Tepe Sialk

Sialk is a large ancient archeological site in the suburbs of the city of Kashan, in central Iran, close to Fin Garden. The culture that inhabited this area has been linked to the Zayandeh Rud Civilization.

The Sialk mound was built around the 8th century BC. A joint study between Iran's Cultural Heritage Organization, The Louvre, and Institute Francais de Recherche en Iran also verifies the oldest settlements in Sialk to date back to 5500–6000 BC.

Tappeh Sialk is mudbrick platform, possibly a support for some kind of building standing atop the platform but not necessarily a temple. Some have speculated it is a Ziggurat, but the evidence does not point to that kind of structure. At the site, there are actually two structures (necropoli) at Sialk situated several hundred feet from each other. The Louvre has also excavated a cemetery near the structures that have been dated as far back as 7,500 years. What little is left of the two crumbling Sialk platforms is now threatened by the encroaching suburbs of the expanding city of Kashan. It is not uncommon to see kids playing soccer amid the ruins, while only several meters away lie the supposedly "off limit" 5,500-year-old skeletons unearthed at the foot of the tappeh. (see referenced articles below) The site still remains to be registered as a World Heritage Site at UNESCO for protection.

"Teppe Sialk" (In Persian, Tappe means "hill" or "mound") was first excavated by a team of European archeologists headed by Roman Ghirshman in the 1930s. His extensive studies were followed by D.E. McCown, Y. Majidzadeh, P. Amieh, up until the 1970s, and recently reviewed by Iran's Cultural Heritage Organization in 2002 (led by Shah-mirzadi, PhD, U of Penn). But like the thousands of other Iranian historical ruins, the treasures excavated here eventually found their way to museums such as The Louvre, The British Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and private collectors.

Sialk, and the entire area around it, is thought to have first originated as a result of the pristine large water sources nearby that still run today. The Cheshmeh ye Soleiman (or "Solomon's Spring") has been bringing water to this area from nearby mountains for thousands of years. The Fin garden, built to its present form in the 1600s is a popular tourist attraction today. It is here where Persian Kings of the Safavid dynasty would spend their vacations away from their capital cities. It is also here where, Piruz (Abu-Lu'lu'ah), the Iranian assassin of Islam's second Caliph is buried. All these remains are located in the same location where Sialk is.

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  The 5500 year old skeletons and other unearthed artifacts here are preserved and off access to visitors.
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  Details of the wall of the second platform of the first tappeh.
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  A view of the south façade of what remains from the first (of two) tappeh.
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  Pottery Vessel, Fourth Millennium BC. The Sialk collection of Tehran's National Museum of Iran.
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  Ghirshman's team in Sialk in 1934: Sitting from R to L: Roman Ghirshman, Tania Ghirshman, and Dr. Contenau.
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  Pottery from Sialk.

See also

• Kashan Municipality

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• Cities of the Ancient Near East
• Elamite Empire
• Iranian Architecture
• Iranian history before the Aryans
• Iranian pottery
• Kashan
• List of Iranian castles

References

Inline

General

• Les Recherches Archeologiques Francaises en Iran. Nov 2001, Tehran. Institute Francais de Recherche en Iran, Musee de Louvre, ICHO.

External links

• Iranian.com
• Clickiran.com
• Payvand.com, News item on Sialk
• Iranian.ws
• Chn.ir, Cultural Heritage News Agency Template:Fa icon
• Archnet.org