Cultural Landscape of Uramanat

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Uramanat Villages
Villages
Uraman Takht.jpg
Uraman Takht, Kurdistan, Iran
Coordinates: 35°06′26″N46°28′40″E / 35.1073°N 46.4778°E / 35.1073; 46.4778
CountryFlag of Iran.svg  Iran
Flag of Iraq.svg  Iraq
Region
Official nameCultural Landscape of Hawraman/Uramanat
Location Parts of the region in Iran
Criteria Cultural: (iii)(v)
Reference 1647
Inscription2021 (44th Session)

Cultural Landscape of Hawraman or Cultural Landscape of Uramanat is the 26th tangible cultural heritage of Iran. This remote and mountainous landscape bears testimony to the traditional culture of the Hawrami people, an agropastoral Kurdish tribe that has inhabited the region since about 3000 BCE. The property, at the heart of the Zagros Mountains in the provinces of Kurdistan and Kermanshah along the western border of Iran. [1]

Contents

The Uramanat Villages are located in the mountainous Kermanshah and Kurdistan Provinces of Iran and Halabja Governorate of Iraqi Kurdistan. The villages are unique in terms of architecture, lifestyle, and agricultural methodology. Villages are integrated with nature by incorporating steep-slope agriculture. [2] The 12 villages included in the property illustrate the Hawrami people’s evolving responses to the scarcity of productive land in their mountainous environment through the millennia. [1]

History

The earliest archaeological evidence shows that the region was inhabited by humans since Middle Paleolithic Period (more than 40,000 years ago). This evidence was discovered by archaeologists near Hajij village and between Naw and Asparez villages in the Sirwan valley. [3] Evidence for Late Paleolithic occupation discovered in a cave site called Kenacheh in the Perdi Mala valley. [4] These archaeological finds were unearthed during Darian Dam Archaeological Salvage Program that conducted several seasons of archaeological surveys and excavations within the area of the reservoir that led to the discovery of a number of important Paleolithic and more later sites. The Main excavated sites were Dārāi Rockshelter (Middle Paleolithic), Kenācheh Cave (Upper Paleolithic), Ruwār tomb (Iron Age), Sar Cham (Chalcolithic and Iron Age), and Barda Mār (19th century). Except for Ruwar sites, all other excavated sites were flooded in 2015-2016. [5] The Inscription of Sargon II at Tang-i Var pass near the village of Tang-i Var, indicate that the region was occupied by Assyrians during their military campaigns into Zagros. This Royal Inscriptions blongs to Sargon II, King of Assyria (721–705 BC). [6]


The Parchments of Avroman, a set of three documents from the Seleucid and Parthian eras, were found in the region in 1909. They were discovered in a cave on Kuh-e Salan Mountain, near the village of Shar Hawraman, and subsequently sent to London. The documents date from 88/87 BC to 33 AD, with two written in Greek and one in Parthian. They document the sale of a vineyard and another land, and include the names of Pātaspak, son of Tīrēn and Awīl, son of Baænīn. [7]

World Heritage status

This site was first added to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List on August 9, 2007. [2] On July 27, 2021, it along with part of the Hawraman region were officially inscribed on the World Heritage List as a cultural site under the name "Cultural Landscape of Hawraman/Uramanat". [8] [9]

Hawraman Cultural Landscape was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as the 26th tangible cultural heritage of Iran at the 44th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee.

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Kurdistan or Kordestan province is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. The province is 28,817 km2 in area and its capital is the city of Sanandaj. Other counties with their major cities are Saqqez, Baneh, Marivan, Qorveh, Bijar, Kamyaran, Dehgolan, Diwandarreh and Sarvabad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ravansar</span> City in Kermanshah province, Iran

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Avroman</span> Region

Avroman or Hawraman, is a mountainous region located within the provinces of Kurdistan and Kermanshah in western Iran and in north-eastern Kurdistan Region in Iraq. The main part of the Hawraman region is located in Iran and encompasses two components of the Central-Eastern Valley ; and the Western Valley. The mode of human habitation in these two valleys has been adapted over millennia to the rough mountainous environment. Tiered steep-slope planning and architecture, gardening on dry-stone terraces, livestock breeding, and seasonal vertical migration are among the distinctive features of the local culture and life of the Hawrami Kurdish people who dwell in lowlands and highlands during different seasons of each year. On July 27, 2021, part of the Hawraman region along with Uramanat were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as a cultural site under the name "Cultural Landscape of Hawraman/Uramanat".

The Baradostian culture was an Upper Paleolithic flint industry culture found in the Zagros region in the border-country between Iraq and Iran. It was preceded by the Middle Paleolithic Mousterian culture, directly overlying it without an intervening bladelet industry. This culture is known for the high percentage of burins and some of these were similar to the distinctive nosed profile of the Aurignacian burins. Baradost is one of the mountains in the Zagros Mountains in Iraq.

Sefid-Ab is an archeological site in central Iran and is the first known evidence for Upper Paleolithic occupation of that region.

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Fereidoun Biglari is an Iranian archaeologist and a museum curator.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Qal'eh Bozi</span> Cave and archaeological site in Iran

Qal'eh Bozi is a complex of caves sites located about 25 km (15.5 mi) south-southwest of Isfahan, Iran; northeast of Dizicheh and north of Hassanabad. The sites include two rock shelters and a cave located at altitudes between 1,750 and 1,810 m above sea level. The caves are found on the southern face of a limestone mountain of lower Cretaceous age that rises to more than 500 m (1,640.4 ft) above the plain floor. From the cave entrance there is a commanding view of the plain below and of the Zaiandeh Rud River flowing about 2 km (1.2 mi) to the south and southeast.

The Parchments of Avroman are three parchment documents, found in 1909 in a cave in the Hawraman region of Iranian Kurdistan. They were found in Tang-i Var, Kuh-e Salan Mountain, near the village of Shahr Hawraman. The documents were found in a sealed jar by a villager, and then sent to London in October 1913.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Meywala</span> Mountain in western Iran with archaeological caves

Maiwala or Farokhshad is a mountain of the Zagros Mountains, located in western Iran, north of the city of Kermanshah. It is one of the mountains of Paraw range, with an altitude of 2445 above sea level. It is about 5 km long from the Tang-e Malavard at west to Taq-e Kenesht at east. The mountain contains several archaeological caves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darian Dam Archaeological Salvage Program</span>

Darian Dam was constructed on the Sirwan River between 2009 and 2015. The Dam is located in the Hawrāmān region of Kurdistan and Kermanshah. The Darian Dam Archeological Salvage Program (DDASP) was planned by the Iranian Center for Archaeological Research before flooding the reservoir.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Inscription of Sargon II at Tang-i Var</span> Kurdish historical inscription

The Inscription of Sargon II at Tang-i Var is carved on the flanks of the Zinanah Mt. in the Tang-i Var pass in Hawraman, Iranian Kurdistan, about 50 km southwest of Sanandaj. It was discovered during an archaeological survey carried out by Sardaraz in 1968.

Malaverd is an archaeological site in the north of Kermanshah, in Iran. It is located in the Tang-e Malaverd valley, at the western end of Mount Meywala, about 8 km (26,247 ft) from the west of Taq-e Bostan. Malaverd is one of the Paleolithic cave sites in the south of Mount Meywala. This site was recorded during a survey conducted be Fereidoun Biglari in 1999 and registered in the Iran National Heritage List in 2005. The site was excavated by a team of archaeologists under the direction of Sonia Shidrang in August 2012. The site contained a 170 cm thick sequence of archaeological deposits. The excavations revealed that the cave was occupied during the Middle Paleolithic, Upper Paleolithic, Chalcolithic, Iron Age III, and Parthian. The cave is the first Upper Paleolithic site in the Kermanshah region that was excavated by an Iranian archaeologist and the first dated Upper Paleolithic site in the region. The other important cave site near Malaverd is Do-Ashkaft Cave.

Darai Rockshelter is an archaeological site in the southwest of Kurdistan Province, in west Iran. It is located in the Sirwan River valley, between Naw and Asparez villages, in the Hawraman region. It faces NNW at an altitude of 760m a.s.l.The shelter was discovered during Darian Dam Archaeological Salvage Program in 2015, excavated in 2015–2016, and it was subsequently submerged in 2016.

The Archaeology of Iran encompasses the following subjects:

References

  1. 1 2 Cultural Landscape of Hawraman/Uramanat - UNESCO World Heritage Centre
  2. 1 2 The Cultural Landscape of Uramanat - UNESCO World Heritage Centre
  3. ↑ "Digs hint 40,000 yrs. of man life in Hawraman".
  4. ↑ Biglari, F and S. Shidrang (2019) Rescuing the Paleolithic Heritage of Hawraman, Kurdistan, Iranian Zagros, Near Eastern Archaeology 82 (4): 226-235.https://doi.org/10.1086/706536
  5. ↑ Biglari, F., (2021) Construction de barrage et archéologie de sauvetage dans le Zagros, ARCHÉOLOGIA 595: 10-11.
  6. ↑ Frame, G. (1999). The inscription of Sargon II at Tang-i Var. Orientalia, 68(1), 31-57.
  7. ↑ Edmonds, C. J. (1952). "The Place Names of the Avroman Parchments". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. 14 (3): 478–82. doi:10.1017/S0041977X00088455. ISSN 0041-977X
  8. ↑ ""Hawraman" rural landscape inscribed in World Heritage List". Mehr News Agency. 2021-07-27. Retrieved 2021-07-27.
  9. ↑ UNESCO (2021-07-27). "Cultural sites in Africa, Arab Region, Asia, Europe, and Latin America inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List". UNESCO. Retrieved 2021-07-27.
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