Discovery of the Main Part of Kenar Sandal's Ziggurat

Tehran, 25 February 2006 (CHN) -- Continuation of archeological excavations in Jiroft, a city in Kerman Province, resulted in the discovery of its main Ziggurat in Kenar Sandal historical site. This Ziggurat is one to three centuries older than the most ancient Mesopotamian Ziggurat. A ziggurat is a temple tower of the ancient Assyrians and Babylonians, having the form of a terraced pyramid of successively receding stories. One of the best remained ziggurats is Tchogha Zanbil situated southwest of Iran in Khuzestan province.
“The main raised stairs of Kenar Sandal’s Ziggurat were discovered during the archeological excavations in Jiroft historical site. At first it was supposed that this part was constructed prior to the previous lower stair, however the studies indicate that this architectural style is 200 years older than the previous one, which means that the whole structure was constructed in two different periods of time,” said Yousof Majidzadeh, head of archeological excavation team in Halil Rud region.
According to Majidzadeh, Ur Ziggurat is the most historical one which is in the Mesopotamian region, dating back to 2100 BC. This way this newly discovered raised platform is one to three centuries older than the first Mesopotamian Ziggurat.
“The reconstruction of this ziggurat will be carried out in accordance with its original form. Since this architectural style has been discovered at the end of this season of excavation, another week was given to archeologists to unearth the whole construction,” added Majidzadeh. Archeologists have been successful in discovering two stories of this construction so far, but according to the evidence, this construction must have originally had 3 stories. The dimension of the first level of this construction is 300x300 meters and that of the second level is 150x150 meter.
Considering what has been discovered so far in Jiroft historical site, a large number of Iranian and foreign archeologists believe that the civilization in this historical site was as rich and vast as those of Mesopotamian and Sumerian. The discoveries in Jiroft indicate that the art of carving visible in this historical site was more developed than that of the Sumerian civilization which is believed to be the most ancient civilization of the world.
Halil Rud historical site, located near the city of Jiroft in Kerman province, was one of the first places where civilization and urbanization were established. 120 historical sites have been discovered on the 400-kilometer basin of Halil Rud River so far. This ziggurat which belongs to the first half of the third millennium BC is one of the most important discoveries in Kenar Sandal historical site. Iranian and foreign archeologists are determined to clarify the whole original structure of this ziggurat in Jiroft historical site.