[Stones] Kharg Island

[ewc]

Discovery of 3000-Years old Board-Games and a Compass-Rose in Persian Gulf's
Kharg Island

19 April 2008


http://www.cais-soas.com/CAIS/Images2/General/Kharg_Board_Game.jpg

Picture courtesy of Persian service of CHN

LONDON, (CAIS) -- An ancient four-pointed compass-rose showing directions of
'four cardinal points' and a number of board-games carved on rocks
discovered in the Iranian island of Kharg in the Persian Gulf, reported
Persian service of CHN on Saturday.

The discovery was made by Shahram Eslami, a local and a member of Kharg's
Friends of Cultural Heritage. The relics were studied and their ancient
origins identified by Dr Reza Moradi Ghiasabadi.

"The engravings are between 2000 and 3000 years old. The first discovered
carving is located beside an ancient road which is a four-pointed
compass-rose showing directions of four cardinal points within a
square-shape with rounded angles setting, 50x50cm in diameters. Some
sections of the compass-rose have been damaged, apparently as the result of
a cracks in the rock," said Ghiasabadi.

He added, "the compass-rose's lines have been placed in a position to
determine the cardinal points, which have only two degrees of error based on
the Global Positioning System (GPS)".

"Thos is a unique discovery and a great deal of efforts and resources should
be made available to safeguard the relic. Also we must not remove it from
its original place," according to Ghiasabadi

The remaining carvings which are board-games were discovered in the
northwest of the island. The board-games are in a mixture of circular and
oblong shape settings, in various diameters, some 4cm and some in 10cm in
circumference (see the picture). All these carvings engraved over the
rocky-ground's flat surfaces. The latter ones are located on the hinterland
at the top of the cliff overlooking the waters of the Persian Gulf.

These game-boards have been carved on the rocks in various settings and
Ghiasabadi have identified seven of them. Some of them could be the
proto-type for backgammon.

The Persian Gulf's Iranian island of Kharg is situated at about 30 km
northwest of Bandar-e Rig and 52 km northwest of Bushehr. It is the larger
and more southerly of two islands (the other being Khargu). Kharg (also
Khark) is about 8 km long and, at its widest point, 4 km across. The
interior is hilly, terminating in cliffs at the northern and southern ends
of the island.

Archaeologists have always believed the oldest settlement on the island
dates back to Parthian dynastic era (248 BCE-224 CE), but as the result of a
discovery in November 2007 history of the island was re-written, as the
archaeologists have discovered an inscription (LINK
<http://www.cais-soas.com/News/2007/November2007/16-11.htm> ) executed in
Old-Persian cuneiform, dated to the Achaemenid dynasty (550-330 BCE). Since
its discovery, the rock-inscription has been left unprotected in its
original place at the mercy of looters, vandals, and harsh weather.

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