Dahan-e Gholaman (''Dahan-i Ġulāmān'') or ''Dahaneh-e Gholaman'' is the modern name of a major

Achaemenid The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, wikt:𐎧𐏁𐏂𐎶, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an History of Iran#Classical antiquity, ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Bas ...

center and archeological site in eastern

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. It has been identified as Zranka/Zarin, the capital of the satrapy of Zranka/

Drangiana Drangiana or Zarangiana ( el, Δραγγιανή, ''Drangianē''; also attested in Old Western Iranian as 𐏀𐎼𐎣, ''Zraka'' or ''Zranka'', was a historical region and administrative division of the Achaemenid Empire. This region comprise ...

Geography

The archeological site known as Dahan-e Gholaman or Dahaneh-e Gholaman ("Gateway of the Slaves") is located some 30 km southeast of the modern city of

Zabol Zabol ( fa, , also transliterated as Zâbol or Zābul) is a city and capital of Zabol County, Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran. Zabol is near the border with Afghanistan. Referred to as Sistan until the late 1920s, the city was renamed Zabo ...

on a neck of land separating two of the modern Chah Nimeh reservoirs, about 8.5 km from the nearest point on the

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

border.

Archeology

Dahan-e Gholaman is the largest Achaemenid site in all of eastern Iran. Some 27 structures aligned roughly in a straight line running SW to NE along the northern edge of the site were excavated by the Italian archeologist U. Scerrato in 1962–1965 and by the Iranian archeologist S. M. S. Sajjadi in 2000–2005. Further geophysical and surface exploration in 2007–2011 revealed the outline of another monumental building situated 2 km south of the northern complex of buildings. Several of the larger structures excavated or detected at Dahan-e Gholaman have regular rectangular or square plans and bear comparison with the palatial buildings and audience halls of the Achaemenid royal residences at

Pasargadae Pasargadae (from Old Persian ''Pāθra-gadā'', "protective club" or "strong club"; Modern Persian: ''Pāsārgād'') was the capital of the Achaemenid Empire under Cyrus the Great (559–530 BC), who ordered its construction and the location of ...

and

Persepolis , native_name_lang = , alternate_name = , image = Gate of All Nations, Persepolis.jpg , image_size = , alt = , caption = Ruins of the Gate of All Nations, Persepolis. , map = , map_type ...

, as well as Dasht-e Gohar. One of the structures has been identified as a religious building, its three altars possibly dedicated to the leading Persian gods

Ahura Mazda Ahura Mazda (; ae, , translit=Ahura Mazdā; ), also known as Oromasdes, Ohrmazd, Ahuramazda, Hoormazd, Hormazd, Hormaz and Hurmuz, is the creator deity in Zoroastrianism. He is the first and most frequently invoked spirit in the ''Yasna''. ...

Anahita Anahita is the Old Persian form of the name of an Iranian goddess and appears in complete and earlier form as ('), the Avestan name of an Indo-Iranian cosmological figure venerated as the divinity of "the Waters" (Aban) and hence associate ...

, and

Mithra Mithra ( ae, ''Miθra'', peo, 𐎷𐎰𐎼 ''Miça'') commonly known as Mehr, is the Iranian deity of covenant, light, oath, justice and the sun. In addition to being the divinity of contracts, Mithra is also a judicial figure, an all-seeing ...

Identification and History

The size of the site, unparalleled in eastern Iran, and the characteristic layout of its public structures indicate that it served as a significant Achaemenid administrative center. Consequently, Dahan-e Gholaman has been identified as the capital of the Achaemenid province of Zranka/

. As such, the site's ancient name was also probably Zranka or, a variation, Zarin. The site's features exhibit parallels to those attested in the reign of

Darius I Darius I ( peo, 𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐏁 ; grc-gre, Δαρεῖος ; – 486 BCE), commonly known as Darius the Great, was a Persian ruler who served as the third King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 522 BCE until his ...

(), which would match the expected overall time-frame for its construction. The absence of stratigraphy at the site suggests a relatively short period of urban habitation, and it probably did not survive much beyond the Achaemenid period (). In particular, if the identification with the capital of Zranka/Drangiana is correct, the site would have been visited by

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...

during his pursuit of the usurper Bessos and his conquest of the region in the winter of 330–329 BC. After the decline and abandonment of Dahan-e Gholaman, the administrative center of the region was transferred 31 km to the northeast, to Nād-i `Alī in what is now Afghanistan, which was called Zaranj (or Zarang) in the Middle Ages.Schmitt (1995). The name has since been transferred, yet again, to the modern city of

Zaranj Zaranj or Zarang (Persian/Pashto/ bal, زرنج) is a city in southwestern Afghanistan, near the border with Iran, which has a population of 160,902 people as of 2015. It is the capital of Nimruz Province and is linked by highways with Lashkargah ...

in Afghanistan, located 4.4 km south of medieval Zaranj (Nād-i `Alī) and 28 km northeast of ancient Zranka (Dahan-e Gholaman).

Gallery

File:دهانه غلامان.jpg File:نمایی از دهانه غلامان.jpg File:LostFile JPG 265591175.jpg File:LostFile JPG 264869535.jpg File:LostFile JPG 265488887.jpg {{-

References

Bibliography

* Gnoli, G., "Dahan-e Ḡolāmān," i
''Encyclopaedia Iranica''
vol. 6 (1993), 582–585. * Mohammadkhani, K., "Une nouvelle construction monumentale achéménide à Dahaneh-e Gholaman, Sistan, Iran," ''Arta'' (2012.1) 1–18. * Scerrato, U., "Excavations at Dahaneh-e Gholaman (Sistan-Iran), First Preliminary Report (1962–1963)," ''East and West'', n.s. 16 (1966) 9–30. * Schmitt, R., "Drangiana," i
''Encyclopaedia Iranica''
vol. 7 (1995) 534–537. * Talbert, R. J. A., ''Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World,'' Princeton 2000.

External links

article on Dahan-e Gholaman by G. Gnoli (1993) in Encyclopædia Iranica Online.

article on Dahan-e Gholaman by K. Mohammadkhani in ''Arta'' (2012) on Achemenet.com.

article on Drangiana by R. Schmitt (1995) in Encyclopædia Iranica Online. Achaemenid cities Iranian archaeological sites History of Zoroastrianism Tourist attractions in Sistan and Baluchestan Province