UNESCO sites of Kurdistan

[Welato_21]

[Zert]

PART 4C
RELIGIOUS SITES: CONCLUSION

7. The Nature of Dersim

I thought I may aswell pay hommage to the place where my origins lay, and talk a bit about Dersim. Dersim itself doesn’t have a lot of historical sites, but it seems that never has been a problem for the locals to find a place of reverence. Although there certainly are some tombs and mosques of great importance to the Dersimis, in the region itself nature, Xade’s own creation, is of greatest importance.

Duzgun Baba, for example, a great mountain is a pilgrimage site of sorts for the Dersimis. All over Dersim, there are mountains that are viewed as sacred, such as the Kirklar Mountain.

The Munzur Valley too, which contains a River that flows through whole Dersim, and at times ‘turns white’ due to the speed of its flow, is a holy site. There’s a legend that is attributed to the Munzur River:

Once upon a time, there was a respected feudal lord in Dersim. He had a loyal servant, called Munzur, a simple herdsman. Upon a day, when the lord was on pilgrimage to Mecca, the herdsman visited the lord’s wife, telling her that her husband would like some helva. The lord’s wife, figuring the herdsman wanted to helva for himself since her husband was all the way in Mecca, prepared this anyway, and gave it to the herdsman.
To the lord’s surprise, the herdsman appeared and approached him, and gave him a sack filled with helva. Perplexed, the lord accepted the helva, and before he knew it, the herdsman was gone again. Realizing that this was no ordinary man, he returned to Dersim. Upon receiving a warm welcome of all the villagers including the herdsman who was carrying jugs of milk, the lord stated ‘do not mind me, the real Saint here is Munzur’. The holy servant, a humble and shy man, not keen on too much attention, ran away when the villagers were aware of his divine nature, dropping his jugs of milk. Wherever he stepped and dropped milk white streams of water would appear, and after 40 steps Munzur disappeared, and what was left was the Munzur River. The sacred river which to this day turns milky white.
Source: http://www.munzur.nl/index_3.htm

Munzur Baba:



Duzgun Baba:



8. Dokkan-e Davoud (Kirmasan)

Near Kirmasan there exists yet another holy site of a religious minority. The place is called Dokkan-e Davoud (meaning: Shop of David), and is a site of great importance to the Yarsanis. 'Davoud' may refer to King David of the Torah.

It’s believed to stem from the Median or Achaemenid Period, and served as a tomb. It’s essentially a cave hewn out of a mountain, with the face of a mountain made smooth. Also on the mountain is a relief showing a holy figure (a Magi or perhaps Davoud himself). Near the mountain is a cemetary of the nearby Yarsani community, the Yarsanis still visit this place as a pilgrimage site and hold Davoud/David in very high regard.




Map of the structure of the tomb:

[alan131210]

25/04/2012 19:02

SULAIMANIYAH, April 24 (AKnews) - An British archaeology team has found the "missing link" of the stages of human evolution in Sulaimaniyah.

The exploration team began excavation last month at the the Bistan Sour site in Sulaimaniyah, home to at least 800 unexplored archaeological sites.

The director of the Antiquities Department in Sulaimaniyah, Kamal al-Rashid, said: "The results of exploration highlighted the transition of the man's ancestors from the stage of dwelling in caves and food collecting to the stage of early settlement and the production of food.

"We consider this process as a missing link that has now been discovered."

The team found a group of bones that belong to domesticated and wild animals, in addition to tools that were used by ancient man such as stones that were used to grind grain, which indicated a particular stage of human evolution.

The British excavators are expected to explore two more sites in Kurdistan Region, Shamshara in Rania plain and Zarzari cave in the Jamie Risan area.

The percentage of sites excavated in Sulaimaniyah is just 1%, and according to the law, newly discovered archaeological sites are under national protection.

By Hiba Ali

RN/SS/AKnews

[alan131210]

Sherwana Castle in Kalar

During drilling operations in a project between the town of Kelar …

and Girdagozina village, Sunday, human bones and old jars were found, while the Garmean antiquity teams are doing new drilling operations and search in the same site.

Ahmed Ismail, a graduate of the Faculty of Archaeology in Baghdad and the official at the Museum of the Department of Antiquities of Garmean, told the Kurdish news agency (Rn), " The municipality of Kelar informed us about finding human bones and old jars , during the drilling operations in the sewage drainage of the city, 5 km to the west of Castle (Sherwana). "

Salih Mohammed the director of Garmean Antiquities said:" These antiquities include a wall of one meter and a half along and it is built of red brick, with two holes like graves, as well as some bones and jars."

The source pointed out that "According to our antiquity specialists what has been found is dated back to the Sassanid era."
Kelar is 140 km southwest of Sulaymaniyah and it is the Garmean administrative centre and it was decided to be a district in February 28th, 1970 at the time of then-President Ahmad Hassan al-Bakr. Its area is 488 square kilometers, and its population is 163 750 people according to the ration card data.

http://www.shafaaq.com/en/history/566-h ... kalar.html

[alan131210]

13 kms East of Sulaimani , in Baranan mountain . professor Bredud was the first person in 1928 to conduct a research and who found some old stones aged 50,000 years old. the name Hazar Merd translates as one thousand husband , which means the caved can fit 1000 men.

















http://kurdish.sbeiy.com/Detail.aspx?id=7633&LinkID=13

[alan131210]

Drawi Kon

30/05/2012

GARMIYAN, May 30 (AKnews)- While working on his farmland, a villager from Garmiyan area found a silver coin, dating back to at least 2,200 years ago.

The villager found the silver coin when he was tilling his farm near a brook, said Mohammed Ali, press secretary for Garmiyan Archeological Directorate.

The villager dedicated the coin which dates back to 213 B.C.

Last week also in Kalar, the center of Garmiyan area, an ancient tomb was found with a number of artifacts in it.

[alan131210]

so much for assyrian barking that there are no traces of kurdish old artifacts in kurdistan



30/06/2012 14:26

DUHOK, June 30 (AKnews)- Two graves dating back to the first millennium B.C. have been discovered in a village in Duhok province, an official said today.

The graves were discovered in Barash village of Chamanke town, said Hassan Ahmed Qasem, Duhok archeology director.

Qasem added both graves are circular and built on a hill. The center of the graves is rectangular. The rectangle is two-meters deep in one of the graves and in the other 1.5m.

Both graves date back to the first millennium B.C. and to the era of Zardoshtis, Qasem said.

[jjmuneer]

Drawi Kon

30/05/2012

GARMIYAN, May 30 (AKnews)- While working on his farmland, a villager from Garmiyan area found a silver coin, dating back to at least 2,200 years ago.

The villager found the silver coin when he was tilling his farm near a brook, said Mohammed Ali, press secretary for Garmiyan Archeological Directorate.

The villager dedicated the coin which dates back to 213 B.C.

Last week also in Kalar, the center of Garmiyan area, an ancient tomb was found with a number of artifacts in it.

Thats an old Parthian Kurdish coin Looks like King Arsaces's coin.

[alan131210]

نوسراوە هی ساسانیەکانە ،لە ١٥ کم باکوری خواروی ساری بیشاپور لە ٨کم شاری قائم لە شاری کاروزان لە نوراباد لە گوندی قەندیل ، هێمایە بۆ هاوسەری شاپوی یەکەمی ساسانی و ملکە ازار اناهیتا

its written , it belongs to Sassanid era 10 km north west of Bishapur - Qandil , its a symbol for the Shapu king's spouse of Sassanid .

[alan131210]

By Abdul-Khaleq Dosky, Duhok, Kurdistan - Niqash

July 14, 2012

DUHOK, Kurdistan region, — Its history includes tales of love, war and tourism. But now an ancient bridge in the city of Zakho urgently needs maintenance. Will this historical relic go the same way so many of Iraq’s lost antiquities have?

Like every ancient bridge in the world, the Abbasi bridge in the northern city of Zakho has its own story to tell. Its old rocks have lost their colour over time but they still tell stories passed down by generations of locals.

One of the oldest revolves around a young man in the Abbasside era - the Abbaside dynasty ruled for almost two centuries from the year 750 - who fell in love with a girl living in the village on the opposite side of the river; he built the bridge so he could be with her.

Another story focuses on a Turkish architect who came to Zakho, which lies near the border of Iraq and Turkey, in the Middle Ages. A nearby Turkish governor had amputated one of his hands and as a kind of challenge to him, the architect decided to build a bridge.

Legend has it that the architect built the bridge by constructing both ends and then having it join in the middle. Using this method, the bridge was in danger of collapse many times. So the architect consulted a medium who told him that he should kill the first person to cross the river and bury the body in the centre of the bridge. Unhappily for her, the next day his son’s wife, a woman called Dalal, came across the river to bring him his breakfast. And apparently that is why to this day the locals know the crossing as the Dalal bridge.

But there’s one story the locals don’t know and that is the modern one about the bridge falling down – and sooner than they think.

The bridge’s stones have no original inscriptions and historians think it may have been built by the ancient Romans. But others believe it was built later and dates back to the Abbasside era, between the 8th and 13th centuries.

In the past the bridge was very important in that it was the only place one could cross Khabur river. Convoys of traders, carrying raisins and cotton, and military brigades all used this bridge.

With the construction of modern concrete and iron bridges in Zakho, the Abbasi bridge has become much less important. But locals still use the bridge to get from one Zakho neighbourhood to another and the bridge, with its five arches and large stones, still has an undeniable charm.
The Abbasi bridge is mostly a tourist attraction now and according to Zakho’s tourism department, between 100,000 and 150,000 bridge fanciers visit the site each year.

But these days, those visiting the bridge need to be cautious when crossing. Because of erosion and the damage done by time, the risk of falling 15.5 metres down to the water, off this 114 meter long bridge, is high - and getting higher.

“Unlike other bridges built nearby – such as the Bishok bridge on the Hizel river, which collapsed because one side stood on sand – the Abbasi bridge has been able to survive because it was built on solid rocks,” researcher Said Haji Sadiq, who has written two books on Zakho’s history, told NIQASH. “The stones used in the construction of the bridge vary in size – some are more than a meter in length and 80 centimetres wide.”

Lime was also used in the construction of the bridge and this has merged with the bridge’s structure over time.

Researcher Sadiq notes a picture of the Abbasi bridge from 1899. What’s different today is the nearby concrete wall constructed by state authorities and cement and stones that have been added.

“But the design of the bridge should not be altered,” Sadiq argues. “And any company that undertakes maintenance work must be made aware of the bridge’s historic significance.”

In fact, many of the old stones now have numbers on them – at one stage an errant Iranian company was contracted by the Kurdish authorities to maintain the bridge.

“The government contracted an Iranian company to maintain the bridge but it didn’t finish the work on deadline,” Hassan Ahmad, head of the state of Dohuk’s department of antiquities, said. “We asked the government to terminate the contract and to find another company, that could maintain the bridge according to UNESCO’s scientific standards. We are also seeking to have this bridge listed as one of the world’s important archaeological sites.”

Several civil society organizations in Kurdistan issued a statement last month demanding that the bridge be better maintained.

“We asked the government to protect this bridge and we asked them to contract specialized foreign companies to do the maintenance needed,” the head of a local group for the preservation of Kurdish history, Bayan Bafy, told NIQASH. “We also asked authorities to draft and pass a law to protect the heritage and antiquities of the region.”

Copyright ©, respective author or news agency, niqash.org

[alan131210]

actual graves

DUHOK, July 13 (AKnews)- Three egg-shaped graves have been discovered in Duhok province at the bank of Tigris, an official said today. The graves date back to 60 thousand years ago, said Hassan Ahmed Qasem, Duhok archeology director.

The two-level graves are 1.04m long, 63cm wide and one meter deep. Qasem said the people who lived in the ancient time in this area near Tigris thought human beings were created from eggs. Therefore, they buried the dead in egg-shaped graves.
The official did not provide further details. Almost two weeks ago Duhok Archeology Directorate announced it has discovered two graves in Barash village of Chamanke town.

It said the graves date back to Zardoshti era or the first millennium B.C. The circular graves were built on hills. The center of the graves was rectangular. The rectangle was two-meters deep in one of the graves and in the other 1.5m.

http://www.aknews.com/en/aknews/1/316799/

[alan131210]

18/07/2012 19:55
 
KALAR, July 18 (AKnews) – The skeletons of at least four 10-feet tall men have been found near the Kalar district, south of Kirkuk, that archeologists believe date back to thousands of years ago.

The discovery was made at Rahim Hills in Rizgari town, within the administrative territories of Kalar, where archeologists have been digging for about 6 weeks.

“We found a number of graves here. The skeleton of the men are so big and tall they are abnormal. These remains could date back to thousands of years BC” said Mohammed Ali, media official of Garmyan Archeology Department.
“We are now working on cleaning the graves. There are four of them. The height of the men according to their skeletons is about 3 meters [about 10 feet]” said Ali, “they are fascinating”

Besides the graves and the skeletons, a number of carved pottery works have been found in the same site, according to Ali. “These jars date back to about 4,500 BC”
Ali said the age of the jars has been determined by archeologists in the US, Turkey and Jordan after photos of the items were sent to them.

[brendar]

http://xendan.org/dreja.aspx?=hewal&jmara=42907&Jor=8

[Zert]

Cool.
Does the article say which civilization they were built by?

[brendar]

Cool.
Does the article say which civilization they were built by?

They are still working on it and it doesn't state what civilisation.