The Core of Daqyanous City Appeared

Tehran, 13 May 2006 (CHN) -- Latest excavations in city of Daqyanous, north of Jiroft in Kerman province, led to the discovery of the core of this city including a mosque, bazaar, industrial areas, cemetery, and irrigation channels. Discovery of jars and enameled, lapis, and golden bowls indicate the proper economic situation of the people of Daqyanous city during the Middle Islamic period and their interests in keeping luxurious articles.


“Excavations revealed that the minaret of the Jame (Grand) Mosque of the ancient Daqyanous city was four meters in diameter and was constructed from brick, mortar and plaster and there is a spiral staircase on its northern side. We also succeeded in unearthing the main parts of the public bathroom, the bazaar, the passageway, and the city square at a distance of 340 meters southwest of the Jame Mosque. These excavations show that the shops in the bazaar were constructed to face the open areas and the storage places were somewhere in the back of the bazaar connected to each other through narrow passageways. In addition, we discovered an architectural building, but its usage is not yet known for us,” said Hamideh Choobak, head of archeology team in city of Daqyanous.


According to Choobak, some clay ornaments in circle and square shapes with the arabesque design of flowers and bushes, a piece of a round stucco decoration of a red flower, and a broken piece of clay on which a prayer was written with black ink were the other discoveries during the third season of excavations in the city of Daqyanuos.


Prior to this, some statuettes of men and women and the statue of a torso of an instrumentalist woman were discovered in the ancient public bathroom of Daquayous. “The dress style and the design of the necklace of the woman belonged to the Parthian-Sassanid era which indicates the continuation of the pre-Islamic art style to the Seljuk era (900 years ago). Considering that it was common during the Parthian and Sassanid era to carve images of instrumentalist women on silver dishes, by studying the new discoveries in Daqyanous city we can see how they were used in the decorations of the buildings during the Seljuk era as well,” explained Choobak.


Choobak also explained that researches and studies on Daqyanous historical site indicate that this city flourished at the beginning of the Islamic period. “In the ancient times, Jiroft had relations with some important civilizations such as China, India, Mesopotamia, Khorasan, and Fars and its glory lasted to the Seljuk era,” added Choobak.

Choobak believes that the archeological excavations in Daqyanous show the dignity and high economical situation of the city during the ancient times and the urban facilities indicate that its people enjoyed a high quality urbanization and lifestyle during that period. Due to its prosperous economical situation, this ancient city was always plundered by invaders.


The Islamic city of Daqyanous, located north of the city of Jiroft in Kerman province, is the only city dating back to prehistoric times which was registered as a national heritage some 70 years ago. Considering its 40-kilometer area, this city is considered one of the biggest Islamic cities, although its central part is only 12 kilometers.

The third season of archeological excavations in Daqyanous city, otherwise known as the Old Jiroft, started from 17th of March 2006 and continued to 30th of April.