Posted on 12/24/2004 11:47:31 AM PST by blam
5000 Years Ago, Women Held Power In Burnt City, Iran
Dec 23, 2004, 11:34
CHN
According to the research by an archeological team in the burnt city, women comprised the most powerful group in this 5000-year-old city.
The archeological team has found a great number of seals in the women's graves. In ancient societies, holding a seal was a sign of power, and was of 2 kinds: personal and governmental.
The burnt city ancient site located in Sistan-Baluchistan province, southeastern Iran, dates back to between 2000 and 3000 BC.
"In the ancient world, there were tools used as a means of economic control. Whoever had these tools at his disposal was among the most powerful people in the society", Mansour Sajjadi, the Iranian archeologist responsible for excavations in the burnt city told CHN.
According to Sajjadi, during the excavations in the burnt city cemetery, 90% of the graves in which the seals were found belonged to women. Only 5% of these seals were found in men's graves.
Sajjadi said, "Since we know that seals were buried with their owners 5000 years ago, it is reasonable to think the most important seals for the economic activities in the burnt city belonged to women. As the men worked as farmers and craftsmen away from the city, they reasonably had to give the seals to women who were always in the city, so that they were able to solve the problems of the city immediately."
After 8 season of research in the burnt city, this 5000-year-old site dating back to 3 or 4000 years ago still holds many secrets within. The burnt city was civilized and developed, and cherished very important ancient crafts including jewelry making and pottery. Last month, the oldest backgammon in the world along with its 60 pieces was unearthed beneath the rubble of this legendary city.
wow. look at those dice.
women have always had power.. in every culture in every time and in every place.
Women have those today. They're called Mastercard and Visa.
It's possible that all Iran's cities will go by that name, and soon.
http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description.asp?Da=10/1/2005&Cat=10&Num=5
Search for potters' graves set to begin at Burnt City
Tehran Times Culture Desk
TEHRAN – A team of archaeologists plans to search for the graves of potters at the Burnt City during the ninth stage of excavations at the site, the Persian service of CHN announced on Friday.
Located 57 kilometers from the city of Zabol in Iran's Sistan-Baluchestan Province, the Burnt City was one of the world's largest cities at the dawn of the urban era.
The head of the excavation team at the Burnt City, Mansur Sajjadi, said that the team is determined to identify the graves to learn more about the culture of workers in that era.
"The workshops were built outside of the city because of the pollution caused by the burning furnaces of the workshops. So the potters were obliged to build their houses near the workshops, and we think we will be able to find their graves near the workshops as well," he added. He pointed out that the discovery of the graves would not necessarily mean that high quality pieces of earthenware would be found, saying, "The earthenware in graves indicates the social level of the buried person. Graves with better pieces of earthenware show the person was of a higher class. And the potters were mostly from middle class families, so the discovery of their graves would shed light on the culture of workers of that society."
The Burnt City covers an area of 150 hectares and was one of the world's largest cities in the third millennium BC. It was built in 3200 BC and flourished until it was destroyed sometime around 2100 BC.
The city experienced four stages of civilization and was burnt down three times, and that is why it was named the Burnt City.
Although many studies have been carried out on the Burnt City, so far experts have not been able to determine the ethnicity and language of the city's inhabitants.
[related/similar topics, all newer than this one]
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Payvand | 12-27-2004
Posted on 12/28/2004 3:15:07 PM PST by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1309803/posts
Ancient Earrings Discovered At Burnt City Disprove Ornament Theory
Tehran Times | 3-9-2005
Posted on 03/09/2005 5:46:51 PM PST by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1359628/posts
Female population predominant in 5000-year-old Burnt City (Iran)
Tehran Times | April 5, 2005 | Tehran Times
Posted on 04/08/2005 4:10:12 PM PDT by nickcarraway
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1380120/posts
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