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The twin mounds of Konar Sandal are where a 5,000-year-old Bronze Age civilization, which has come to be known as the Jiroft Civilization, once lived. This civilization had a writing system, was the innovator of stone and adobe arts and created one of the first urban settlements.

Clay tablets found at Konar Sandal have inscriptions in the form of geometric shapes that bear no resemblance to Mesopotamian and Egyptian script and have yet to be deciphered. It is believed that the Elamite written language originated from this writing system.

Artifacts found in Konar Sandal include vessels, stone tablets with delicate eagle, scorpion and leopard designs that are unmatched to any artifacts uncovered at various archeological sites. 

One of the Konar Sandal mounds has yielded the remains of a city resembling the Burnt city of Sistan with a fortress at its center, a ziggurat-like temple and a two-meter statue of the ruler of this fortress.

Many archeologists believe the Jiroft Civilization is actually the lost Aratt civilization mentioned in Sumerian mythology. They believe that further studies of Konar Sandal artifacts will reveal Jiroft and not Mesopotamia as the oldest cradle of civilization in the world. The Twin Konar Sandal Mounds were registered as National Heritage Sites in 1966.

Twin Konar Sandal Mounds

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