Ancient Iran

Studies by five linguists from the United States, France, Russia, Denmark, and Iran of an inscription which was discovered in Jiroft indicated in 2008 that this Elamite script was three hundred years older than that of the great civilisation which was centred on the city of Susa in western Iran.

Archaeologists at the time were of the belief that Jiroft had been the birthplace of the original Elamite written language, which then spread across the land to reach Susa (and see 'The Sumerian Effect in Iran' via the 'related links' in the sidebar).

They had a degree of justification in this belief as Susa did indeed take on a native written script when it shrugged off early Uruk influences for a time. The discovery of this inscription in Jiroft was one of the most ancient written scripts to have been found up to that point.

The city of Jiroft is situated close to the Halil Rud historical site. Halil Rud itself is located in the basin of the River Halil Rud and in its time this enjoyed the existence of a rich civilisation.

Many stone and clay objects - as well as other historical evidence which belonged to the third millennium BC - had been discovered during archaeological excavations and also through illegal digging by looters in the area.

A total of one hundred and twenty historical sites had been identified in the basin of the four hundred kilometre length of the River Halil Rud, including at the site of Jiroft.

According to then-current archaeological studies, the history of the Halil Rud area went back to around 3000 BC. The stone dishes which were discovered in the area belonged to the first half of the third millennium BC and these reflected the art of carving on stones which was current at that time.

'Five Elamite professional linguists from different countries have studied the brick inscription which was discovered in Jiroft. According to their studies they have concluded that this discovered inscription is three hundred years older than that found in Susa, and most probably the written language went to Susa from this region. However, more studies are needed to be able to produce a final approval to this thesis,' said Yousof Majid Zadeh, head of the archaeological excavation team in Jiroft.

'This inscription was discovered in a palace. Although it is not yet known which Elamite king this inscription belongs to, it is definitely an Elamite inscription. More study is required in order to be able to determine the exact time at which it was inscribed, but most probably it is the most ancient written language to be available in this region.

'Further excavations are being carried out to find the rest of the inscription. However, what is obvious about this inscription is that it is older than the Elamite inscription which was found in Susa,' explained Majidzadeh.

Elamite cities on the plain to the east of Sumer benefited from direct contact, but cities with more easterly locations also swiftly caught up, connected into a network of trading routes which stretched east to the Indus and north to Hissar and the BMAC (click or tap on map to view at an intermediate size)

The inscription was carved on a brick, and only the lower left-hand corner of it had survived. Although only two lines with a few words remained intact on this inscription, there was no doubt that it was an Elamite written script.

The most famous Elamite script is the Susinak inscription which was unearthed during archaeological excavations in Susa. This inscription most probably survives from the reign of Susinak, an Elamite king who ruled during the second half of the first millennium BC.

At this stage the Elamite language was only partially understood by scholars. It had no relationship to Sumerian, Semitic, or Indo-European languages, and there are no modern descendants of it. After 3000 BC the Elamites developed a semi-pictographic writing system called proto-Elamite. Later on, cuneiform script was introduced from the west.

Archaeological excavations continued to be carried out on the northern and southern shores of the River Halil Rud in order to uncover the various dwellings and cemeteries which should exist in the region.

The Jiroft civilisation is also referred to as the Halilrud culture, flourishing in Iran's Kerman and Sistan-Baluchestan provinces approximately around 3000-2000 BC and centred in the fertile Halil river valley

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