year 9, Issue 33 (12-2025)
Parseh J. Archaeol. Stud. 2025, 9(33): 115-141 |
Back to browse issues page
Download citation:
BibTeX | RIS | EndNote | Medlars | ProCite | Reference Manager | RefWorks
Send citation to:
BibTeX | RIS | EndNote | Medlars | ProCite | Reference Manager | RefWorks
Send citation to:
Mohammadifar Y, Broshan S. (2025). Redefining the Middle Elamite Territorial Landscape in the Central Zagros Corridor: Four Archaeological Sites from Sahneh, Kermanshah. Parseh J. Archaeol. Stud.. 9(33), 115-141. doi:10.61882/PJAS.294.1455
URL: http://journal.richt.ir/mbp/article-1-1455-en.html
URL: http://journal.richt.ir/mbp/article-1-1455-en.html
1- Professor, Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Art and Architecture, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran.
2- M. A. student, Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Art and Architecture, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran. (Corresponding Author). ,saeedbro827@gmail.com
2- M. A. student, Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Art and Architecture, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran. (Corresponding Author). ,
Abstract: (734 Views)
The city of Sahneh, located 54 kilometers northeast of Kermanshah in the central Zagros passage, plays a crucial role as a strategic crossroads, linking the Iranian central plateau to Mesopotamia and connecting the internal plains of Kermanshah to Hamadan. Archaeological surveys in Sahneh County, conducted in 2003, employed the site survey method, whereby all ancient sites were studied in terms of their geographical location and settlement sequence. This approach provides the necessary data for interpreting the settlement history of the region. As a result of this field research, for the first time, two archaeological sites containing cultural materials from the Middle Elamite period were identified in this area. This discovery significantly extends the cultural domain of the Middle Elamite period in the Zagros toward the east and northeast, indicating that the influence of this civilization extended beyond its known centers in the southwestern provinces of Iran (such as Khuzestan, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, Fars, and Bushehr) as far as Kermanshah Province. Given the importance of these findings, further surveys were carried out in 2024 and 2025 to identify Middle Elamite sites in Sahneh. Following this research, two additional sites with Middle Elamite cultural materials were discovered. These findings not only confirm the existence of an active cultural-commercial corridor in this region but also highlight the necessity of revising cultural-geographical maps and historical developments of the Middle Elamite period in the central Zagros. Continued studies and targeted excavations at these sites can clarify the role of this region in the network of cultural interactions between the Iranian Plateau and Mesopotamia and are expected to lead to a fundamental reassessment of current perspectives on the history of this era.
Type of Study: Research |
Subject:
Special Archeology
Received: 2024/02/20 | Accepted: 2024/05/29 | Published: 2025/12/22
Received: 2024/02/20 | Accepted: 2024/05/29 | Published: 2025/12/22
References
1. - Alden, J. R., Heskel, D., Hodges, R., Johnson, G. A., Kohl, P. L., Korfmann, M., Lamberg-Karlovsky, C. C., Le Brun, A., Vallat, F., Levine, L. D., Marchese, R. T., Mellaart, J., Nissen, H. J., Shaffer, J. G. & Watkins, T., (1982). “Trade and politics in Proto-Elamite Iran [Comments and reply]”. Current Anthropology, 23(6): 613–640. https://doi.org/10.1086/202914
2. - Al-Istakhri, Abu-I. I. ibn-M. al-F., (1961). Masālik al-Mamālik. (4/10th century) Citing the Leiden University Libraries as a source is appreciated.
3. - Alizadeh, A., (2010). “The Rise of the Highland Elamite State in Southwestern Iran”. Current Anthropology, 51 (3): 353-383. https://doi.org/10.1086/652437
4. - Allahpoor. A, Mohammadifar, Y. & Molazadeh, K., (2025). “New-Found Elamite Sites in South Lorestan, Iran (South Basin of Kashkan River)”. A Persica Antiqua, 5 (9): 5-26. https://doi.org/10.22034/pa.2024.454341.1095
5. - Álvarez-Mon, J. (2012). “Elam: Iran ’ s First Empire”. Editor: Potts, D. T. A Companion to the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, 740- 757. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444360790
6. - Álvarez-Mon, J., (2020). The Art of Elam ca. 4200–525 BC. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003018254
7. - Amiet, P., (2002). History of Elam (S. Bayani, Trans.). Tehran: University of Tehran Press (in Persian).
8. - De Miroschedji, P., (1981). “Fouilles du chantier Ville Royal II à Suse (1975-1977)”. I. Les niveaux Élamites, DAFI, 12: 9-136.
9. - Gasche, H., (1973). La Poterie Elamite du deuxième millénaire a.c, MDP=47, Tome. XLII. Paris. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004659438
10. - Ghirshman, R., (1994). Chogha Zanbil (Dur-Untash). Vol. 1, (A. Karimi, Trans.). Tehran: Cultural Heritage Organization of Iran (in Persian).
11. - Ghirshman, R., (1996). Iran: From the earliest times to the Islamic conquest. London: Penguin Books.
12. - Jacobsen, T., (1939). The Sumerian King List. Assyriological Studies 11. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
13. - Majidzadeh, Y., (1991). The Political History of Elam. Tehran: University of Tehran Press.
14. - Mellaart, J., Nissen, H. J., Shaffer, J. G. & Watkins, T., (1982). “Trade and politics in Proto-Elamite Iran [Comments and reply]”. Current Anthropology, 23(6): 613–640. https://doi.org/10.1086/202914
15. - Mofidi-Nasrabadi, B., (2012). “Vorbericht der Archäologischen Ausgrabungen der kampagnen 2008-2010 in Haft Tappeh(Iran)”. Elamica, 2: 55-159.
16. - Mofidi-Nasrabadi, B., (2018). “Elam in the Middle Elamite period”. In: The Elamite World (pp. 232-248). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315658032-13
17. - Mohammadifar, Y., (2003). “Archaeological survey, documentation, and identification of Sahneh county”. General Office of Cultural Heritage of Kermanshah Province. (Unpublished report), (in Persian).
18. - Mohammadifar, Y., (2007). “A look at the achievements of the archaeological survey and identification project of Sahneh county”. Iranian Studies, 11: 173–194 (in Persian).
19. - Mohamadifar, Y., Mollazade, K. & Noruzi, A., (2017). “Middle Elamite Archaeological Evidence in the Upper Karun Basin”. Journal of Archaeological Studies, 8(2): 131-150 (in Persian). https://doi.org/10.22059/jarcs.2017.61773
20. - Negahban, E., (1993). Excavations at Haft Tepe in Khuzestan plain (1st ed.). Tehran: Cultural Heritage Organization of Iran (in Persian).
21. - Potts, D., (2006). Archaeology of Elam (Z. Basti, Trans.). Tehran: Samt. (in Persian).
22. - Scheil, V., (1931). “Dynasties Élamites d’Awan et de Simas”. Revue d’Assyriologie et d’Archéologie Orientale, 28(1): 1–46. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23283945
23. - Stolper, M. W., (2010). History of Elam. (S. Jalilian, Trans.). Tehran: Toos. (in Persian).
24. - Vallat, F., (2017). “History of Elam”. Jundishapur Journal, 3 (11): 66-91. (M. Heidarzadeh, Trans.). (in Persian). http://bjes.ir/post/Genesis14
Send email to the article author
| Rights and permissions | |
 |
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. |