The City of Yeri

The city of Yeri (Shahr-e Yeri), also called the “city of mouthless”, is an ancient less known archaeological site of around 400 hectares in the northwest of Iran, near Pirazman village, Ardabil Province. This ancient site dating back to at least 6000 BCE comprises ruins of around 100 abstract stone human sculptures, a cemetery, a fortress, a hill called Qosha, and three temples. A particular feature of these sculptures refers to their uncanny and intriguing mouthless faces, except for one of them but they also have a hand and sword. They are almost in a similar shape but are 35 to 250 cm in height scattered around the main temple of the site. Some attribute the mouthless figures with the exception of one figure to the hypothesis that only the speaker of the temple could speak. It is also believed this exceptional figure is a woman because of its hair clips. Importantly, the bodies of this city had been buried with their belongings in around 400 stone tombs, implying their belief in an afterlife. More generally, Ardebil and Meshgin Shahr, two cities near this ancient site, are locally known for their historical and natural attractions and so travelers can visit a diverse collection of them by traveling to this part of Iran.

Photo by behzad moloud / Shutterstock