Prior post.I looked for a confirming story last night and did not find one, but here's one that I found this morning, published by the Tehran Times. Here is the photo accompanying the story.
View Rate : 394 # News Code : TTime- 166719 Print Date : Sunday, April 20, 2008
Ancient game boards and compass discovered in southern Iran
Tehran Times Culture Desk
TEHRAN -- Archaeological studies on some engravings on rocks on Khark Island have identified them as a compass and ancient game boards.
The engravings are between 2000 and 3000 years old, archaeologist Reza Moradi Ghiasabadi, who conducted the recently concluded studies, told the Persian service of CHN on Saturday.
The compass has been etched in rectangular form with rounded angles on a flat rock located on the ground beside an ancient route, Moradi Ghiasabadi explained. A curve has been engraved on the upper half and four lines forming a cross stretch to the four sides of the rectangular shape, he noted. The lines have been placed in a position to determine the cardinal points and have only two degrees of error based on the Global Positioning System (GPS), he added.
The compass has been damaged in some parts because it appears to have been severed from a larger rock in a collapse. “It is a unique discovery in Iran and a great effort should be made to safeguard it because we must not relocate it due to its use in positioning,” Moradi Ghiasabadi noted.
He has also discovered a series of game boards carved in different shapes on stone and coral rocks, mostly on the shoreline. The game boards, which are being threatened by erosion, bear round holes measuring four to ten centimeters in diameter.
Archaeologists had previously discovered wooden game boards at the 5200-year-old Burnt City, near the city of Zabol in Sistan-Baluchestan Province, and a similar game board made of stone in Kermanshah. [Actually, as far as I am aware, only one wooden game board was ever recovered at Shar-i Sokhtah, the Burnt City - I wrote about it in an article at Goddesschess].
The Khark game boards have been created in different shapes and are something like modern backgammon boards, Moradi Ghiasabadi stated. He has identified seven types of ancient game board on the island so far.
In mid-November 2007, an Achaemenid era stone inscription was discovered during a road construction project on Khark Island, which reads “(This) land was a dry area with no water; (I) brought happiness and welfare, Bahana… water wells.” The cuneiform inscription, which is etched on a piece of uneven rock encrusted with coral, is also threatened by the forces of nature and vandalism because the valuable relic has been provided no protection. Photo: An ancient game board, Khark Island
1 comment:
hello dear sir or madam. i was searching through the net for new findings or news about kharg island and fortunatley i found ur blog. as soon as i read the title " kharg island game boards confirmed" i read the post and decided to leave some notes. this is not a complain but let say there is always some people or ,aybe most of of people who try to become famouse. one of those persons who tries to become famous is the person who is now the explorer of these game boards. but the fact is that he or even another person " shahram eslami" who was his local guide aren't the first people finding these game. i am the one who first showed these game off to mr.shahram eslami and after that he cheated me and called his friend "ghiasabadi" in iran's heritage organization and they decided to register it in their names. this is the real story of these games. but now the question is, who is responsible fpr maintaning these historical heritages? is mr.ghiasabadi or his fucking organisation or mr.eslami who has a hot passion to become a famous one?
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