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Y. Majidzadeh Lapis lazuli and the Great Khorasan Road In: Paléorient. 1982, Vo

Y. Majidzadeh Lapis lazuli and the Great Khorasan Road In: Paléorient. 1982, Vol. 8 N°1. pp. 59-69. Résumé Les vestiges archéologiques aussi bien que les données textuelles des 4e et 3e millénaires sont utilisés ici pour reconstituer la route commerciale du lapis-lazuli. Prenant son origine au Badakhshan, cette route traversait probablement le Kerman (Aratta), le Fars (Anshan) et le Khuzistan (Suse). La reconstitution présentée ici s'élève contre l'idée d'un contrôle du commerce du lapis par des communautés septentrionales telles que Hissar et Gawra et minimise le rôle de la Grande Route du Khorassan (Route de la Soie). Abstract Archaeological and textual evidence of the fourth and third millennia are used to reconstruct a trade route for lapis-lazuli. Originating in Badakhshan. this route probably traversed Kerman (Aratta). Fars (Anshan) and Khuzistan (Susa). The present reconstruction argues against control of the lapis trade by such northern communities as Hissar and Gawra. and minimizes the role of the Great Khorasan (Silk) Route. Citer ce document / Cite this document : Majidzadeh Y. Lapis lazuli and the Great Khorasan Road. In: Paléorient. 1982, Vol. 8 N°1. pp. 59-69. doi : 10.3406/paleo.1982.4309 http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/paleo_0153-9345_1982_num_8_1_4309 PALEORIENT vol. 8/1 1982 LAPIS LAZULI AND THE GREAT KHORASAN ROAD Y. MAJIDZADEH ABSTRACT. - Archaeological and textual evidence of the fourth and third millennia are used to reconstruct a trade route for lapis-lazuli. Originating in Badakhshan. this route probably traversed Kerman (Aratta). Fars (Anshan) and Khuzistan (Susa). The present reconstruction argues against control of the lapis trade by such northern communities as Hissar and Gawra. and minimizes the role of the Great Khorasan (Silk) Route. RESUME. - Les vestiges archéologiques aussi bien que les données textuelles des 4L' et 3e millénaires sont utilisés ici pour reconstituer la route commerciale du lapis-lazuli. Prenant son origine au Badakhshan, cette route traversait probablement le Kerman (Aratta), le Fars (Anshan) et le Khuzistan (Suse). La reconstitution présentée ici s'élève contre l'idée d'un contrôle du commerce du lapis par des communautés septentrionales telles que Hissar et Gawra et minimise le rôle de la Grande Route du Khorassan (Route de la Soie). The Iranian central plateau represents one of the largest prehistoric cultural regions in Iran. A very im portant feature of this region is its geographical location, because during historical times the main route connect ing Mesopotamia and western Iran to northeastern Iran, Afghanistan, and eventually China was through the central plateau. During the Islamic period, as the most important trading route of the country, it was known as the "Silk Road" or the "Great Khorasan Road". Unlike Mesopotamia, where the prehistoric cultural centers were established on the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates, the two main arteries of communi cation, in the central plateau navigable major rivers do not exist. Therefore, the establishment of a settlement depended on two important factors : an area not only suitable for living, but also with a specific geographical feature which could connect that area with the other cultural centers of the plateau in the shortest and easiest way. The location of the excavated prehistoric settl ements of the central plateau along the present main routes of the region testifies that the early prehistoric people of this central highland were using more or less the same routes. Thus, the earliest residents of the plateau must be credited as the first engineers who were responsible for the establishment of the present main roads of the central plateau. In the absence of a detailed archaeological survey in the central plateau, and the lack of any extensive knowl edge of the settlement patterns during the early prehis toric time in this central highland of Iran, one may argue that the location of the already known early settlements along the present routes may be accidental and that the prehistoric peoples of the central plateau may have used a totally different route or routes which passed through other more important settlements not yet known to us. In response to this argument it should be pointed out that the geographical factors of this region do not support such an idea. The existence of large salt desert basins on one hand, and the ranges. of bare mountains within the central plateau on the other hand, has limited the habitable areas to the edges of the deserts and the foot of the mountains. Therefore, all prehistoric settlements had to be limited to the marginal fertile lands of Damghan, Semnan, Rayy, Karaj, the Qazvin plain, Saveh, Qum. and Kashan (fig. 3). A study of the central plateau would show that the present roads crossing the region are the only alternatives and that all the settlements are located within a short distance of the roads. The three major roads of the central highland have always been of great strategic value, especially in connection with long distance trade, one running in an east-west direction, connecting Afghanistan to Asia Mi nor through Khorasan, Damghan, Semnan, Ravy, the Qazvin plain (1), Zanjan, Miyaneh, Tabriz and farther northwest, into Anatolia. From Miyaneh a second branch of this route extends to northern Mesopotamia by way of the Solduz Valley and the Gorges of the Little Zab. The second route, with a southwest-northeast di rection, connected Mesopotamia to Afghanistan by way of southern Assyria, Ghasr-e-Shirin, Kermanshah, Kan- gavar, Hamadan, Saveh, and Rayy. From this point it joined the east-west route where it continued to Afghanistan (2). This route with its full extension was the famous "Silk Road" or the "Great Khorasan Road". The third major route, with a southnorth direction, connected the southwestern provinces of Khuzistan and Fars to Rayy and farther east to Afghanistan by way of Isfahan, Kashan, and Qum (fig. 2). (1) The traceable remains of this route in the Qazvin plain shows that it passed by Tepe Ghabristan. See SHAHMIRZADI 1979 : 50. (2) DYSON 1965 : 215: LEV1NE 1973 : 4 : LE STRANGE 1905 : 9-10 and map n° V. 59 LAPIS LAZULI AND THE GREAT KHORASAN ROAD Tab CASPIAN S E A • Kashon L_ flsfahan Yard !_ • A h w a z , В и fjy > Abba; FIG. 1. - Map of Iran. i ., FIG. 2. - The Main Roads of the Iranian Central Plateau. 60 LAPIS LAZULI AND THE GREAT KHORASAN ROAD \.«ъ< О A ZVIN A I BUR Z RANGE . V T i H R A N DAMGHAN KAViR .-.;-;-:-/ DAMGHAN KAVIR StMNAN SAVI H ---_-.-.-_-_-.-_-. ------- KAVIR • qum "::-:-:-:-:■■:--:-- kavir masuieh -i, sangfarsh KASHAN KAViR. I BUZURG 1 00 km.! FIG. 3. - Iranian Central Plateau and the Great Kavir Region. It is equally interesting to see that the early prehistor ic settlements of the Qazvin plain, so far as we know, were the only cultural centres in the central plateau which were in direct contact with northern as well as southern Assyria, while Tepe Hissar was isolated from the rest of the plateau's cultural centres and could be reached only through Cheshmeh Ali. The Saveh region was the heart of this central highland with roads going out in all directions; not only was it astride the south west-northeast road, but it connected the Qazvin plain to Qum and Kashan. Therefore, a detailed survey in the area may produce significant additions to our present knowledge. Tepe Cheshmeh Ali lay on the most import ant single cross-road; it was the only gateway to the east. There the main roads from southern and northern Assyria, and from southwest and southern Iran join, with a single road continuing to the east. Sialk, in the southwestern corner of the region, like Hissar, was isolated but to a lesser extent from the rest of the central plateau, though it was connected with the rest of the Iranian central highland only through Qum and Saveh. But. due to the closeness of this site to the west central and the southwestern cultural centres, Tepe Sialk played an important role in the diffusion of some Susiana cultural elements into the more northern parts of the central plateau. Traders travelled through these roads and carried their merchandise from one region to another for mil lennia, especially during the historical periods. The main question, however, remains whether or not during the prehistoric time the full extension of either one of these three major roads crossing the central plateau was in use as an established regular trading route. The first scholar to introduce the idea of the use of the full extension of one of these three routes known as the "great Khorasan Road" as early as the Ubaid 4 period was Georgina Herrmann. In connection with the earl iest lapis lazuli trade, she has proposed that during the Late Ubaid and the Uruk periods of northern Mesopotam ia, and the Jemdet Nasr, Early Dynastic, and the Akkadian periods of southern Mesopotamia, traders tra velled through this route all the way from the north, and then from the south in Mesopotamia, to Badakh- shan in Afghanistan (3). On pages 53 and 54 of her lapis article she says : "... uploads/Ingenierie_Lourd/ lapis-lazuli-and-the-great-khorasan-road-pdf.pdf