have been provided with double scalloped indentations and the sides of both the large and small examples all show a distinct convex curve. The internal parts of the design are unfortunately very much more severely damaged and with regard to the larger of the two concentric rosettes that appears to have occupied the centre of the disc only the traces of two adjoining petals can be used to reconstruct the probable size and appearance of the whole. As far as the evidence allows us any certainty-and allowing for the surprising irregularities that appear in the composition-this large rosette possessed 24 petals, each of which appears to have been aligned with the 24 points of the rays in the outer register. And finally, despite the un- expected provision-or perhaps it would be better to say the secondary addition-of a vertical " stem " at the base of the small central rosette, the projected 12 petals of this last motif again appear to have been disposed in line, or almost in line, with the points of the outer rays.22

As the above discussion indicates, the disc possesses a disconcerting number of irregularities. The geometry of the figure is sadly askew in places, and the varied outlines of the outer rays look oddly at variance with the rigorous standards of design and execution that obtain elsewhere in the tomb. There is no question, however, about the early date of the disc. It is carved from a boss that protrudes for anything up to almost 4 cm. from the otherwise smoothly dressed surface of one of the main stones in the north-west face of the monument. In such a crucial position, directly above the door of the tomb, it could never have been left uncarved for any length of time and it is safe to assume that the actual cutting of the design must have been completed during the last decade of Cyrus' reign.

A close study of the stone surfaces located immediately below and to the right of the disc also reveals a point of technical interest. Almost invisible to the eye at first sight, but fully evident on the squeeze that was taken from this same area, are a number of fine, toothed chisel marks. In keeping with later practice these appear to have been applied at a late stage in the dressing of the block, some showing quite clearly and others having suffered during the final process of polishing the surface. These few chisel marks represent the best evidence in fact for the still very sparing use of the toothed chisel at Pasargadae before 530 B.C.

As far as the present damaged state of the disc is concerned, it is evident that the whole centre of the inner rosette was chiselled away with a narrow pointed tool. Such drastic measures would seem to suggest that the poor repair of the rest of the symbol is also due to human agency-whether inspired by a hunt for gold or by some other less material motive.

With reference to the original purpose of the disc, I think there can be little doubt that this was religious. There is no corresponding disc on the opposite gable which is preserved to the same height and, as we know from the slightly later royal tombs at Naqsh-i Rustam, it was the custom of Darius and his successors to place a dominant scene of worship, including a representation of the supreme God, Ahuramazda, above the entrance. The major problem, of course, is the fact that the composite symbol used by Cyrus does not recur anywhere in later Zoroastrian iconography, just as it does not appear to have any exact parallel among earlier religious symbols.

The single rosette is known in one other monumental, but nevertheless ambiguous context from Pasargadae itself: namely from a carved slab of white limestone that appears to have been part of one of the stone doorleaves of the Zendan and which bears three 12 petalled rosettes on one of its

22 The estimated maximum diameter of the outer rosette is 35.3 cm., that of the inner rosette 19.4 cm. and that of the centre of the latter rosette

7" I cm. If the diameters of the

separate elements of the whole design were once calculated on the multiples of any single figure (say close to the modern

measurement of 7 cm.) the inner rosette would have been slightly larger than our present fragmentary evidence suggests -that is to say c. 21 cm. rather than only 19.4 cm. in diameter.


raised, horizontal panels.23 The broadly religious and vaguely apotropaic value of the rosette in Assyria and Babylonia needs no emphasis; and in Assyria at least the double or concentric rosette is a common feature on, for example, royal or religious headdresses.24 The single rosette is also omnipresent at Persepolis, even if no parallel use of the double variety is known.

But it is clearly wrong not to look beyond the " single rosette " design in the present context. One older motif, for example, that undoubtedly demands attention is the type of winged sun disc that illustrates a rosette at the centre of the disc.25 For just as the winged disc without any anthropomorphic addition was sometimes used as a symbol of Ahuramazda in later Achaemenian times, our

purely circular disc could have represented a still more abbreviated symbol for the same God.

Certainly the ever earlier dates attributed to Zoroaster26 make it more and more likely that the Persians of Cyrus' time were acquainted with (or had even embraced) the prophet's reforms and therefore the latter's new loftier concept of Ahuramazda.

As I have mentioned elsewhere, we already have impressive material evidence for what appears to be a substantial measure of religious continuity between Cyrus on the one hand and Darius and his successors on the other.27 The already long-standing acceptance of Zoroaster's message may represent one reason, in fact, why Darius fails to mention Zoroaster by name in any of his inscriptions.

In a very general way, therefore, it would seem most reasonable to suggest that the new symbol on Cyrus' tomb bespeaks his belief in Ahuramazda.2" The only other ready solution is perhaps to link the new symbol with Mithra, the god of light, who also fulfilled the role of protector.29 But while Mithra is commonly identified by the rays of the sun, it should be remembered that the sun itself is often referred to in the early context of the Gdthds as "the eye of Ahuramazda "30 and that the earliest anthropomorphic representation of Ahuramazda (that completed at Bisitun just over ten

years later) still shows this last God rising out of a curl-fringed, or rather flame-ringed, sun disc.

THE OCTOBER EXHIBITION AT THE iRAN BASTAN MUSEUM: NOTES ON

OBJECTS FOUND AT SHAHABAD, TULARUD AND TEPE PARI DURING 1970.

Shahabad A number of clay cuneiform tablets have been recovered from the tall mound situated at the

centre of the town of Shahabad, some 50 km. west of Kermanshah. The tablets are said to be written in Akkadian.

Tularud The recent excavations of the Iranian Archaeological Service at Tularud in the Talish region have

yielded a large number of metal objects from graves that date back to the first millennium B.c. These include silver quadruple spiral beads (c. 7th century B.c.); bronze and iron pointed helmets and bronze and iron horse bits labelled 600-200 B.C.

23 See D. Stronach, J.N.E.S. XXVI (1967), pl. XXVa and b. Rosettes in this position might be said to count as a skeuo- morphic representation of the large metal plaques that could have decorated an original wooden door of this type-not least since each rosette possesses a rivet-hole for a central, presumably gold-headed nail.

24 T. A. Madhloom, The Chronology of Neo-Assyrian Art (1970),

PP. 74 ff. 25 E.g. M. E. L. Mallowan, Nimrud and its Remains II (1966),

fig. 395, and G. R. Meyer, Altorientalische Denkmaler im Vorder- asiatischen Muzeum zu Berlin (1965), pl. 84.

26 The most recent suggestion places the date of his birth in

665 B.C. See Mary Boyce, " On the Calendar of Zoroastrian Feasts ", B.S.O.A.S. XXXIII (1970), p. 538.

27 D. Stronach, op. cit., p. 287. 28 Above all we have to remember that the iconography of the

Persians was still far from developed at the time of Cyrus and that Darius and his successors found it necessary to

approve the introduction of various new religious motifs.

These range from either winged or non-winged representa- tions of Ahuramazda to the strictly Persian-looking genies that stand locked in combat with bird-footed demons. In each case a major debt to one or other of the religious symbols of Mesopotamia can be recognised and, while the Cyrus disc

may not seem to be so closely related to the rayed disc of Babylonia and Assyria, Cyrus may have sought to borrow and transform this powerful motif. The fact that the probably post-Achaemenian, Zoroastrian tomb of Qiz Qapan exhibits a rayed disc of an almost canonical Mesopotamian type (C. J. Edmonds, Iraq I (1934), pl. XXVIb) alongside two other borrowed and adapted Mesopotamian motifs (ibid, fig. 2) is a point of particular interest-even if the precise significance of the Qiz Qapan disc again remains obscure.

29 Cf. E. F. Schmidt, Persepolis III (1970), p. 85, where the circular " moon symbol" on the tomb of Darius the Great is

tentatively linked with Mithra. 30 E.g. rasna 1.11, 3.13, 4.16, 7-13, 22.13.

SHORTER NOTICES 159

Tepe Pari The chance discovery of a hoard of objects from Tepe Pari, some 20 km. to the east of Malayer,

throws further light on local Median art of the 8th/7th centuries B.c. The objects include a gold bracelet with crude, flattened lion-headed terminals; a number of gold lion-headed pins with fine granulation on their associated sheaths; a circular gold pendant, still complete with inlays of paste; and a series of bronze horse bits.

PYRAMIDAL STAMP SEALS-A NOTE

By John Boardman

I was not able to give a full reference to Dr. R. D. Barnett's prior publication of the seal, London WA II5591, which appeared as no. i in my article in Iran VIII (1970). He has published this in Athenaeum XLVII (1969) 21 f., a volume of studies presented to Professor P. Meriggi. The provenience which I recorded for the seal-Sardis-is not supported by the Museum records.

RECENT DISCOVERIES IN IRAN, 1969-70: A MAJOR ISLAMIC MONUMENT

By Antony Hutt

The most interesting discovery made during a series of surveys in Iran and Afghanistan during the year 1969-70 was that of the Minaret and Masjid-i Jami' at Varzaneh. Varzaneh is situated

00oo km. east-south-east of Isfahdn on the Zayandeh Rud, at the junction of two caravan routes, one between Nayin and Shiraz, the other between Isfahdn and Yazd; the bridge at Varzaneh being the last crossing point before the river drains into the Gavkhaneh Salt Lake. The mosque, which is of the two-aiwdn type, is dated by an inscription on the Portal (P1. IVa) to 848/1444, the last years of the reign of Shihrukh, while the Mihrdb (P1. IVb) is dated to the previous year. The Portal, Mihrib and Minbar are covered with superb mosaic faience, as is the soffit of the arch connecting the domed Mihrab chamber with the Qibla aiwan.

The main dedicatory inscription on the Portal, in addition to giving the name of Shihrukh Bahadur Khan, also gives the name of the donor, Mahmfid b. Muzaffar, entitled 'Imdd; the scribe, Sayyid Mahmfid-i Naqqash; the architect, Haidar b. Pir Husain Isfahini; and the superintendant of works, 'Ali b. Sadrallah Isfahani. Interestingly enough three years later in 851/i447, in the reign of Sultan Muhammad Bahddur, grandson of Shahrukh, 'Imdd b. Muzaffar of Varzaneh was the donor of the Winter Prayer Hall of the Masjid-i Jami' at Isfahan, using the same scribe for the inscription on the Portal, the mosaic faience of which utilises many of the patterns on the Portal and Mihrtb at Varzaneh.

Above the main inscription is a later Waqf dedication recording that Muhammad Shafi' Varzana'i, Vazir of Yazd, made a Waqf for the repair of the Masjid-i Jdmi' in IO99/1688.

The Minbar is an extremely fine and important example of work in mosaic faience, and would appear to be one of only two extant in Iran from this period, the other being in the Masjid-i Maidan,

Kdshmn, built some twenty years later. However M. Siroux has kindly drawn my attention to an

earlier Mongol mosaic faience Minbar, dated 735/1334, in the Masjid-i Jdmi', Kouh-Payeh, a town immediately to the north of Varzaneh on the main Isfahdn-Nayin road. The Kouh-Payeh Minbar would appear to have served as a model for that of Varzaneh, although the latter shows considerable stylistic development and much greater mastery of material.31

31 M. Siroux, " Kouh-Payeh, La Mosqu6e Djum'a et Quelques Monuments du Bourg et de ses Environs ", Annales Islamolo-

giques, t. VI, Cairo, 1966.

P1. II.

The upper part of the north-w

est fafade of the tom

b of Cyrus. T

he lower half of the disc appears at the top of the truncated pedim

ent.

P1. III.

A detail of the extant, low

er half of the disc on the north-west pedim

ent of the tomb of C

yrus.

SHORTER NOTICES 159

Tepe Pari The chance discovery of a hoard of objects from Tepe Pari, some 20 km. to the east of Malayer,

throws further light on local Median art of the 8th/7th centuries B.c. The objects include a gold bracelet with crude, flattened lion-headed terminals; a number of gold lion-headed pins with fine granulation on their associated sheaths; a circular gold pendant, still complete with inlays of paste; and a series of bronze horse bits.

PYRAMIDAL STAMP SEALS-A NOTE

By John Boardman

I was not able to give a full reference to Dr. R. D. Barnett's prior publication of the seal, London WA II5591, which appeared as no. i in my article in Iran VIII (1970). He has published this in Athenaeum XLVII (1969) 21 f., a volume of studies presented to Professor P. Meriggi. The provenience which I recorded for the seal-Sardis-is not supported by the Museum records.

RECENT DISCOVERIES IN IRAN, 1969-70: A MAJOR ISLAMIC MONUMENT

By Antony Hutt

The most interesting discovery made during a series of surveys in Iran and Afghanistan during the year 1969-70 was that of the Minaret and Masjid-i Jami' at Varzaneh. Varzaneh is situated

00oo km. east-south-east of Isfahdn on the Zayandeh Rud, at the junction of two caravan routes, one between Nayin and Shiraz, the other between Isfahdn and Yazd; the bridge at Varzaneh being the last crossing point before the river drains into the Gavkhaneh Salt Lake. The mosque, which is of the two-aiwdn type, is dated by an inscription on the Portal (P1. IVa) to 848/1444, the last years of the reign of Shihrukh, while the Mihrdb (P1. IVb) is dated to the previous year. The Portal, Mihrib and Minbar are covered with superb mosaic faience, as is the soffit of the arch connecting the domed Mihrab chamber with the Qibla aiwan.

The main dedicatory inscription on the Portal, in addition to giving the name of Shihrukh Bahadur Khan, also gives the name of the donor, Mahmfid b. Muzaffar, entitled 'Imdd; the scribe, Sayyid Mahmfid-i Naqqash; the architect, Haidar b. Pir Husain Isfahini; and the superintendant of works, 'Ali b. Sadrallah Isfahani. Interestingly enough three years later in 851/i447, in the reign of Sultan Muhammad Bahddur, grandson of Shahrukh, 'Imdd b. Muzaffar of Varzaneh was the donor of the Winter Prayer Hall of the Masjid-i Jami' at Isfahan, using the same scribe for the inscription on the Portal, the mosaic faience of which utilises many of the patterns on the Portal and Mihrtb at Varzaneh.

Above the main inscription is a later Waqf dedication recording that Muhammad Shafi' Varzana'i, Vazir of Yazd, made a Waqf for the repair of the Masjid-i Jdmi' in IO99/1688.

The Minbar is an extremely fine and important example of work in mosaic faience, and would appear to be one of only two extant in Iran from this period, the other being in the Masjid-i Maidan,

Kdshmn, built some twenty years later. However M. Siroux has kindly drawn my attention to an

earlier Mongol mosaic faience Minbar, dated 735/1334, in the Masjid-i Jdmi', Kouh-Payeh, a town immediately to the north of Varzaneh on the main Isfahdn-Nayin road. The Kouh-Payeh Minbar would appear to have served as a model for that of Varzaneh, although the latter shows considerable stylistic development and much greater mastery of material.31

31 M. Siroux, " Kouh-Payeh, La Mosqu6e Djum'a et Quelques Monuments du Bourg et de ses Environs ", Annales Islamolo-

giques, t. VI, Cairo, 1966.


The Minaret attached to the mosque is twenty metres high and consists of a cylindrical shaft on a high octagonal base, most of which base is concealed within the fabric of the later mosque. I would date this minaret to the first half of the sixth/twelfth century, although further research may prove that the octagonal base is earlier.

A full report on Varzaneh will be published in the near future, but I would now like to thank Dr. E. Neubauer who first drew my attention to this monument, and Mr. A. H. Morton for his assistance with the inscriptions.

Some 10 km. east of Semnan is the village of 'Ald which contains a minaret Io 25 m. high built of baked brick (P1. Va). The minaret has a very simple exterior pattern which however, has affinities with certain early minarets, notably that of the Masjid-i Jdmi', Neiriz, and the interior staircase has no central column but revolves about itself as does that of the nearby Saljuq minaret of the Masjid-i Jdmi', Semndn. There are no inscriptions which could be of help in dating this monument, nor are there any significant remains of the mosque to which it was attached, but local tradition describes it as 8oo years old, and a construction date in accordance with this tradition would not be impossible.

At Khoranaq, 87 km. north-east of Yazd in the Kavir-i Lilt, is an interesting two-stage minaret (P1. Vb). This has a double interior revolving staircase which rises through both sections of the minaret, although the upper part is so narrow that it is difficult to use that part of either staircase. The mosque, which is built on a steeply inclined hill with the minaret situated on the upper level, contains a finely carved tombstone dated 499/I 0o6, which would suggest a possible fifth/eleventh century date for the foundation of mosque and minaret. The minaret was presumably originally a simple cylinder, the delightful if impractical two-stage effect being achieved in a late nineteenth century restoration, which the presence of a series of nineteenth century caravanserais nearby renders plausible.

In Afghanistan it was possible to visit the major recorded Islamic monuments, from which initial survey a programme of further research is being planned.

MOSQUES AND MAUSOLEA IN KHURASAN AND CENTRAL IRAN

By Robert Hillenbrand

Survey work from the winter of 1969 to the summer of 1970 was carried out mainly in the north of Iran. The principal aim was to assemble material-which was mostly new-on Islamic tomb towers. This will be discussed in detail in my forthcoming thesis, " The Tomb Towers of Iran, Iooo- 1550 ". A large number of other mediaeval monuments were also recorded. The present report will confine itself to some buildings which have escaped close attention until now, and which I have not mentioned elsewhere.

About 25 km. south-east of Khargird in Khurdsdn lies the village of Sangin-i Pa'in. Andre Godard has made the briefest of references32 to a "charmant petit edifice" there, the Masjid-i Gunbad; he dated it to I 140-I and published a photograph of the main inscription. The arches in the zone of transition have rich stucco decoration, the squinches are adorned with flush brick patterns and the main Kufic inscription has idiosyncratic ornaments recalling those of the Lajim inscription. The mosque would repay detailed study of these features alone. But its cynosure is the splendid stucco mihrdb, with its wide variety of patterns and scripts (P1. VIb).

In the same village, the old Masjid-i Jdmi', now a school, belongs to the two-aiwan type of mosque which has long been popular in Khurasan. The faqades of the court display joint plugs, doubled stretchers and fine decorated brick patterns (P1. VIIc). The combination of these features calls for an attribution to the Saljtq period, while the restrained use of glaze in the Kufic inscription on the south fagade confines the building, in all probability, to the second half of the twelfth century. I hope to publish the two mosques of Sangan-i Pa'in shortly. 82 In Athdr-d frdn IV (1949), p. 15 and fig. 6.

Pl. IV

a. P

ortal of Masjid-i Jam

i' at Varzaneh show

ing main dedicatory inscription and later W

aqf inscription. P

1. IVb.

Mihrdb of M

asjid-i Jami' at V

arzaneh with m

osaic faience Minbar alongside.

Pl. V

a. Minaret of 'A

lc near Semnan.

P1. V

b. Minaret and m

osque complex at K

horanaq near Tazd.

SHORTER NOTICES 161

At Ddmghdn close to the famous tomb tower known as " Chehel Dukhtarmn

" lies a domed square popularly called the khdnqdh of Shah Rukh (P1. VIIa).33 The title is curious and could more appro- priately be applied to the so-called tomb of 'Ali ibn Ja'far next to it, which bears signs of both Saljfiq and Timurid work. The inscription over the door of the khdnqdh, in faulty Arabic, reads:

1iVW > U( -,a (C

" The construction of this building was in the days of the reign of the most mighty Sultan Shah Rukh Bahldur, may God make his kingdom endure."

Despite this evidence, the remains of a cut brick Kufic inscription, and the use of glazed joint plugs, combine to suggest that most of the building dates from the late Saljfiq period. The tile mosaic and the dado of dark green hexagonal tiles in the interior are probably Timiirid additions.

Near Nowkhdndmn,

in the Darregaz valley north of Quichmn,

stands the tomb known as Auliyv Shddmin. With its kite-shaped squinches and its delicate naskh inscription amid floral interlace on a painted dark blue ground, the mausoleum bears a very close resemblance to the Ziyirat-i Timir Lang near Shirvan. Wilber plausibly dates this to c. 1300 and the Darregaz mausoleum, a larger and more ambitious version of this tomb, is probably of the same period.

Another large domed square, the tomb of Shaikh Mahmild, was recorded at Ma'miinbaid near Semndn; it too could reasonably be assigned to the Mongol period.

North-east of Bist.m

lies the large village of Qal'a-yi Now, which contains the mausoleum of Shaikh Abu'l-IHasan al-Kharraqani. Externally the tomb is an irregular octagon, with a deep niche on each side. A thick coat of whitewash covers most of the square interior except the stucco mihrdb (P1. VIIb). This bears several hallmarks of the Mongol style: false bricks and joint plugs incised in plaster; a series of small motifs rather than a few large ones; and the vertical emphasis of attenuated arches and niches. None of the inscriptions are Kufic, which makes a Mongol date still more likely.

Situated far from other buildings in the western quarter of Semnan is a deserted Friday mosque. It retains no more than a large aiwan with flanking dome chambers. The soffit of the aiwan has a plaster covering incised with decorated brick patterns. The net vaults of the side chambers make a

Timfirid or even Safavid date quite plausible. A pair of very similar mosques are falling into ruin in the village of Eshqavdn on the outskirts of Isfahan.

A good deal of work was done in the city and environs of Yazd.34 The most important group of buildings studied there were the Mongol dome chambers known as Husainiyya Hasht, Boq'a Shah Kemali, Madrasa Ziya'a and Gunbad-i Shaikh Ahmad. The majority of these were thoroughly recorded with plans and sectional drawings for future publication. Together with the similar tombs at Abarqiih they form a well defined local school characterised by elaborate plaster mouldings, stately knotted Kufic inscriptions and the almost exclusive use of mud brick. The exteriors are mostly undecorated, with a zone of transition which is unusually small in comparison with the dome and the lower walls.

In the course of a field trip in Central Iran with Mr. J. W. Allan the Friday mosque of Hafshfiya, about Io km. north-east of Isfahan, was visited and preliminary plans made. This mosque offers one of the few examples in Mongol times of the classic four-iwdn plan with a domed chamber on the qibla axis. Although the fagades facing the court were executed in baked brick, mud brick was used for the less important parts of the mosque, which have thus weathered badly. The dominant feature of the mosque is one of the most ambitious of Mongol mihrdbs, happily in an excellent state of preservation. Lastly, in

33 M. 'A. Tdhiriys, Ddmghdn: shish hezdr sdla (Tehran, I347), p. I25.

34 I am very grateful to Mr. M. E. Bonine for sharing with me his considerable knowledge of the city.


the village of Kurit about 5 km. south-east of Tabds the tomb known as Mazar-i Khusraubad was recorded. The plan is basically that of a domed square, with the ruins of what may have been a pishtldq on the north side. The building, which is of mud brick and very dilapidated, would be difficult to date but for a fine Kufic inscription in stucco which encircles the chamber at the base of the zone of transition. The style of the epigraphy suggests the Saljfiq period.

THE IMAMZADEH HIGH ALTAR AND SUBSIDIARY MONUMENTS

By Paul Gotch

While measuring, in August 1970, a tall platform with a circular, lipped bowl, first seen in 1968 (see Iran VII (1968), pp. 190-2) near the cemetery called Imamzadeh at the eastern corner of Kuh-i Hussein, I noticed a larger isolated double rock some 500 m. further up the steep mountain slope (P1. VIIIb).

On examination this was found to be an altar platform upon the carving of which considerable effort had been expended. The platform appears to be not only exceptional in itself but also to be the high altar commanding a complex of other rock-cut monuments within what may possibly have

. .use. .'. ..*

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0 0 11

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IS

aleh*

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*.

.? ,

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/

Fig. 3: The Persepolis Plain and Shiraz

7 Caves with paintings s Mushki soft-ware sites Burial Cairns O Bakun AG-4 sites

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o Celadon sites

0 0

0 0 se

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MARV 0 1640,

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Fig- 3: T~he Persepolis Plain and Shiraz~t

Caves with paintings E) Mushki soft-ware sites Burial Cairns 0 Bakun Ai-4? sites

SAltar-platforms, with troughs and bowls Oo Bakun A5 sites Oo Celadon sites

P1. V

Ia. M

asjid-i Jmi',

Hafshuva:

Miihrdb.

P1. V

Ib. M

asjid-i Gunbad, Sangdn-i P

M'in:

Miihrab.

P1. V

IIa. D

amghan:

" Khanqah of Shah R

ukh ".

Pl.

VIIb.

Mausoleum

of Shaikh Abu'l H

asan al-KharraqdnF

, Q

al'a-yi Now

: detail of M

ihrdb.

Pl.

VIIc.

Masjid-i Jam

i', Sangan-i P

d'fn: detail of court fagade.


the village of Kurit about 5 km. south-east of Tabds the tomb known as Mazar-i Khusraubad was recorded. The plan is basically that of a domed square, with the ruins of what may have been a pishtldq on the north side. The building, which is of mud brick and very dilapidated, would be difficult to date but for a fine Kufic inscription in stucco which encircles the chamber at the base of the zone of transition. The style of the epigraphy suggests the Saljfiq period.

THE IMAMZADEH HIGH ALTAR AND SUBSIDIARY MONUMENTS

By Paul Gotch

While measuring, in August 1970, a tall platform with a circular, lipped bowl, first seen in 1968 (see Iran VII (1968), pp. 190-2) near the cemetery called Imamzadeh at the eastern corner of Kuh-i Hussein, I noticed a larger isolated double rock some 500 m. further up the steep mountain slope (P1. VIIIb).

On examination this was found to be an altar platform upon the carving of which considerable effort had been expended. The platform appears to be not only exceptional in itself but also to be the high altar commanding a complex of other rock-cut monuments within what may possibly have

. .use. .'. ..*

d.?

?\ ? - -

w oo

11guh R.- " ""

a"46 H I*

0 0 11

O ISTAKHR,•) ,•.."

[.-. ..

.... j

IS

aleh*

'6 4 4

1[- /

*.

.? ,

SBAKUN uh

?/ DASHT

/

Fig. 3: The Persepolis Plain and Shiraz

7 Caves with paintings s Mushki soft-ware sites Burial Cairns O Bakun AG-4 sites

[A 0 Altar-platforms, with troughs and bowls O o Bakun A5 sites

o Celadon sites

0 0

0 0 se

BAKN 0

:Soo 0*be %4

MARV 0 1640,

DASHT 0 %b

Fig- 3: T~he Persepolis Plain and Shiraz~t

Caves with paintings E) Mushki soft-ware sites Burial Cairns 0 Bakun Ai-4? sites

SAltar-platforms, with troughs and bowls Oo Bakun A5 sites Oo Celadon sites

SHORTER NOTICES 163

been a sanctified enclave, 8 km. from the sacred area of Naqsh-i-Rustam. The high altar, with its

unique four-bowl grid, overlooks four more platforms within a few hundred metres of each other, into which have been cut cavities of varying shapes and sizes, and also another rock-cut grid of four bowls, at ground level, close to the original platform (Fig. 3).

It would seem probable that the lower section now forming the platform of the high altar has split away from a large isolated rock, to leave it towering protectively like an orchestra shell at a 450

angle above (P1. VIIId). Thus a level and wide surface was provided (6 x 45 m.) in which the ritualistic characteristics could be conveniently fashioned. These consist of:-

(I) Four steps leading laterally round its back up one metre onto the platform. (2) Two tapering oval bosses (II

"4 and 12 cm. high) projecting island-like, one set back 20 cm.

behind the other.

(3) A rectangular (136 - 8 x 91 - 02 cm.) wedge-shaped cutting, tapering from 25 cm. deep at the upper end flat onto the smooth surface.

(4) Within this sunken area and in line with the two bosses above are the two rows of two bowls (25.2 cm. diameter and 5 cm. depth) forming a neat symmetrical grid resembling a great grey domino 4 (P1. VIIIc).

Looking down from the altar's edge, directly in line one sees far below the large block of the original platform. This measured, before the break-off of a considerable part of the back and one side, approximately 8 x 9 x 7 m. high.

Within a flattened area on the top is a circular bowl (46 cm. diameter x 7-5 cm. deep) with the

chipped remains of a curved lip above, 2 - 5 cm. wide and the same height. This lies within a 22-5 cm. wide rim, itself sunk 5 cm. below the surface. There are, moreover, two runnels, certainly for drainage, 5 cm. wide, opposite one another, leading from the rim down over the outer edges.

In the eastern side of this block of stone what was once a cave-shelter before the overhang collapsed or was deliberately broken is still used for cooking-fires, and one can clearly see the animal peckings and signs of the same crimson paintings which I found in three caves in 1968 (Iran VII, p. 191). It was interesting and surprising to find traces of paintings of similar style in the lower part of the rock baffle of the high altar above and also in a cave-shelter not 20 m. from another isolated rock-platform with two rectangular lipped troughs, already described by David Stronach (JPNES XXV, p. 225 and Figs. 16-17) close to the most eastern of the Tombs of the Kings.

Two metres in front of the original platform there is a rock with three shallow bowls in it. It is at a lower level.

Twenty metres eastwards from here also in line with the high altar is the second grid, bearing four deeper but narrower holes, the NE one being 20 cm. out of the square. All four holes in the rock slab, being below ground level, were filled with chippings and small stones. Of the two other subsidiary free-standing platforms, one has a shallow, perfectly circular bowl, while the furthest bears a spacious rectangular trough with a runnel but not the usual lip, around its well-preserved edge. Time did not permit me to measure the last three monuments.

The precinct at Imamzadeh confirms a pattern now recognizable in other rock monuments in Fars. It has its high place and is raised above a low, flint mound which is washed by a stream; it was made at the corner of a mountain, the eastern end of that which bears the tombs of the Achae- menid monarchs. Moreover, exposed to maximum daily sunlight, it overlooks a rich valley, and this particular one contains the city of Istakhr, religious centre of the Sasanians (P1. VIIIa).

Kartir, the Chief of the Magi in the early Sasanian period, has left evidence inscribed on the Ka'ba of the fire-altars he set up and services he arranged at many places " whereby Ahuramazda and the Gods attained great profit ". The aura of sanctity at the Imamzadeh precinct is still such that it commands continuity of worship until today, taking its name even from the only nearby centre of human activity, the Muslim cemetery.

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SURVEY OF EXCAVATIONS IN IRAN, 1969-70 Bastam

Das Deutsche Archiologische Institut, Abteilung Teheran, fiihrte mit Unterstiitzung der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft in der Zeit vom 29. Juli bis 23. September 1970 die zweite Kampagne an dem urartiischen Platz Bastam bei Qara Zia ed-Din in Nordwest-Azerbaidjan durch (vgl. Iran VI (1968), 166, VII (1969), 188 und VIII (1970), 176-178). Die Ergebnisse der Grabung 1969 werden in A.M.I. N.F. III (1970), 7 ff. vorgelegt.

Es wurde 1970 an insgesamt to Plaitzen auf dem Festungsberg, in der Siedlung und in der naichsten Umgebung die Grabungen des Vorjahres weitergefiihrt, beziehungsweise neue Grabungsplaitze begonnen, um die Topographie Bastams weiter zu klkiren. Die Grabungsplitze waren im Einzelnen Folgende:

(I) Das urartaische Siidtor der Festung Bastam/Rusahinili konnte so umfassend freigelegt werden, dass es in seiner Architektur geklirt ist. Es setzt sich im Wesentlichen aus zwei Bauperioden zusammen.

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Die friihe Bauperiode besteht aus der Festungsmauer und den beiden 6 x 5,50 m messenden Tiirmen, die die Torgasse flankieren. In der zweiten Bauperiode wurde daran auf der Aussenseite der Festungs- mauer ein aus 15 rechteckigen Pfeilern bestehender Raum, wahrscheinlich ffir die Torwachen, ange- baut, und auf der Innenseite des Tores zwei, die 3,80 m weite Torgasse flankierende Mauerziige gesetzt, von denen der 6stliche einen dreieckf6rmigen Raum, wahrscheinlich fur den Torwichter, begrenzt. Uber den urartaischen Ruinen wurden, wie schon im Vorjahr, mittelalterlich-armenische Siedlungs- reste, Gebaudespuren, Ofen und Keramik festgestellt. Die I. Periode der Toranlage wird im 8.-7. Jahrhundert v. Chr. errichtet worden sein und der Ausbau ist in der 2. Hdlfte des 7. Jahrhunderts v. Chr. anzusetzen. Das Siidtor ist auf Grund seiner Architekturanlage im Vergleich zum Nordtor das fuir die Festung Bastam Bedeutendere.

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(2) Der Hallenbau in der Naihe des Nordtores der Festung (Iran VIII (1970), 176) wurde in Form einer raumlich begrenzten Flachengrabung weiter in seinem Innern untersucht und dabei festgestellt, dass er 2 urartaische Bauperioden aufweist. In einer ersten Bauphase unterteilten zwei Reihen von je 7 Steinbasen, aufdenen Holzstiitzen standen, den 29 x 10,50 messenden Hallenbau in drei Schiffe. Von den 14 Basen konnten 1970 sechs in der Flachengrabung freigelegt werden. In der zweiten Bauphase wurden die beiden Reihen von Steinbasen durch Mauerbankette iiberbaut, auf denen Wiinde aus Lehmpackungen oder Lehmziegeln errichtet waren oder werden sollten, wie Reste einer isolierenden Kalkschicht auf den Mauerbanketten anzeigen. Diese Kalkschicht ist an allen urartaischen Mauern in Bastam nachweisbar. Stairkere Brandschichten trennen diese urartaischen Bauperioden von fruihmittel- alterlichen Siedlungsresten im Bereich des Hallenbaus. Aus dem zerflossenen Lehmziegelmaterial am

SURVEY OF EXCAVATIONS 167

Hallenbau wurde ein Bruchstiick einer Tontafel mit Keilschriftresten geborgen, es stellt den ersten Hinweis auf das Vorhandensein von Ton-Schrifttafeln in Bastam dar.

(3) Zur weiteren Klirung der Topographie des Festungsberges und der Konstruktion der Befesti- gungsmauern wurde in neuangelegten Schnitten die innere Burgmauer an ihrer Aussenfront freigelegt. Die Schnitte erbrachten wertvolle Erkenntnisse iiber den Aufbau der urartiischen Burgmauer aus Felsabtreppungen, nach oben abgetrepptem Steinsockel mit Wasserdurchlissen, einer isolierenden Kalkschicht und den aufgehenden Lehmziegelmauern aus 46/46/12 bis 50/50/12 cm grossen Ziegeln. Die Mauer ist ausserordentlich gleichmassig gebaut, und ist 3,80 m stark. Die 5,40-5,50 m langen Bastionen springen i m vor die Mauerfront vor und stehen in Abstanden von 5,90 m voneinander entfernt.

(4) Auf der H6he des Festungsberges wurde inmitten einer mittelalterlich-armenischen Burg, die sich auf den Resten der urartaischen Festung griindet, eine FlIchengrabung begonnen, die eine urartiische Bauperiode, bestehend aus Mauerziigen und Felsabtreppungen und dariiber mindestens drei mittelalterliche Schichten ergab. Die mittelalterliche Keramik entstammt in der Masse dem I3.-I4. Jahrhundert n. Chr. Einzelne Fragmente reichen jedoch bis ins 9.-I o. Jahrhundert zuriick.

(5) Der bereits 1969 begonnene Schnitt am Berg (Iran VIII (1970), 177) n6rdlich der grossen Terrassen wurde nach Norden erweitert und ergab einen weiteren Raum mit vornehmlich rotpolierter feiner urartiischer Keramik (sog. Toprakkale-Ware) und eine Erweiterung der Grabung im hangab- warts angrenzenden Pithos-Raum. Es konnten zwischen der Begrenzungsmauer und einer Reihe von Steinpfeilern im Pithosraum drei Reihen von Pithoi erfasst werden. Es handelt sich dabei um eine nahe den Steinpfeilern stehende vordere Reihe kleinerer Gefisse und eine mittlere Reihe gr6sserer Gefisse von bis zu 1,50 m Durchmesser, die alle von der Seite der Steinpfeiler erreichbar, fiillbar und zu ent- leeren waren sowie der dritten, hinteren, an der Wand stehenden Reihe grosser Gefisse, die mit Hilfe einer Holzkonstruktion eines Ganges oberhalb der Gefisse erreicht wurden. Von dieser Konstruktion wurden zahlreiche abgestiirzte Holzreste zwischen und in den Gefassen gefunden.

(6) Siidlich des Schnittes durch das Pithosarsenal erstrecken sich grosse Terrassen, in der Mehrzahl aus Steinen errichtet, der mittlere Teil aus Lehmziegeln aufgebaut. Die obere Steinterrasse wurde im Jahre 1970 geputzt. Sie ergab zusammen mit Felsabglittungen einen quadratischen Sockel von 14>x 14 m Gr6sse. Das Vorhandensein dieses Sockels und der Fund eines Bruchstiicks einer urartdischen Stein-Inschrift mit der Nennung des Gatternamens Haldi macht es sehr wahrscheinlich, dass der Sockel als Unterbau des Halditempels anzusehen ist, der in der Bastam-Inschrift erwihnt wird, die sich im archiologischen Museum in Teheran befindet. Die normalen urartaischen Tempelgrundrisse wie Toprakkale, Cavus-Tepe, Adilcevaz, Kayalidere und Patnos haben Abmessungen bis zu 13,80 x 13,80 m quadratische Form mit Eckvorlagen. Ein solcher Bau kdnnte auf der Terrasse in Bastam gestanden haben.

(7) Am Nordende der Siedlung zu Ftissen des Festungsberges wurde das 1969 bereits in einzelnen Schnitten angegrabene Nordgebaude 1970 freigelegt und ergab einen rechteckigen palaisartigen Bau von 45,50 x 26,50 m Aussenmassen mit zwei H6fen und diese umgebenden Riumen. Der Bau sollte nach einer Seite erweitert werden, ist aber als Gesamtanlage, auf Grund der spirlichen Funde, offensichtlich nicht vollendet worden. Er geh6rt nach der Keramik der urartaiischen Spitzeit Bastams an.

(8) ImJahre 1970 wurde mit der systematischen Freilegung eines normalen urartaiischen Hauses in der Siedlung begonnen, dessen Grundriss sich in grossen Ziugen bereits an der Oberfliche in Form von Steinwillen abzeichnet. Ein Schnitt erbrachte die fuir die Siedlung bereits bekannte urartaiische Keramik des 7. Jahrhunderts und eine Tonbulle mit den Abdrticken zweier Stempelsiegel, eines Roll- siegels und einer urartaiischen Inschrift.

Der Adbruck des Rollsiegels ahnelt in seiner Aufteilung in Felder mit Tierdarstellungen, skythischen Goldblechen aus dem mannaischen Schatz von Ziwiyeh, sodass das auf der urartaiischen Tonbulle aus dem 7. Jahrhundert v. Chr. benutzte Rollsiegel eine skythische Arbeit sein kann.

(9) Zu Fiissen des urartiischen Festungsberges erstreckt sich unter dem Dorf Bastam ein vorges- chichtlicher Siedlungshtigel, der in einem riiumlich durch die Dorfbebauung begrenzten Schnitt Keramik, die bis ins 2. Jahrtausend v. Chr. zurtickgeht, erbrachte.


(I o) Am Tumulus, dessen Untersuchung bereits 1969 begonnen wurde, ist weitergegraben worden mit dem Ergebnis, dass eine etwaige Bestattung sich exzentrisch in dem Hiigel befinden muss. Wie bereits im Vorjahr wurde aus den Auffiillschichten des Hiigels Keramik des Tepes von Bastam aus dem 2.-3. Jahrtausend v. Chr. geborgen (Iran VIII (1970), 178).

Als besonders hervorzuhebender Einzelfund ist ein Bruchstiick eines Goldblechs zu erwaihnen, das im Siidtor in der Zerst6rungsbrandschicht des Torweges gefunden wurde. Es zeigt einen Kranz von iiberfallenden Blttern wie sie an den Bronzeffissen des sogenannten Thrones von Toprakkale (Staat- liche Museen zu Berlin und British Museum, London) vorkommen und wie sie M6beldarstellungen im mann~iischen Schatz von Ziwiyeh und am Thronrelief aus Persepolis (beides Museum Iran Bdstan, Teheran) entsprechen.

Wa*hrend der Bastam-Grabung 1970 wurde die Surveytatigkeit weiter durchgefiihrt und neben Objekten aus vorgeschichtlichen bis islamischen Kulturzeiten auch wieder 4 urartaische Anlagen festgestellt, eine zwischen Ushnuiyeh und Qalatgah, eine bei Livar nordwestlich Marand, die damit die bisher 6stlichste urartiische Festung mit Siedlung in Iran ist und zwei in der Nihe des Ararat und in der Nahe des Araxes, Kale Sarandj und Werachram (bei Shotlu(russisch Alishar)) wo sich auch eine dreirlumige urartaische Felskammer mit Felstreppe befindet. Der Bericht fiber die Grabung und die Surveys soll in den AMIN.F. IV (1971), vorgelegt werden.

WOLFRAM KLEISS

Bishdpir The second season of excavations at Bishdptir lasted from October 1969 to March 1970. Work was

again concentrated on the northern limits of the city. Here the Islamic deposits appear to range in date from the 2nd century A.H. down to the time of the Mongol invasion. One outstanding object from the earliest Islamic level consists of a tall stucco crenellation.1 The decoration of the crenellation closely resembles that of Sasanian mouldings.

By the close of the past season up to 248 m. of the Sasanian city wall had been exposed. The total thickness of the wall approaches 9 m., while the original height may have reached 8-5 m. Protective crenellations from the crest of the wall appear to have been decorated with plaster mouldings.

JAHANGIR YASI

Darvdzeh Tepe The second season of excavation at this site was completed after a ten week period beginning June

21, 1970. The expedition was sponsored again by Harvard University through donations to the Harvard Semitic Museum. The field staff was composed of 15 professionals and students, while 87 persons were employed throughout the season. Associated with the writer were Mr. Ismail Yaghma'i and Mr. Ismail Islami from the Archaeological Service of Iran.

With the knowledge that the site was occupied from c. 2100oo B.C. to c. I8oo A.D. (a large gap in occupation existed from c. 650o B.C. to c. 1700 A.D.), the aims of the season were as follows: (i) a determination of the limits of occupation within the mound, (2) a further horizontal expansion of excavations in the upper stratigraphy at the site, and (3) the collection of additional samples for both chronological and palynological analyses.

Approximately 1500 m. of additional area were excavated during the season through the opening of twelve 5 x 5 m. squares in the S.W. portion of the mound, the opening of six 1o x Io m. squares in the N.W. portion of the mound and the opening of nine I m. wide trenches around the perimeter of the mound. Excavations also continued in several of last season's squares.

Although the site occupies approximately 16 acres of land, human occupation was confined to little more than 7 acres located almost entirely on the western part of the mound. During the season the

1 Not unlike an example recently found at Sir~f, cf. D. Whitehouse, Iran VIII, P1. IXb.


expedition has discovered both an absence and presence of various phenomena. There is an absence of city walls, city gates, traditional second and first millennium B.C. city planning, large monumental buildings, bone tools, a wide variety of ceramic shape types, numerous fine art objects and obvious weapons. Present are an original clay mound, 20 wells and reservoirs when numerous springs flowed from nearby Kiih-i Rahmat, 35 ovens, various ceramic tools, abundant ash dumps containing ceramic waste materials on both sides of the mound, discarded oven parts, a long used ceramic ware and only a few examples from major artifact groupings normally found at a second and first millennium B.C. site.

The people who inhabited Darvazeh Tepe are not yet known by name. They must have led a peaceful existence, since no evidence of internal destruction strata has been discovered in the mound. They industriously produced quantities of manufactured goods, of which only a few remain. The things that do remain are major pieces in the puzzle which has been called the " Dark Ages " of the second millennium B.C. in Southern Iran. At the site portions of its occupation begin to fill this gap in knowledge.

However, in Fars the close proximity of this site to Persepolis and Pasargadae poses a major question. Were the people who used Darvazeh Tepe c. 650 B.C. related to the people historically known as the Achaemenians?

MURRAY NICOL

The HIasanla! Project, 1970: Se Girdan and Hasanli Se Girdan: The aim of the excavations at Se Girdan was to excavate three or four of the eleven

tumuli in the cemetery following up last season's (1968) brief investigation. In 1968 two tumuli, II and III, were excavated, and a third, I, was partly excavated. During the present season work continued on Tumulus I and three more tumuli were excavated, making a total of six tumuli investigated at Se Girdan.

Tumulus I proved to be too large a task and we did not reach the tomb chamber. Last season's excavations commenced in the northwest quadrant. As a result of excavations in the other tumuli it seems that the tombs were generally placed in the southern half of the tumulus and in the southwest quadrant. Therefore, we realized last season that the tomb of Tumulus I would not be reached in the quadrant selected. Nevertheless, this season it was thought best to finish the quadrant begun in order to get a complete profile of the tumulus. This was accomplished. We reached a large section of circular rubble stones which no doubt form part of the tomb covering. It seems from their diameter that they cover a tomb in the southwest quadrant under 7 metres of hard clay. Another season's work will be needed to locate the tomb here.

Tumulus IV, north of III is the second largest at Se Girdan: it is c. 7 25 metres in height and c. 52 to 58 metres in diameter. The upper area of the southwest quadrant was excavated completely. A vertical shaft was noticed after a short time commencing at the very top of the tumulus and extending to a depth of 3. 58 metres. At this point a horizontal tunnel was discovered extending from the vertical shaft into the area of excavation to the south and then turning into the west undug balk. This is a robber's trench, or rather shaft and tunnel. At a depth of

5. 30 metres a large open cavity was located; it was a clean open area within the tumulus fill and had only loose fill at the bottom. Directly under this loose fill was the tomb.

The tomb consists of a very well-made limestone slab structure 5 85 metres by 2 27 metres and I metre deep; there are thirteen courses of stone separated by mud mortar. The tomb was filled with soft moist dark earth that gradually turned to mud as one got deeper into the tomb. At the southwest corner of the tomb five courses of stone were missing and here we picked up the end of the robber's tunnel which came into the tomb at this point. The tomb was completely empty until we reached the area just over the floor, consisting of large pebbles set on the virgin soil. Over the floor in the thick mud was found a total of 565 gold beads dividing themselves into five different types; and three bronze axe heads, and a bronze celt or adze blade. In addition there were 39 carnelian beads. Only small fragmentary parts of bone were recovered. Around the outer perimeter of the tumulus was uncovered a


stone rubble revetment encircling the tumulus. After excavation of the tomb the area was unfortunately filled in with earth in order to avoid any collapse of the clay over the cavity.

Tumulus V, north of IV is smaller, being c. 5 metres in height and 49 to 50 metres in diameter. A deep depression at the top suggested that previous digging had occurred there. Here too the southwest quadrant was excavated in part, close to the tumulus' centre. At a depth of c. 4 metres from the preserved top of the tumulus a jumble of rubble stones and flat slabs were encountered separated by earth fill 2.20 to 4.5 metres in width. Excavation proved this to be the tomb. It had been ruthlessly destroyed and the tomb slabs and rubble covering were left completely mixed up. The tomb itself proved to be a simple pit with no clearly defined sides or floor. Slabs in the tomb fill apparently came either from the upper edge of the pit or the floor, or perhaps both places. (Cf. Tumulus VI.) The only finds from the tomb were fragments of a skull, and other small bones, and two stone and one small gold bead.

Tumulus VI gave every indication of having been plundered at an earlier time. A large depression at its centre and an irregular shape were the clues. Nevertheless because of a disagreement about whether or not Tumulus H on the Se Girdan plan published in Metropolitan Museum Journal, II (1969), p. 6, was part of the Se Girdan cemetery complex, Tumulus G was reluctantly excavated as VI. The southwest quadrant was completely cleared to reveal a large section of the outer rubble stone revetment encircling the tumulus. The tomb was located within a surrounding circular area of rubble stones. It is a rather large generally oval-shaped structure dug into the earth to form a pit. The sides and floors were not clearly defined but the top of the pit was neatly lined with three courses of flat limestone slabs. Within the fill was recovered some large flat slabs which seem to have been the remains of the floor that had been torn apart by the tomb robbers. The robbers came into the tomb from the east destroying some of the tomb slabs as they entered. The tomb dimensions are c. 4-20 metres by c.

2" 30 metres, and I -50 metres in depth. The tomb was completely empty as everything was taken by the robbers.

OSCAR WHITE MUSCARELLA

Hasanli. Excavations were carried out at Tepe IHasanlGi during July, August and September 1970 aimed at further horizontal clearance of period IV structures. A large part of two major structures were excavated north (B.B.IV) and east (B.B.V) of a large court facing B.B.II. An additional store-room and stairway were added to the plan of B.B.II on the eastern side and that building is now complete. The courtyard on which it faces has been cleared. B.B. IV consists of twin porticos backed by several rooms and fronted by two tall stelae. Objects found in the building included personal ornaments, metal vessels and scattered weapons. B.B.V has been partly cleared along its western side revealing several store-rooms and part of a large central columned hall. This building is stratigraphically older than the other buildings in all probability and contained numerous objects of a domestic nature including 55 iron sickle blades. On the western slope of the mound excavations were extended in connection with the two " roadways " and fortification system. It now appears that these " roadways " may in fact be part of a large partly covered structure. The plan of a small two-room house of period V was recovered in a deeper sounding in the northwest quadrant of the tepe. Storage pits and burials were recovered from period III along with additional information on the painted pottery of the period. Survey work was also carried out around the northern periphery of the Outer Town in an effort to identify the original limits of occupation in the area now given over to vineyards and orchards. A re-survey of sites already visited was carried out in Solduz. No excavation is planned for 197I1.

ROBERT H. DYSON, JR.

Kalleh Nisar

The necropolis of Kalleh Nisar was discovered during a survey at the end of our third Liristin campaign (= Bani Surmah 67/68). Sondages revealed there several collective tombs, identical to those of Bani Surmah and thus representative of the earliest phase of the Bronze Age civilization in Lfiristan.


As we wanted a better knowledge of this cultural stage, we decided to carry out full excavations on that site. This fourth Lfiristan campaign lasted from October 23rd until December I7th 1968.

Kalleh Nisar lies on the left bank of the Kalah Rud-river about I km. to the west of the village of Chigah, and some 25 kms. to the north-west of Bani Surmah.

The site extends over a wide plateau intersected by depressions which permitted us to designate the spreading of the necropolis over four zones in areas A, B, C and D.

Collective tombs. Each of these areas revealed several collective tombs, constructed in the same manner as those of Bani Surmah: long burial chambers with slightly corbelled walls covered by enormous stone slabs. These enormous burials recall the megalithic " long barrows " of the Neolithic period in Western Europe and the Soviet Union. This correlation is confirmed by the existence of a stone circle surrounding tomb 2 of Area D.

While the monumental tombs at Kalleh Nisar present the same characteristics as those at Bani Surmah, we could nevertheless observe certain particularities in the burial practices.

(a) Some of the monumental vaults at Kalleh Nisar were used immediately after their construction, receiving continual inhumations during one period only, in casu the Old Sumerian and Early Akkadian period. This was also the case for most of the Bani Surmah tombs.

(b) Other tombs were also used immediately after their construction for burials in the Old Sumerian and Early Akkadian period. Afterwards the tombs were closed for a long time; they were re-opened and used again in the Isin-Larsa and Old Babylonian periods. In some tombs the funerary furnitures of the burials of the first period have been respected, but in others the funerary objects of the earlier period have been spoiled, destroyed or plundered.

Most of the objects were identical to those from the Bani Surmah tombs and thus typical of the very first phase of the Bronze Age period. Others characterize posterior phases in casu Isin-Larsa and Old Babylonian times. The second burial stage was represented by small vases and goblets with ring and pedestal bases, both in earthenware and in bronze; pins have square sections or more elaborate decorations, and cylinder seals show mythological scenes with, among others, the typical Ishtar goddess.

The individual tombs of area A. Area A revealed almost at the surface many individual tombs, which were situated close together. A characteristic of these tombs is certainly the lining of the burial chamber with limestone ashlars at three sides only. The fourth side (mostly the north) was of earth and was probably used as the entrance at the time of the inhumation. The funerary offerings of these individual tombs are quite different from those of the collective ones. Painted pottery is always monochrome and the decoration shows only simple geometrical designs. Among the unpainted earthenware vessels, we can distinguish a typical Iranian group (related to Giyan IV B and Susa II) and a Mesopotamian group (connected by Akkadian and Neo-Sumerian wares of a.o. Ur, Uruk, Tello, Asmar, Nuzi and Gawra). The bronze and copper objects present many new types of axes, spearpoints and others (including the most typical pick-axe with a ribbed flange on the socket) while all pins have a square section.

Two roughly worked cylinder seals show connections with Diyala examples, and may belong to the end of the Akkadian or to the Guti period. These give supplementary information for the dating and attribution of the individual tombs.

Chalcolithic settlement: Area C. A sounding in area C revealed the stone foundations of a house from which eight modest rooms with narrow passages to each other were cleared. In one of the chambers the floor was covered with rough stones, and a fire place, situated in a corner, suggests a kitchen as well as a food store. On the floor, and in the spaces between the stone blocks of the foundation walls, we gathered a lot of potsherds. They belong mostly to coarse, badly-baked vessels, but also to finely painted pottery. These painted sherds are connected with painted pottery of Susa A, Siyalk III and also Giyan VI C so that we can date the settlement to c. 4000 B.C. This settlement undoubtedly belongs to a much earlier stage than the collective burials of this area at Kalleh Nisar.

Attribution and dating of Kalleh .Nisar graveyards. Since written sources are entirely lacking it is hard to determine which ethnic element occupied the graveyards of Kalleh Nisar. As early as the third millennium B.C. various tribes of Asiatic origin were living in Lfiristan. Among these, the Elamites, the Guti and the Lullubi were the most important. During the first half of the third millennium B.C. the land


Elam included the Elamites in the fertile plain of Susiana and, to the north, those Elamites who were living on the plateaus and in the valleys of the Central and Western Zagros.

If we assume that the collective tombs should be attributed either to the Lullubi, Guti or Elamite tribes, our preference goes to the Elamites. Because of the difference between the individual and collective graves, not only in tomb construction but also in burial practices and funeral furnitures, we believe that the individual tombs belong to another population, who may well be the Gutian mountain dwellers. A strict dating of the individual tombs is still difficult, though we assume a spreading over the Akkadian and Gutian periods and probably also a part of the Neo-Sumerian period.

PROF. DR. L. VANDEN BERGHE

Kunji Cave

During the spring and summer of 1969 a group from the Museum of Anthropology of the University of Michigan and the Iran Archaeological Service undertook the excavation of Kunji Cave, a Middle Paleolithic site in the Khorramabad valley in Lfiristan. The project was sponsored in part by the National Science Foundation, the Ford Foundation and the University of Michigan.

Kunji Cave was discovered and tested by Henry Field. The cave subsequently was visited and tested by Frank Hole of Rice University and Kent Flannery of the University of Michigan in 1963 as part of the systematic survey of Paleolithic sites in the Khorramabad valley. Drs. Hole and Flannery opened a

i X io m. test trench near the mouth of the cave which revealed the following sequence: (I) approximately one metre of ceramic deposits tentatively dated as Uruk-Ubaid in age with traces of possible " shepherds' camps " in the Ubaid level; (2) approximately thirty centimetres of finely stratified late Middle Paleolithic deposits containing an unusually large quantity of stone tools and chippage, animal bones and charcoal; and (3) approximately seventy centimetres of Late Pleistocene deposits containing occasional Mousterian stone tools and charcoal. The second level, referred to as the " Main Component of the Mousterian ", provided two radiocarbon dates both greater than 40,000 years ago.

On the basis of these test excavations Kunji Cave was deliberately selected for systematic excavation. We planned to expose most if not all of the Main Component of the Mousterian which would then be excavated by individual " living floors " plotting in all cultural material with a transit in a manner similar to that employed by the French at Pincevent, Terra Amata and Lazaret. We also planned to wash or float all of the sediment from each " floor " to obtain the small debitage, microfauna and any plant remains which might be preserved.

Despite our care in selecting the site Kunji turned out to be unsuitable for the kind of systematic excavation originally planned. Kunji has suffered an amount of porcupine and small rodent destruction difficult to imagine. In most of the occupied parts of the site less than 30% of the deposit in any level remained in situ. The cultural deposits were preserved only as small pinnacles, ridges and arches truncated in every direction by tunnels often forty centimetres or more in diameter. No trace of this disturbance was observable in the walls of the 1963 sondage. The porcupine tunnels spread from the rear of the cave toward the mouth in two fanlike complexes approaching on both sides to within a half a metre of the trench. In addition less than thirty centimetres from the exterior end of the 1963 sondage within the mouth of the cave we encountered a series of stone-lined tombs which truncated the Main

Component of the Mousterian. Although our primary objective, the systematic exposure and mapping of Mousterian " living

floors ", was clearly impossible, we were able to sample what remained of the site in such a way that a considerable amount of useful information was obtained.

In all levels and in all parts of the site it was an easy matter to distinguish disturbed from undisturbed sediment. The original deposits in the cave were finely stratified and compact, whereas the sediment

filling the burrows was soft, dark brown and homogeneous and often separated from in situ deposits by a thin layer of bright red water-laid clay. The porcupine disturbance took place in two unrelated phases widely separated in time. The earliest phase occurred at a time when the cave was unoccupied and it

penetrated only the Main Component of the Mousterian. After the disturbance the entire occupied


portion of the cave was covered by a thick layer of red water-laid clay effectively sealing the Mousterian levels from later disturbance. The second phase of porcupine activity never penetrated this layer of clay. Thus by excavating the fill in the burrows we were able to obtain a large sample of tools, debitage and identifiable animal bones all of which was derived from the Main Component of the Mousterian. We sampled what remained of the in situ Mousterian leaving much of it for future investigators. Our tool sample, combined with the stratified sample obtained from Kunji in 1963, will permit us to undertake a detailed typological analysis.

In addition to the disturbed Mousterian material from Kunji we also collected more than 300 lbs. of in situ Mousterian deposit for flotation. Our preliminary examination of these samples indicates that we have an abundance of fine chippage including retouch flakes, thermal spalls, scraper resharpening flakes and so on. The flotation samples processed so far also contain microfauna, molluscs, and a few seeds. The tools from these in situ samples were individually packaged for shipment back to Michigan to prevent nicking or wear on the edges. These tools will be inspected carefully for traces of utilization.

The ceramic levels also provided useful data. The brightly coloured mottled sediments tentatively identified in the 1963 sondage as " ash " have proven to consist almost entirely of burned sheep copro- lites of Uruk-Ubaid age. Numerous samples were collected and it is hoped that these will provide an insight into the diet, conditions of pasturage, and the diseases of sheep at this time.

By far the most significant discovery from the ceramic levels of Kunji Cave was a complex of stone- lined tombs containing the remains of more than twenty individuals and over thirty partially or completely restorable vessels. The burials were found near the mouth of the cave under a large talus cone which partially blocked the entrance. These tombs yielded a large array of different vessel forms and decorative techniques in a demonstrably contemporary context. A typical and well preserved tomb consisted of a stone vault about

4" 5 m. long and barely o0 5 m. wide on the interior. The original height of the tomb was about 0o5 m. The walls were constructed of a single row of unshaped stones which averaged about 25 cm. on a side. The tomb was roofed over in a rough arch by stones of similar dimensions with an occasional larger flat slab. The roof, however, clearly was not formed entirely or even largely of large horizontal or vaulted slabs. The tomb appears to have been covered by a low mound of earth. Within the tomb were found the remains of at least six completely disarticulated individuals. Also in the tomb were an as yet undetermined number of restorable vessels, a crushed lead vase, two bronze plates, a silver pendant and hundreds of small white and black stone beads in a variety of geometric shapes.

The age of the tombs is as yet uncertain. Several vessels with inverted " nose " lugs, panelled fugitive bichrome painting, punctuate designs near the neck, ledge rims, wide shoulders and ring bases suggest a Jemdet Nasr affinity. Other vessel forms, especially red slipped " fruit stands ", suggest an Early Dynastic affinity. A more precise dating will have to await the completion of a more detailed analysis.

JOHN D. SPETH

La terrasse sacre'e de Masjid-i Solaiman La Mission frangaise a poursuivi ses recherches sur la terrasse de Masjid-i Solaiman au printemps

des annies 1969 et 1970. Au cours de ces travaux, un grand temple de l'dpoque parthe-le premier qui ait dtd identifid sur le sol de l'Iran-, fut enti-rement d-gagd; d'autre part, le parvis devant le temple d'Haraclks fut en grande partie libtrd des tombes d'un cimetiZre moderne.

La composition du plan du "Grand Temple" ne manque pas d'intdrit; on peut reconnaltre un caractbre dlamite ou babylonien dans la partie sacro-sainte de son plan d'ensemble, partie composde d'une cella et d'une ante-cella que prachde une vaste cour; un kldment essentiel des sanctuaires iraniens dans les quatre couloirs qui encadraient cet ensemble; un principe d'architecture occidentale dans un portique dallk comptant trois rangdes de colonnes (raduites en petits morceaux dispersts), qui s'dlevaient devant l'entrde principale du c6td Nord-Ouest. Ainsi, ce temple se prdsente comme une fiddle image de la socidtd cosmopolite qui habitait, sous les Saleucides et les Parthes, l'ancienne ville de Masjid-i Solaiman, une socidtd pour laquelle la terrasse avec ses temples Ctait un lieu de pdlerinage et de ddvotion. A c8td des descendants des Elamites, dont la presence se confirme par le nom du royaume d'Elymaide,


se trouvaient des Iraniens, installs dans la region probablement ddja au VIIIe siecle avant notre 're; les simites de la Babylonie ne devaient pas y tre absents, tout comme les Macddoniens qui tenaient ces contreforts des Zagros (P1. I).

Nous retrouvons cette diversite ethnique des habitants du site dans les portraits que ces personnages laisserent dans les temples o0i la marque de leur ferveur et les dons de leur pidtd semblent avoir dtd offerts aux memes divinites. La sculpture (Pl. IIa, c & d) qui reprdsente ces fiddles, a ftd trouvde par nous brutalement brisde, et cette destruction voulue et recherchde semble avoir 6td l'oeuvre des adeptes de la religion zoroastrienne, devenue, sous les premiers rois sassanides, l'fglise officielle de l'tat. Ce fait ressortait des monnaies sassanides que nous avons mises aujourdans le "Grand Temple", et dont la date ne

ddpasse pas le ragne des premiers souverains de cette dynastie. Ce cas n'est pas isolk: t l'autre extrdmitd

de 1'Empire sassanide, a Termez, ville situde sur la rive droite de l'Oxus, face 'a la ville de Balkh (" la

mare des villes "), un temple bouddhique de Kara-tipC avait subi la mime destruction, et & la mime

apoque. L'antecella du " Grand Temple " 6tait dotde d'une grande jarre alimentde par une conduite faite

avec des 61lments de terre cuite, et dans laquelle nous avons trouvC une plaque en bronze travaille au

repoussd, et qui reprdsentait, peut-&tre, la divinit6 t laquelle Ctait dfdid ce sanctuaire (P1. IIIb). Dans

une piece voisine de la cella et sans communication avec elle, se trouvait un important lot d'objets votifs, en grande partie constitud de dons des femmes. A c6td d'une petite statue en bronze, incomplkte (P1. IIb), se trouvaient: une splendide boucle d'oreille en or, sertie d'un rubis, et travaillde en grknetis, d'une finesse d'exdcution exquise (P1. IIIe); des bagues, des bracelets, des miroirs (P1. IIId). On y a mis au jour un instrument de musique en forme de triangle tenu gdndralement par des musiciennes sur les vases d'argent sassanides (P1. IIIf); des lampes dont une en bronze, en forme de trte humaine, le bec surmontd d'une souris (P1. Va). Les objets d'usage courant, tels que les cyathes (P1. Vb), voisi- naient avec de petits animaux en bronze, sans doute de dates plus anciennes (P1. IIIc). Deux plaques en bronze travailldes au repoussa, semblent reproduire des sujets mythologiques (P1. IIIa).

Une fois le temple ddgagC, j'ai ddcid6 de verifier si le batiment reconnu n'avait pas 6td pricidC par une construction plus ancienne. Au cours de cette recherche, unefavissa d'un sanctuaire antirieur fut dicouverte dans l'un des angles de la cella, trouvaille qui a 6td faite deux jours avant la fin de la cam-

pagne de fouilles, et dont le niveau supdrieur seul fut ddgag6. Il comprenait une vingtaine de figurines de cavaliers en terre cuite, fagonnds t la main (P1. IVa). Les cavaliers reprdsentent des Macadoniens, reconnaissables i leur coiffure plate, la causia (P1. IVe).

Parmi eux se trouvaient quelques figurines ofi un homme montait deux chevaux. I1 s'agit probablement de "

acqqew'rrot ", ou " voltigeurs B cheval ", dotes chacun de deux bates qu'ils changeaient suivant

les situations (P1. IVb). Il se peut qu'une autre figurine (P1. IVc), qui reprisente un cheval sur lequel grimpent quelques

petits personnages, exprime le genre d'exercices de ces cavaliers. D'autres figurines montrent un corps

fdminin nu portd entre deux chevaux. Trouvdes en compagnie d'autres cavaliers, ces derniares figurines

pouvaient traduire, d'une fagon naive, une vision de la ddesse Athena Hippia (?) (P1. IVd). Enfin, un cavalier (brisd) semble monter un mulet, b&te prtcieuse sur les pistes des montagnes (P1. IVf).

Cet ensemble de figurines semble donner une id~e, non seulement de ce que l'armde mac~donienne occupait le pays d'Elymaide, mais aussi qu'elle Ctait chargde de contr6ler la route caravaniare qui reliait la Susiane au Plateau central, et t la ville d'Ispahan en particulier. Grace a l'obligeance des

dirigeants de la Compagnie des Pttroles, un hdlicoptbre a Ct6 mis t ma disposition, ce qui m'a permis de faire un voyage de prospection dans les montagnes des Bakhtiari, pour suivre, du moins en partie, cette voie qui semble avoir joud un rble trbs important, surtout depuis l'dpoque sdleucide, lorsque le com- merce avec l'Inde, par le Golfe Persique, prenait de l'essor. LB, a une distance de quelque trois ou quatre jours de caravane depuis Masjid-i Solaiman, nous avons ainsi eu la possibilit6 de visiter encore une terrasse sacrde, la Qal'a-i Bardi ou " chateau de pierre ", qui est situde au bord d'une petite rivibre, a une faible distance d'un chateau-fort, le Qal'a-i Lit ou " chateau abandonnC ". On s'y trouve, sans doute, en

presence d'un ensemble semblable a celui de Bard-a Nichandeh et de Masjid-i Solaiman (P1. Vc).

R. GHIRSHMAN


Tepe Nash-i Jdn The second season of excavations at Tepe Nifsh-i Jan began on July 20oth and continued for two

months. Most interest again attaches to the major Median occupation which lasted from c. 750-600 B.C.

From the latest work undertaken in the Central Building it has become clear that this unusual structure, with its striking stepped-lozenge plan, is a Fire Temple. The fire altar that confirms this identification lies off-centre, well to the left of the only door that leads into the tall, spacious cella. The altar is 85 cm. high with a circular fire bowl set at the centre of its broad top. It is made exclusively of mud-bricks with a surface coating of fine white plaster. But instead of exhibiting the three standard steps that always appear at the top and bottom of later Achaemenian altars, the Nfish-i Jan altar only possesses a short central pier surmounted by four projecting steps (P1. VI). Not only is the altar provided with its own low, protective wall but, as yet a further precaution against any form of defilement, a small screen can be seen to have been placed at one side of the door so that no unauthorized person could catch sight of any part of the altar from the room outside.

Not all the rooms that go to make up the southern half of the plan of the temple have been excavated so far. But we already know of the existence of a spiral ramp that appears to have led to the roof, and which still stands to a height of 8 m. Although other evidence is lacking-save for some smoke-blackened beams near the base of the ramp-it is more than tempting to suppose that it was the custom to expose the fire on the roof of the temple on certain specific occasions. The south-eastern corner of the temple is known to have been occupied by two rooms lying one above the other. The upper chamber contained two hearths, each built in the form of a simple platform, while the ground floor room beside the cella possibly illustrates a number of ritual appointments in the shape of a bench, a rectangular basin and a large wall niche (P1. VIIb). While the floor of the lofty, dark cella appears to have been almost swept clean before it was filled with shale in the last strange chapter of the temple's life, the beaten-earth floor of the antechamber yielded several fragments of beak-spouted, basket-handled jars.

One other signal feature of the temple proved to be the partly intact vault found over the antechamber (P1. VIIa). Here we were able to document the standard use of long, curved " half beams " at Ntish-i Jan-each individual strut springing from a specially fashioned recess in one of the two long walls, and each meeting its mate at the centre of the span.

At the east end of the mound the greater part of the ground plan of the Fort has now been cleared, and much more is known of the late outer walls that eventually came to encapsulate this part of the site. From the first large-scale work near the western limits of the whole complex there is also evidence for at least two phases of construction, the later phase embracing a large hall, I6 x 20 m. in area, with perhaps four rows of three columns. As in the case of the possibly contemporary Median " apadanas " from Godin Tepe, the column bases consist of flat, unworked stones.

Finally, the short-lived Parthian settlement that marks the latest period of occupation has yielded a good range of pottery. New shapes in Cinnamon ware are complemented by glazed " fish plates " and glazed bowls with high flaring sides, while the more common buff ware vessels have been found to depict occasional designs in either a red or a purplish-red paint.

DAVID STRONACH

Pusht-i Kuh Liristdn; 1969

From 8 September to 18 December 1969 the Belgian Archaeological Mission, in collaboration with the Iranian Archaeological Service, operated again in Lairistan in order to continue its project " Re- search into the Origin and Dating of the Lfiristin Bronzes ". This year the fifth expedition attempted a systematic reconnaissance of a certain area with a view to discovering new cultural phases which had remained unknown so far. This research took place all over the districts Arkavaz and especially Badr. Of the entire area prospected an accurate archaeological map was made, indicating all antique necropoli and ancient ruins visited. Stone cists tombs on several necropoli such as Bard-i Bal, Pay-i Kal, Shirabah and others, yielded objects belonging to the most typical of Lfiristan bronzes: among these we may mention a bronze socketed axe with spikes and a whetstone with a bronze handle showing a crouching ibex.


So far an exact dating of these typical bronzes has been impossible, but, thanks to the archaeological context, they can now be set in the Iron Age I (I300/I250-oo000 B.C.) and probably more towards I Ioo-Iooo B.C. At the same time a new phase of this bronze culture was brought to light.

Monumental vaulted collective tombs from the Early Bronze Age occur frequently in the prospected area. Their distribution shows that this type of tomb construction (together with the accompanying grave goods, some of which show a strong relationship to those of Mesopotamia) had deeply penetrated the interior of Lfiristin. Such a megalithic tomb at Dar Tanha (2500/2400 B.C.) yielded a large number of bronze weapons, implements and a splendid realistically represented animal figure, as well as monochrome and polychrome painted pottery.

Most megalith tombs in this area show an important difference in construction with those brought to light during the previous campaigns. Their covering consists of limestone blocks laid against each other at an oblique angle and thus forming a saddle roof.

During the previous campaign the examination of some monumental collective burials dated mostly from the Old Sumerian and Early Akkadian period, showed that they were used again in later periods of the Early Bronze Age (see report on Kalleh Nisar above). Such a tomb at War Kabud Mihr, after having been closed for more than 2500 years, has been reopened to be used for Sasanian burials. Among the rich offerings accompanying these interments we may note two silver coins of the first Sasanian king Ardashir I (224-241 A.C.), but especially a bronze tube containing enrolled foils in gold, silver and bronze. The inscriptions on these foils seem to belong to a kind of secret writing. Photographs of these texts have been given to different specialists, and they are still being studied. All that can be said at the moment is that these inscriptions constitute a cryptogram of which several letters are related to the Manichean alphabet; but there are also Greek, Palmyrene and Mandaean letters, beside pictograms. For the time being it is still impossible to decipher these inscriptions.

PROF. DR. L. VANDEN BERGHE

Sirdf The fifth season of excavations at Siraf began in November 1970 and continues as I write. The

excavations, which are sponsored by the British Institute of Persian Studies, have the support of the British Museum, the British Academy, the Russell Trust and a munificent anonymous trust.

We are excavating in two areas, the Great Mosque and the western defences, and intend to begin shortly at a third site, a large complex thought to contain the governor's palace.2 Meanwhile, we are extending our plan of Sirdf by surveying the walls which defended Kuntrak, the gorge by which one approached the city from the north, and recording extra-mural suburbs to the north and west. Else- where, the surveyors are mapping an eroded wall associated with two forts and at least four towers, which ran from the mountains to the sea, I km. east of Taheri and more than 2 km. from the apparent edge of Siraf. Its date is at present unknown.

Site B. The Great Mosque. Work here is confined to the early enclosures beneath the platform of the mosque. Further excavation beneath bays A, B and 14 appears to confirm the conjecture that the Inner Enclosure had a casemate wall. A sounding outside the north-west wall of the mosque showed that there at least all trace of the enclosure had been destroyed by later activity. A larger excavation has begun recently outside the minaret with the hope of uncovering more of the Inner Enclosure. In the Outer Enclosure we are removing the latest floors to reveal the footings of an earlier period, associated with Sasanian or earliest Islamic pottery. Sealed by the late floors beneath bay 3 is a stone-lined well approached down a flight of steps. The well contains at least two periods of construction, the first of which may well antedate the enclosure, making it the oldest structure so far identified at Sirtf.

Site J. The Western Defences. We are excavating at present two structures associated with the western defences: a large building, which Stein identified as a fort (and which is labelled " fort " on the plan cited above), and an adjacent hammdm. Although the large building has a massive outer wall and

2 For a detailed site plan, see David Whitehouse, " Sirdf: a medieval port in the Persian Gulf", World Archaeology 2 (October

I970), pp. 241-57, fig. 2.


occupies a strategic position on the spit which encloses Taheri bay, it has neither towers nor bastions and its identity is now uncertain. A short distance to the north apparently abutting on to the inner face of the city wall, stood a small hammdm with two or more hypocausts and a single furnace. Work here will finish shortly, after which we shall investigate a possible entrance and a large triangular bastion of unknown antiquity.

Other Excavations. Apart from a determined effort to elucidate the plan of the suspected palace, we intend to end the season with small excavations at Sites C, D, E, F and G to solve outstanding problems. At Site C, for example, we hope to uncover the courtyard of the mosque, while at Site E we shall attempt to collect additional evidence for the date of the domestic compound.

DAVID WHITEHOUSE

Sirjdn Sirjan-i Kuhna is situated by the village of Ghotbiyeh sixteen km. south-east of modern Sirjan and

I50 km. from Kirmdn. The central portion of the site consists of rolling mounds rising up to six metres, covering an area of I

. 5 by 2 - o km., and surrounded on three sides by the remains of a mud brick city wall 2.2 metres thick. Lower areas of sherd concentration cover an area of more than five sq. km. The surface material is almost entirely Islamic of a pre-Saljuq date, though there is evidence for a rich Saljuq and later occupation in the north west of the site. On the basis of its position, its size, and its surface material this site can be firmly identified as the city of Sirjan, the late Sasanian and early Islamic capital of Kirman province and the largest city of southern Iran by the tenth century A.D.3

Excavations were carried out in April and May 1970, supported by the British Institute of Persian Studies, the British Academy, and the University of Oxford. A topographic plan was made in June and July 1970. Two separate areas were excavated in locations where surface finds indicated the production of glazed and unglazed Islamic pottery. Five contemporaneous pit complexes were identified, each containing different ceramic types representing the products of different workshops. Kiln bars, vitrified kiln fragments, and kiln props of three different types, as well as unbaked, overfired, and distorted pottery were witnesses to kiln activity. The ceramic produced includes a large range of glazed wares. The most common, with green or green and yellow lead glaze, or with underglaze painted decoration, are widely distributed over southern Iran, and are related to material from Nishdpfir. Fragments of white tin glazed pottery with unusual relief decoration repeated on unglazed wasters from the kilns suggest the local provenance of some classes of this ware. A fine range of unusual, meticulously carved unglazed pottery was associated with one debris area, and sherds of a fine sgraffiato with a glossy green glaze with another.

Working surfaces, a tiled floor, and walls related to pottery workshops were uncovered, though only a very damaged and small fragment of a kiln was found. They can all, on the basis of the pottery, be dated in the tenth to eleventh centuries A.D. At a depth of four metres, beneath the kiln debris, an underground chamber was found dug into the natural clay and reached by steps. Several pipes and drains in this structure relate it to the elaborate city water supply and drainage system of which traces remain elsewhere on the surface, and which was compared by contemporaries to that of Nishaptir.4

A single trench was excavated on a particularly prominent mound within the city walls on the west edge of the site. The structure excavated appeared to be domestic and was decorated with richly carved stucco roundels mostly fallen from the walls. On stylistic grounds the stucco may be dated to the tenth to eleventh centuries A.D. Nearby on the surface of this same mound stucco of the thirteenth or fourteenth century A.D. was found, and close to it moulds which might have played a part in the production of coinage.5

In a future season it is hoped to investigate further the industrial areas. ANDREW WILLIAMSON

3 al-Maqdisi, BGA III, p. 470; trans. Schwarz, Iran im Mittelalter nach den arabischen Geographen (Leipzig, 191 2), p. 232.

* Ibn Ijauqal, Kitdb iirat al-ard; trans. Kramers and Wiet (Paris, 1964), P. 307.

5 F. A. Khan, Banbhore, A Preliminary Report on the Recent Archaeo- logical Excavations at Banbhore (Karachi), 2nd edition 1963, p. 45; 3rd edition 1969, p. 47-


Mission de Suse Les travaux de la mission frangaise

' Suse et en Susiane pendant l'hiver 1969-70 ont compris: (a) la suite de la fouille du gisement prehistorique de Djafarabad, dirigde par Mile. Genevieve Dollfus; (b) la pour suite, par M. A. Le Brun, des recherches stratigraphiques commenc6es l'an dernier ta l'Acropole; (c) une v6rification stratigraphique, par Mme. Myriam Rosen-Ayalon, des niveaux islamiques du tdp6 de la Ville royale en bordure du " chantier A " de M. R. Ghirshman; (d) une op6ra- tion de sauvetage entreprise par M. A. Labrousse dans la plaine de Suse, sur la rive occidentale du Chaour, en collaboration avec le Service iranien des Antiquitds, op6ration qui aboutit ta la mise au jour d'un nouveau batiment achemenide avec salle hypostyle de cent colonnes; (e) enfin des travaux de restauration du palais achdm6nide de l'Apadana, travaux au cours desquels furent d6couvertes deux tables de fondation, en 61amite et en accadien, au nom de Darius Ier.

Djafarabad. Les niveaux 1-3, contemporains de "Suse A", ont Wtd explores sur plusieurs centaines de mitres carris apres le ddgagement prialable au sommet du tdp6 d'une sorte de plate-forme de 9 x 14 m, orientle est-ouest, epaisse de o,8 m et faite de terre battue dans un coffrage de grosses mottes. Couverte de terre rapportee contenant des tessons du 4'me millknaire, cette plate-forme apparut bient6t cependant comme rdcente; elle recouvrait des sdpultures que l'on peut raisonnablement attribuer 'a la p6riode islamique.

Les observations faites dans les niveaux 1-3, dont le d6gagement n'est pas encore termine, peuvent se resumer ainsi: les habitations, en brique crue, sont de petites pieces rectangulaires mesurant en moyenne 3,50 x 2 m; elles sont orientdes est-ouest. La toiture 6tait faite de terre sur une armature de roseaux. Des bassins, des foyers et des fours, les uns construits, les autres creus6s a partir des sols d'occupation, sont associds ta ces habitations. Celles-ci sont disposdes en cercle autour d'une cour oh se trouvaient des ateliers de debitage du silex et o" s'accumulaient debris et d6chets divers; cette cour pourrait aussi avoir servi d'abri pour le bitail. Cette distribution des habitations suggere pour l'ensemble de l'6tablissement un nombre peu &levW d'habitants, une trentaine peut-etre, chiffre correspondant a une famille au sens large. Le tip6 de Djaffarabad 6tant semblable a ces nombreux tep6s de Susiane dont nous nous efforgons par ailleurs de complkter la carte, une voie parait s'ouvrir qui pourrait conduire a une estimation assez precise de la population de la Susiane au moment meme oih s'amorce en Elam le processus d'urbanisation.

Suse: Acropole. Dans les couches inf6rieures (27 a 23) correspondant ' " Suse A ", des vestiges

d'habitations avec structures secondaires (fours, foyers) furent mis au jour par M. A. Le Brun. De la couche 25, qui correspond elle-meme ta trois occupations successives, proviennent notamment des armatures de fliches a tranchant transversal (I x o,8 cm) et une empreinte de cachet representant un personnage nu tenant dans chaque main un 6norme serpent.

Dans les couches hautes (16 &t 13), huit phases d'occupation ont 6t6 reconnues sans que soit essentiel- lement modifie le plan d'une grande habitation apparue au niveau I6c, dlevee sur un sol de briques crues formant terrasse au-dessus des debris de la couche 17. La chambre la plus vaste mesure 5,30 x 2,75 m; elle presente, dans une niche, un foyer de construction 61aborde avec cheminde.

A chaque phase d'occupation correspondent des tablettes proto-61amites, des sceaux ou cylindres et un abondant mobilier.

Une tablette du niveau I6c porte sur quatre lignes une longue inscription; on peut done s'attendre

t trouver des tablettes plus anciennes dans les couches infdrieures. Selon F. Vallat, il n'y a pas d'dvolu-

tion sensible entre les tablettes des niveaux 16 et 14. M~me remarque pour la glyptique. On notera que le niveau 1i5A qui avait livrd l'an dernier un ddroulement de cylindre sur tablette montrant des animaux en posture humaine manipulant des vases a livrd cette annde une autre empreinte de cylindre reprdsentant un lion tirant a l'arc. On notera, provenant de 16c, une plaquette en terre crue de 5 cm de diametre, portant incisle une tate de bovidd, un scorpion et un motif de lignes bristes. Un cylindre de pierre noire reprdsentant en fort relief deux rangdes de 3 poissons a 6td trouvC dans la couche 21.

La cframique du niveau I6c se difffrencie nettement de celle de la couche 17 sous-jacente; rares sont les formes qui passent de 17 en I6 oi prfdomine une poterie commune, faite au tour, caractdrisde notamment par des gobelets a base en moignon et des plats & paroi 6paisse et l1vre arrondie. Les


niveaux I5A et I4B sont caracterises par la presence du decor gdomdtrique bichrome, rouge et noir, instable.

Suse: Ville royale. Trois niveaux d'occupation islamiques ont 6td mis au jour en bordure ouest du " chantier A " par Mme. Myriam Rosen-Ayalon, charg&e par M. R. Ghirshman de la publication de la

ctramique islamique provenant de cette fouille. Le niveau le plus r6cent ne serait pas postdrieur au

g9me siecle. Le niveau 3 a donne, avec des elements d'architecture peu cohdrents, de la ceramique glacde et non glacde, de la ceramique emaill6e et plusieurs petits flacons de verre et des coupelles; des rat6s de cuisson et des debris paraissent indiquer une fabrication locale. Ce niveau est date par Mme. Rosen-Ayalon des confins du 8eme et 9eme siecles. Les niveaux sous-jacents sont sassanides, a dater entre le 6'me et le 3eme siecle.

Suse: Le palais du Chaour. Sous un ldger renflement de terrain qui n'avait attire l'attention jusqu'ici que par la prdsence a sa surface de ddbris d'dpoque islamique, la fouille a mis au jour sur 1.650 m2 (Fig. I) une partie d'une salle hypostyle comptant huit rangdes de huit colonnes sur plan barlong (4,04 x 4,24 m d'axe en axe). Orientde vers le tdpe de l'Apadana et le grand palais achaminide de Suse, la salle est precedde de ce c6t6 par un portique de deux rangdes de huit colonnes. Sur l'axe secondaire,

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__ _ 0 0 0 0 00 ___

CHAQUR 1970 % ~) 0A LASROUSSE ARCH

Fig. i. Suse. Palais du Chaour. Reconstitution de la salle hypostyle.


elle est desservie, au Nord, par un portique d6centr6 & deux rangtes de cinq colonnes. La diff6rence de longueur entre la salle hypostyle et le portique 6tant compensde par une petite salle (P1. VIII).

Salle et portique sont fondds sur un radier continu, 6pais de 2 m, fait de galets de riviere. Son sommet est a 3 m au-dessus des eaux du Chaour. Les colonnes reposent directement sur le radier tandis que le carrelage a 6td pose sur une chappe de terre battue de 0,20 m d'6paisseur. Les carreaux de terre cuite mesurent 0,48 x 0,48 x o,o8 m pour la salle et 0,32 X 0,32 x o,o8 m pour les portiques, les plus grands portant frdquemment une estampille a l'image d'un lion passant.

Les murs sont en brique crue. A l'intdrieur l'enduit est souvent fini au platre, ce platre supportant des peintures dont plusieurs grands fragments ont 6td retrouves renverses sur le sol de la salle hypostyle; elles reprdsentent des personnages presque grandeur nature, des motifs v6getaux ou gdometriques (bordure de triangles bleus et rouges alternes). Les couleurs utilis6es sont un rouge, un carmin, un bleu clair et un noir.

Les bases de colonnes, en calcaire gris, sont de deux types; de plan rond dans la salle hypostyle, de plan carr6 pour les portiques. Leurs dimensions, nouvelles 'a Suse, sont les memes: 1,14 m de c68t ou de diametre a la base; 0,70 m de diamitre au sommet, 0,70 m de hauteur. Ces dimensions correspondent a la moitid de celles des bases de colonnes d l'Apadana d'Artaxerxis utilisdes de fagon inverse, l'ordre campanuld a l'extdrieur, l'ordre carrd a l'int6rieur. L'absence d'dl6ments de ffits et de chapiteaux laisse penser que ceux-ci etaient en bois.

Deux orthostates d'escalier, dont un fragmentaire, ont 6td trouv6s. L'un represente un personnage portant une piece de mobilier, sorte de table basse dont le plateau est orn6 aux extremitds de totes de canard. Le style se rapproche de celui de deux reliefs semblables trouv6s au " Donjon ".

Plusieurs morceaux de bases de colonne trouv6s a proximit6 du chantier et portant des inscriptions fragmentaires en 6lamite achemanide, en accadien et en vieux perse, ont permis a F. Vallat de lire par deux fois le nom d'Artaxerxes. De nombreux indices 6tant en faveur d'une date relativement tardive, probablement dans le 4'me sikcle av. J.C., on est donc tente d'attribuer la construction du palais du

I.. U..

cour ouest

, r. i.ilH7

754:

s 753

I1• S 752 "

.'I ::' I F: B

I c O0 0 lo m * A J

Fig. 2. Suse. Palais de Darius Ier. (a) Plan de Mecquenem. (b) Corrections 970o.


Chaour ' Artaxerxes II ou III. Peut-etre sommes-nous en pr6sence d'un palais provisoire 6leve par Artaxerxes II tandis qu'il proc6dait, sur 1'Apadana, a la reconstruction du grand palais de Darius.

Suse: Apadana. La restitution partielle d'un secteur du grand palais achemenide au sud de la " cour de l'Ouest " a demandd des v6rifications prdliminaires (P1. IX) qui ont eu pour rdsultat de modifier sensiblement le plan et peut-etre aussi l'interprdtation de cette partie du palais (Fig. 2, a et b). La d6couverte la plus importante fut de part et d'autre du passage entre les salles 751 et 752, sous les murs, dans le gravier de la terrasse, de deux tables de fondation au nom de Darius ler (P1. X).

Ces tables de marbre gris, identiques dans leurs dimensions (33,6 x 33,6 x 8,7 cm), sont inscrites sur leurs six faces. La version dlamite compte 56 lignes d'environ 18 signes chacune; le texte accadien ne compte que 40 lignes de Io signes. Ces chartes de fondation sont assez semblables a l'exemplaire connu jusqu'ici (DSf) mais l'absence de l'invocation initiale ' Ahuramazda et de nombreuses diff6rences de detail obligent, selon F. Vallat, a les considdrer comme des textes nouveaux (DSz pour la version dlamite et DSaa pour la rddaction accadienne). La version accadienne est deux fois et demie plus courte toute en prdsentant le meme plan g6ndral.

La d6couverte de ces tables pr6sente sur le plan epigraphique un double intiret. Elles offrent un nouveau texte de l'6poque achdminide (DSaa); en outre, la version l1amite, en plus de la dizaine de mots inconnus qu'elle ajoute au lexique, permet de corriger et de compldter la premiere charte connue, DSf. Du point de vue archdologique, ces tables permettent d'attribuer sans hesitation ' Darius ler cette partie du palais qui s'organise autour de la " cour de l'Ouest " et de la " cour centrale ".

JEAN PERROT

Takht-i Suleiman Mit Unterstuitzung der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft wurden die Ausgrabungen des

Deutschen Archaiologischen Instituts auf dem Takht-i Suleiman unter Leitung von Prof. Dr. R. Naumann in der Zeit vom 25.6. bis zum 23.9.1970 fortgesetzt. Die Grabungsarbeiten beschrlinkten sich auf Untersuchungen am Westiwan, im Feuertempel und im Gelainde westlich des Feuertempels. Wiahrend der Kampagne wurden aus Mitteln des Iranischen Antikendienstes und unter Anleitung von Herrn S. M. Musawi umfangreiche Restaurierungen und Sicherungsmassnahmen am Siidtor der Umfassungsmauer und am Feuertempelkomplex vorgenommen.

Am grossen Westiwan wurden die Fussb6den und Fundamentierungen der hinter der Iwanhalle gelegenen il-khanidischen Palastraiume untersucht. Im westlichen Teil der Iwanhalle selbst wurden Reste der Wand- und Fussbodendekoration des spaiten 13. Jhdts. n. Chr. aufgedeckt. Im Raum siidlich neben der Iwanhalle fand sich ein Depot von Baukeramikplatten, zumeist Fragmente und Fehl- briinde, die vermutlich bei der Ausstattung des il-khanidischen Palastes unverwendet zuriickgelassen worden sind.

Im Feuertempel wurde die siid6stliche Ecke des Umganges (AI/A2) um den quadratischen Mittelraum (A) freigelegt. Dabei wurden die Reste eines kleinen Baderaumes aufgedeckt, der im 13. oder 14. Jhdt. n. Chr. hier eingebaut worden ist. Untersuchungen am Siidiwan des Tempels ergaben, dass die Arkadenhalle, welche der dem See zugewandten Fassade des Tempels vorgelagert war, bis unmittelbar an den Feuertempeliwan heranreichten und durch Tiiren mit ihm verbunden waren.

Fiur die Schichtenabfolge im Gelainde westlich neben dem Feuertempel liess sich nachweisen, dass die noch im Vorjahr einer mittleren Periode zugeschriebenen Mauerziige aus ungebrannten Lehmziegeln, die durch das Fehlen eines Feldsteinfundamentes charakterisiert werden, zu Bauhtitten und Lehmzie- gelanbauten des sasanidischen Hausteingebaiudes PA-PB geh6ren, so dass in diesem Areal lediglich zwei grosse nachachimenidische Bauperioden zu verzeichnen sind. Von der ailteren dieser Perioden wurden weitere Teile der grossen Lehmziegelanlage aufgedeckt, die bei der Erbauung des Haustein- gebiaudes bis unmittelbar auf seine Feldsteinfundamente abgetragen worden ist. In der darunter liegenden, durch eine Kalksinterkruste versiegelten Schicht wurden weitere Reste der friuhachaimeni- dischen Siedlung mit Graibern gefunden.-In dem durch einen Altarunterbau als Sanktuarium ausge- wiesenen Raum PD, welcher den Abschluss der Raumfolge PA-PB-PC bildet, wurden aus einer

17A


Auffiillung fiber dem ursprtinglichen Fussboden Fragmente von lebensgrossen anthropomorphen

Figuralreliefs aus Gipsstuck geborgen.-Die Untersuchung des n6rdlichen Einganges zum Korridor KO I, welcher den Zuweg vom Nordtor zur Anlage westlich neben dem Feuertempel und zum Gelande um den See herstellt, erbrachte die Bruchsteinfundamente eines Eingangsgebaiudes aus Lehmziegeln und eines neben dem Portal gelegenen Langraumes mit seitlichen Lehmbainken. Darunter lagen Fundamentztige der ailteren Lehmziegelanlage und ein Wasserbecken.

DIETRICH HUFF

The Yahyd Project: Tepe Yahyd and Tepe Dasht-i Deh

Tepe Trayd: Our third season of excavations concentrated on the first and third millennium

occupations (see " The Proto-Elamite Settlement at Tepe Yahy- " in this issue). On the top of the mound we recovered three distinct building levels of the Partho-Sasanian occupa-

tion. Architecture is very poorly preserved and difficult to isolate, save for the lowest phase of construction. Preliminary analysis does not suggest major changes in ceramics throughout Period I. This season, however, we recovered a new type of fine bichrome black and red on buff ware belonging to the lowermost phase-Period Ia. This type is without known parallel and rather common at Yaihyi. Beneath this we now anticipate a full exposure of our Period II-Achaemenian, scheduled for I97I. From the Period I rooms we recovered a rich corpus of pottery, a 2 I - 5 cm. ceramic statue of a warrior with head-dress (helmet), carved steatite horse head, gold earrings, and incised ceramics with dancing lady, horse, etc. A fine assemblage datable by radiocarbon to 400 A.D.-200 B.C.

As part of the Yahyi Project, Mr. William Fitz, Jr. undertook a survey throughout the Soghun Valley and excavated some 43 cairn burials. The pottery can be paralleled in the ceramics of Period I

(dominantly), II and III on the mound. They yielded an interesting assemblage of iron, bronze implements, beads and full pots. Also Mr. Andrew Williamson undertook a most profitable sondage at Tepe Dasht-i-Deh, an Islamic mound of the 9th-I5th centuries located 5 km. from Yahyd, thereby adding appreciably to our understanding of this period in the area.

Work on our fourth and fifth millennium occupations were more limited this year. We extended our understanding of the period by opening a new step trench on the opposite side of the mound from the major step trench. We were able then to confirm our major stratigraphic periodization while

recovering additional architecture, ceramics and small finds. Ceramically and architecturally we met with no surprises. We did find, however, several interesting objects, including an alabaster ram carved in the round, measuring some 17 cm. long, it is a perfectly splendid work of art of the first half of the fourth millennium. For the first time this year we recovered burials of the fifth millennium on the mound. The burials were tightly contracted, without consistent orientation, but with one to three full

pots in association. Their find spots varied from beneath floors of rooms to within fill of a raised

platform structure. Our future seasons will concentrate on Periods II (Achaemenian), III (Iron Age) and IV (the

Proto-Elamite settlement). The excavations continue in all periods to evidence an unsuspected prosperity in southeastern Iran; an area which far from being a cultural backwater shared in the principal developments on the Iranian Plateau, Mesopotamia, the Persian Gulf and Baluchistan. Additional

survey for understanding settlement patterns, distribution, etc. is now imperative. This is being under-

taken independently by several members of the Yahya Project: Dr. E. C. L. During-Caspers, Miss Martha Prickett and Mr. William Fitz.

C. C. LAMBERG-KARLOVSKY

Tepe Dasht-i Deh is situated near the edge of the Soghun valley 5 km. southeast of Tepe Yahya and

mid-way between the villages of Dasht-i Deh and Sang Cheshmeh. Islamic pottery spreads over the surface of a rolling gravel area of 500 m. by 700oo m. A central mound 70 m. square with a maximum

height of 3 3 m. rises above a moated area 25 m. across. Excavations were undertaken in July and

August 1970 by Andrew Williamson on behalf of the Harvard Expedition to Tepe Yahya. A trench

4'5 by 4 m. on the west side of the central mound was excavated to natural clay.


The earliest use of the site was for Islamic burials dug into the natural clay and oriented with their faces turning in Shia fashion towards Mecca. In the first major architectural period part of a large mud brick structure was uncovered with three superimposed floor levels, the latest of which was sealed by the burnt remains of collapsed roofing. The pottery associated with this structure included plain and lustred pieces of frit bodied " Saljuq " ware together with lead glazed sgraffiato parallelled at Siraf period 3 and Kilwa (in East Africa) period 2. It may be dated to the I2th to i3th centuries A.D. Several fine pieces of moulded pottery were discovered (Plate XIa). These were characteristically moulded in four sections in a cream to grey fabric with designs of fluting and roundels, and an inscription band below the rim. All the motifs are well parallelled in Sir Aurel Stein's sondage at Shahr-i Daqianus, Jiruft, although the discovery of moulds testifies to local manufacture.

The lowest floor of the second architectural period directly overlay the walls of the earlier building, with which it was exactly aligned. In its earliest phase the building was constructed of pise, though later additions were carried out in mud brick. On the third and latest floor a cache of 77 whole pots was discovered (P1. XIb). These were predominantly small identical storage vessels and drain pipes, but included a large steatite cooking pot and three unglazed painted water jars. These jars, of a type also found in the earlier period, have globular bodies beaten out by the hammer and anvil technique. The painting is in thick annular bands of coarse zigzags and dashes in purple or red on a buff to pink body. The sherds include over 20 pieces of Far Eastern celadon, one with a pair of finely moulded fishes applied under the glaze to the interior of the base. Far Eastern blue and white is, however, totally absent, both in the excavation and on the surface. Islamic pottery with a frit body and under-glaze decoration in black and blue on turquoise, as well as hammer headed rims of the " Sultanabad " type, was also found. The assemblage should probably be dated to the 14th century A.D.

ANDREW WILLIAMSON

Correction The reference on p. 203, line I I of Iran VIII should have read: " Frank Hole, Kent V. Flannery,

James A. Neely, ' Prehistory and Human Ecology of the Deh Luran Plain', University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology, Memoirs No. I (1969), pp. 406-9 "

P1. Ia. Terrasse de Masjid-i Solaiman '

la fin de la campagne de 1970. Vue adrienne.

Pl. Ib. Terrasse de Masfid-i Solaiman. Quatrieme campagne. Vue prise de la montagne.

P1. IIa. Masjid-i Solaiman. Bas-relief d'un

personnage. Pierre. P1. IIb. Masjid-i Solaiman. Petite statue en bronze (incomplete).

PI. IIc. Masjid-i Solaiman. Fragment d'une grande composition. Bas-relief. Pierre.

P1. IMd. Masjid-i Solaiman. Buste d'un personnage en tenue militaire. Pierre.

P1. Ila. Masjid-i Solaiman. Plaque en bronze, travaillie au repousse'. P1. IlIIb. Masjid-i Solaiman. Plaque en bronze, dicor au repousse'.

P1. IlIc. Masjid-i Sglaiman. Deux bouquetins. Bronze. P1. HId. Masjid-i Solaiman. Miroirs en bronze.

P1. Ille. Masjid-i Solaiman. Boucle d'oreille en or, sertie d'un rubis. Travail en grenetis.

Pl. Illf. Masjid-i Solaiman. Instrument de musique et plaque de revitement. Bronze.

P1. IVa. Masjid-i Solaiman. Figurines de cavaliers. Terre cuite.

Pl. IVb. Masjid-i Solaiman. Figurines de cavaliers voltigeurs. Terre cuite.

P1. IVc. Masjid-i Solaiman. Figurine (mutilee) de voltigeurs a l'exercice.

P1. IVd. Masjid-i Solaiman. Figurine

d'Athina Hippia (?).

P1. IVe. Masjid-i Solaiman. Figurines de cavaliers macedoniens. Terre cuite. P1. IVf. Masjid-i Solaiman. Figurine de cavalier sur un mulet.

P1. Va. Masjid-i Solaiman. Lampe a face humaine. Bronze.

P1. Vb. Masjid-i Solaiman. Deux cyathes en bronze.

P1. Vc. Montagnes des Bakhtiari. Qal'a-i Bardi et Qal'a-i Lit.

P1. V

I. T

he fire altar found in the large cella of the fire temple at T

epe NJV

sh-i Jan.

Pl. V

IIa. T

epe Ni7sh-i Jdn:

a view of the m

ud-brick vaulting found above the shale-filled antecham

ber to the cella. P

art of the cella itself can be seen through a first floor doorw

ay.

P1. V

IIb. T

epe Nuish-i Jan:

the excavated east end of the antechamber, show

ing a mud-brick

bench and a deep wall niche.

Pl.

VIII.

Suse. L

e palais achimeinide du C

haour en cours defouille.

P1. IX

. Suse. A

panada. Fondation des m

urs du palais de Darius Ier entre les salles 752 et 753.

Le m

ur de brique crue est partiellement

preserve au-dessus des deux assises de briques cuites; a droite, la pierre support de crapaudine.

Pl. X. Suse. Palais de Darius Ier. Une des tables de fondation (version ilamite) in situ.

P1. XIa. Moulded vessel from Tepe Dasht-i Deh.

P1. XIb. A cache of 77 pots from Tepe Dasht-i Deh.

ABBREVIATIONS

AASOR Annual of American Schools of Oriental Research AfO Archiv ffir Orientforschung AJA American Journal of Archaeology AJSL American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures AJ Antiquaries' Journal AK Antike Kunst AMI E. E. Herzfeld, Archaeologische Mitteilungen aus Iran ANET Pritchard, Ancient Near Eastern Texts AOr Archiv Orientalny Arch Anz Archaologischer Anzeiger AS Anatolian Studies BA Besch Bulletin van de Vereeniging ... de Antieke Beschaving, Hague BASOR Bulletin of American Schools of Oriental Research Belleten Tiirk Tarih Kurumu: Belleten BGA Bibliotheca Geographorum Arabicorum Bib Or Bibliotheca Orientalis BSA Annual of the British School at Athens BSOAS Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies CAH Cambridge Ancient History CIA Corpus Inscriptionum Arabicorum DAFA D6l6gation Arch0ologique frangaise en Afghanistan, memoires EI Encyclopaedia of Islam ESA Eurasia Septentrionalis Antiqua IAE E. E. Herzfeld, Iran in the Ancient East (1941) ILN Illustrated London News Iranica Iranica Antiqua JA Journal Asiatique JAOS Journal of American Oriental Society JEA Journal of Egyptian Archaeology JHS Journal of Hellenic Studies JNES Journal of Near Eastern Studies JRAI Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute JRAS Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society KF Kleinasiatische Forschungen LAAA Annals of Archaeology and Anthropology, Liverpool MAOG Mitteilungen der altorientalischen Gesellschaft MDOG Mitteilungen der deutschen Orientgesellschaft MDP Memoires de la Delegation en Perse MJ Museum Journal, Philadelphia OIC Oriental Institute, Chicago, Communications OIP Oriental Institute, Publications OS Orientalia Suecana PZ Praehistorische Zeitschrift RA Revue d'Assyriologie RCAS Royal Central Asian Journal REI Revue des ltudes Islamiques SAA Soviet Anthropology and Archaeology SAOC Oriental Institute, Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilisation Sov Arkh Sovetskaya Arkheologiya SS Schmidt, H., Heinrich Schliemanns Sammlung trojanischer Altertumer Survey A Survey of Persian Art from Prehistoric Times to the Present, ed. A. U. Pope,

Oxford, 1938 TT Tuirk Tarih, Arkeologya ve Etnografya Dergisi WO Die Welt des Orients WVDOG Wissenschaftliche Verdffentlichungen der Deutschen Orientgesellschaft ZA Zeitschrift fur Assyriologie ZDMG Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenlindischen Gesellschaft

185

NOTES ON TRANSLITERATION FOR CONTRIBUTORS TO IRAN I. OLD AND MIDDLE PERSIAN

It is recognized that no rigid lines can be laid down here, but it is suggested that the Old Persian syllabary should be transliterated according to the table in Kent, Old Persian. Grammar, Texts, Lexicon, p. 12; that for Manichaean Middle Persian and Parthian, the transliteration system given in Andreas- Henning, Mitteliranische Manichaica, vol. III, p. 66, should be used; whilst for Pahlavi, the table of alphabets given in Nyberg, A Manual of Pahlavi, new edition, p. 129, may be used as a reference for transcription. U. ISLAMIC AND MODERN PERSIAN

The system used for the Cambridge History of Islam should be used here as far as possible. Consonants

(a) Arabic 9 3 z q

Sb , s .

k St J sh J 1

, th r s m

t j ; d n h

.t a h

kh . z w d 4

' Ly Sdh

. gh -a (in construct state:

r j f -at) (b) Persian additional and variant forms. The variant forms should generally be used for Iranian

names and for Arabic words used in Persian. S P 3 z c g S s 3 zh I v

ch i i (c) The Persian " silent h " should be transliterated a, e.g. ndma.

Vowels Arabic and Persian.

Short: a Long: I or •

Doubled - iyy (final form: i) u

a i Diphthongs '" au 1i @ ai

Notes I. The

i.zfa should be represented by -i, or after long vowels, by -yi, e.g. umard-yijdnki.

2. The Arabic definite article should be written as al- or 1-, even before the so-called " sun letters ", e.g. 'Abd al-Malik, Abu 'l-Nasr.

3. The macrons of Abfi and Dhti (Zi) should be omitted before the definite article, e.g. Abu

'I- Abbds (but Abai 'Ubaida). It is obvious that for the rendering of linguistic and dialectical material, and possibly also for

contemporary literary and spoken Persian, this rigorous system of transliteration is inappropriate; contributors should use their discretion here. III. GENERAL POINTS

I. Names of persons should be rigorously transliterated. 2. Conventional English equivalents (without macrons or diacritics) should be used for the names

of countries, provinces or large towns, e.g. Khurasan, Shiraz. Otherwise, all place-names should be rigorously transliterated. Archaeologists are asked to be especially careful in representing the names of little-known places at or near sites.

3. Modern Turkish names and words should be written in the current romanized Turkish orthography.

4. Where classical Greek and Latin renderings of Old and Middle Persian names exist, these familiar forms should be used for preference.

186

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187

MEMBERSHIP-SUBSCRIPTIONS

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188

FORM OF COVENANT

ofof ......................................................................................................................................................................................... hereby covenant with the British Institute of Persian Studies that for a period of seven years from the date of this Deed or during my lifetime (whichever shall be the shorter period) I will pay to the said Society from my general fund of taxed income such an amount annually as after deduction of income tax at the Standard Rate yields the net su m o f............ ............................................................................................................................................................... The first paym ent is to be m ade on the......................................................

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189

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Iran 09 (1971)

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