Shahr-e Sukhteh

Shahr-e Sokhteh meaning the burnt city is an ancient city in the south-east of Iran that belongs to 3200 BC. Site excavations have revealed amazing facts about the civilization of the city independent of Mesopotamia.

The 280-hectare Shahr-e Sukhteh close to the overflowing Helmand River was comprised of residential and industrial areas, urban landmarks, clay water pipes, and cemetery. These components suggest complicated urban planning in the city. Shahr-e Sukhteh in its heyday was also a center for many industrial and art activities, and stunning artifacts were recovered in excavations. This evidence provide us with rich information about the emergence of complex societies and their relation in the third millennium BC.

Shahr-e Sukhteh’s fame, however, indebts to its particular unearthed objects. The earliest artificial eyeball made of a light material was discovered in the skull of a 1.82-meter woman. The remains of drilled tiny holes on her skull and the presence of golden threads prove that she benefited from the artificial eye during her lifetime. Furthermore, a skeleton of a teenage girl hints to the practice of skull surgery at that time. The world’s oldest backgammon shows its popularity during that time in the region. Also, a piece of adorned leather together with some dyed fabrics from the Bronze Age are also discovered. Among other discovered potteries in the site, there is an exceptional goblet representing the earliest animation in the history. It has five sequential images that depict sequences of a goat jumping, nipping and eating from tree leaves.