Sistan

Kooh-e Khajeh (Kajeh Mountain), with 120m height and 2-2.5km in diameter, is located at Hamoon Lake like an island. Since the archaic era, due to its specific geopolitical location, religious sacredness, and the natural beauty especially at the times of water-richness at Hamoon, this place caused the formation of settlements. Based on an intensive archaeological survey conducted in this region, seventeen sites have been identified of which thirteen possess earthenware. Through typological and chronological studies of potteries found at surface level, two era of settlement have been identified in this Mount: one refers to the pre-Islam era beginning from 3rd century B.C. until the end of Sassanians; the second belongs to the Islamic era particularly on the basis of glazed potteries scattered on the surface as well as some structures built during 6th and 8th century Hegira. The buildings and structures related to the pre-Islam era include palaces, defensive forts and citadels, and temples, whereas; the buildings of the Islamic era are exclusively related to some religious places such as shrines, mausoleums and cemeteries.

Kuh-e Khajeh in Sistan, a mesa 120m height in respect of Sistan plain flat, is located 20 Km south-west of Zabol. This is one of most important historical area in Sistan. In account of its religious and political importance, a series remarkable of structures were built on its flat surface and eastern slight slopes since very ancient times. Despite of the studies of archaeologists and scholars, there have been provided no certain chronology about it and a few studies which have been done are merely based on the architecture of this site. In this research, based on the pottery data it is tried to make a relative chronology on palace of Kuh-e Khajeh. In doing so, the required data was gathered under systematic survey method in the castle’s area. Considering that the recognizing the potteries’ specifications is an important task in the archaeological studies, therefore, the study of potteries’ specifications was given a specific priority. And in doing so, the collected remarkable potteries from the site were classified and typologically studied, accordingly. According to the results obtained from the typology of potteries, Kuh-e Khajeh palace has had three different settlement phases: the first was Parthians, the second was Sassanids and the third was known to be the Islamic phase (6-8 AH centuries), respectively.

Simultaneous with the arrival of Arabs, Sistan in the southeastern part of Iran although conquered, still preserved some of the pre-Islamic elements that could survive for centuries. The study and analysis of historical texts and resources reflect religious freedom among the people who had settled in Sistan for centuries. In that area, pre-Islamic Iranian beliefs such as Zoroastrianism and other religions and sects such as Christianity and Judaism were prevalent. Islam had also sects in Sistan, such as Kharijites (or the Khavarij), Karamis and Ismailis. In the meantime, the Khavarij, who were formed after the adversarial process and disintegration of the supporters of Imam Ali (PBUH) and later settled in the eastern parts of Iran due to the pressure of the Umayyads and Abbasids with branches such as Ghali Arzagheh, Atvieh, and Ajardeh, played an effective role in the survival of other religions and sects. In this research, the authors try to use the descriptive-analytical method by referring to historical sources. The goal is to give more clarity to the role of the Khawarij in the life and persistence of different religions in Sistan during the Islamic period, proving its accuracy by providing clear evidences and solid documents.

Dahān-e Qolāmān is one of the Achaemenid sites in the eastern part of Iran. Archaeologically, it is significant since it is the only excavated Achaemenid site at eastern half of Iran and relatively revealing information on urbanization, architecture, administrative, religious, industrial buildings as well as pottery manufacturing.  The most important structure of Dahān-e Qolāmān is “Building No. 3” that has attracted the attention of different archaeologists and experts on its function. Ovens and fireplaces are among most important features of the structure that culminated to high variations at period “B”. Considering finding archaeological evidences and their comparison to Zoroastrian written sources, especially Avesta, it appears that the Building No. 3 belonged to Zoroastrians from Dranka province, and the regional Satrap supervised its construction according to orthodox religious basics, while fundamentally differs from Zoroastrian beliefs of western Iran.

In Sistan, with an area of 8117 square meters, some 1660 archaeological sites have been explored during two phases of field surveys. The National Geographical Organization of the Armed Forces of Iran has divided Sistan into 22 geographical districts. The south of Qale Rustam Domain with an area of 295 square meters was the aim of second phase of investigation that could discover 280 archaeological sites. Most of them belong to Bronze Age. The site number 152 in the South of Qale Rustam Domain, which is located near the Iran-Afghanistan border with an area of 27000 square meters, was formed simultaneously with Shahr-e Sokhta. During the investigation, two stone objects resembling handbags, as well as a plenty of potsherds were found. The potsherds found at the surface level, both simple and designed are of the types found in phases 5-8 of Shahr-e Sokhta, which date back to the first half of the third millennium B.C. The specific function of these bags is still unclear, but seems to be weights or scale. However, based on chronological studies, these bags, like the other cultural proofs found around them especially pottery, can be attributed to the first half of the third millennium B.C.

Purpose- Nowadays, with the disappearance of traditionalism in rural housing design, constructions that deviate from the traditional and indigenous housing patterns are noticeable, and as a result, native values and traditions in rural housing have been disregarded. On the other hand, rural housing is the most humanistic subject of architecture and provides for the diverse needs of local residents. Therefore, this research was conducted with the aim of examining the effective factors in preserving the values of endemic housing and regional texture in Sistan towards revitalizing rural settlements.Design/ Methodology/ Approach- The qualitative-quantitative research method was used in the present study. The statistical population consisted of two parts: the first part included experts and graduates in architecture who were selected as a sample size of 20 people based on purposive sampling. The second part consisted of the villagers of Qaleh now, Deh Arbab, and Deh now Piran. Background field method, Delphi method, FARAS + FKOPRAS models were used to analyze data in both qualitative and quantitative sections.Finding- the results of background theory showed that from the perspective of experts, some factors such as preserving rural landscape, principles of protecting native housing values towards development with a focus on indigenous culture, interaction in preservation and revitalization of regional fabric and rural indigenous housing as well as cultural tourism in villages were identified as effective factors in preserving endemic rural housing values. Also, Delphi results showed that Kendall’s coefficient for concepts and meaningful units obtained from expert interviews did not differ significantly. In this regard, fuzzy model results showed that developing an ideal pattern for indigenous housing in Sistan with a weight of 70/72; principles of protecting native housing values towards development with a focus on indigenous culture with a weight of 66/72; integrated and cohesive management with a weight of 59/72, received the highest and lowest importance in preserving indigenous rural housing values in Sistan respectively.

The commercial and cultural relations of Shahr-i Sokhta with neighboring areas have a relatively long and complex history. During the first period of Shahr-i Sokhta, there are many evidences indicating the connection of this large center with the south of Mesopotamia, Elam and the southern parts of the Iranian plateau. There was also an extensive connection between this center and Central Asia, Afghanistan and the Waziristan region that overlooks the Indus valley. Based on archeological evidence, in parallel with the emergence of the social and economic structure and the beginning of urbanization, we see a significant expansion of trade with distant regions.