Discovery of 3000-Years old Board-Games and a Compass-Rose in Persian Gulf’s Kharg Island
- From: Jack Linthicum <jacklinthicum@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 20 Apr 2008 02:53:59 -0700 (PDT)
Discovery of 3000-Years old Board-Games and a Compass-Rose in Persian
Gulf’s Kharg Island
19 April 2008
Picture courtesy of Persian service of CHN
LONDON, (CAIS) -- An ancient four-pointed compass-rose showing
directions of ‘four cardinal points’ and a number of board-games
carved on rocks discovered in the Iranian island of Kharg in the
Persian Gulf, reported Persian service of CHN on Saturday.
The discovery was made by Shahram Eslami, a local and a member of
Kharg’s Friends of Cultural Heritage. The relics were studied and
their ancient origins identified by Dr Reza Moradi Ghiasabadi.
"The engravings are between 2000 and 3000 years old. The first
discovered carving is located beside an ancient road which is a four-
pointed compass-rose showing directions of four cardinal points within
a square-shape with rounded angles setting, 50x50cm in diameters. Some
sections of the compass-rose have been damaged, apparently as the
result of a cracks in the rock," said Ghiasabadi.
He added, "the compass-rose's lines have been placed in a position to
determine the cardinal points, which have only two degrees of error
based on the Global Positioning System (GPS)".
“This is a unique discovery and a great deal of efforts and resources
should be made available to safeguard the relic. Also we must not
remove it from its original place," emphasised Ghiasabadi
The remaining carvings which are board-games were discovered in the
northwest of the island. The board-games are in a mixture of circular
and oblong shape settings, in various diameters, some 4cm and some in
10cm in circumference (see the picture). All these carvings engraved
over the rocky-ground’s flat surfaces. Thes are located on the
hinterland at the top of the cliff overlooking the waters of the
Persian Gulf.
These game-boards have been carved on the rocks in various settings,
which Ghiasabadi have managed to identify seven of them. Some of them
could be a proto-type for backgammon.
The Persian Gulf's Iranian island of Kharg is situated at about 30 km
northwest of Bandar-e Rig and 52 km northwest of Bushehr. It is the
larger and more southerly of two islands (the other being Khargu).
Kharg (also Khark) is about 8 km long and, at its widest point, 4 km
across. The interior is hilly, terminating in cliffs at the northern
and southern ends of the island.
Archaeologists have always believed the oldest settlement on the
island dates back to Parthian dynastic era (248 BCE-224 CE), but as
the result of a discovery in November 2007 history of the island was
re-written, as the archaeologists have discovered an inscription
(http://www.cais-soas.com/News/2007/November2007/16-11.htm) executed
in Old-Persian cuneiform, dated to the Achaemenid dynasty (550-330
BCE). Since its discovery, the rock-inscription has been left
unprotected in its original place at the mercy of looters, vandals,
and harsh weather.
http://www.cais-soas.com/News/2008/April2008/19-04.htm
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