Halīl River or HalīlRood (also ''Haliri River'', known as the ''Kharaw'' or ''ZarDasht River'' in its upper reaches) is a river stretching for some running in the

Baft Baft ( fa, بافت, also romanized as Bāft) is a city and capital of Baft County, Kerman Province, Iran. Baft is located southwest of Kerman. At the 2006 census, its population was 35,008, in 8,265 families. Notably, Baft is one of the highest ...

Jiroft Jiroft ( fa, جیرفت, also Romanized as Jīroft; formerly, Sabzāwārān, Sabzevārān, Sabzevārān-e Jiroft, and Sabzvārān) is a city and capital of Jiroft County, Kerman Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 95,031, in ...

and Kahnuj districts of Kerman Province,

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 ...

. The Halil rises at above sea level in the kuh-e shah mountain about to the north-east of

, flowing to the south-west until it is joined by the Zardasht and Rabor rivers. Turning towards the south, if flows along the foothills of the Bahr aseman mountains, then to the south-east until Jiroft Dam, which is high, about upstream of Jiroft () at the confluence with the Narab. It passes some east of Kahnuj and terminates in the

Hamun-e Jaz Murian Hamun-e Jaz Murian ( fa, هامون جازموریان) is an inland basin or depression in southeast Iran, straddling the provinces of Kerman and Sistan and Baluchistan. The area of Hamoon and Jazmourian basin stretches to 69,600 square kilom ...

of Baluchistan. The climate of the Halil Rud or ''Halilrood'' (Rud or Rood means "river" in

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

) basin is extremely hot in summer and of moderate temperature in winter. in August 1933. The Halil riverbanks are subject to periodical flooding, including the historical flood which destroyed Jiroft in ca. AD 1000, and one in 1993.

Archaeology

The basin contains the sites of the Bronze Age

Jiroft culture The Jiroft cultureOscar White MuscarellaJiroft(2008), in: Encyclopedia Iranica. "For archeological accuracy the terms "Jiroft" or "Jiroft culture" employed to define a specific ancient Iranian culture and its artifacts should only be cited within ...

. Near the river is the village of Halil Rud (not far from the city of

); the area nearby "became famous between 2002/2003 hen news ofthousands of confiscated burial goods, especially elaborated carved chlorite vessels from the necropolises of Halil Rud" were released to public. Since February 2003, archaeologist have recovered a wealth of artifacts from the necropolis which they had named Mahtoutabad. The two nearby mounds were also excavated: Konar Sandal South and North. A 2013 research paper about the South mound states that work during 2006 to 2009 "revealed the remains of three successive settlements dating to the fourth millennium BC". Excavation re-commenced in 2014 and revealed art works of "complexity and beauty" and artifacts that proved that the society had several writing systems. According to National Geographic, the content of the mounds is significant:

They turned out to contain the remains of two major architectural complexes. The northern mound included a cult building, while in the southern one were the remains of a fortified citadel. At the foot of the mounds, buried under many feet of sediment, were the remains of smaller buildings. It's believed that the two mounds had once formed part of a unified urban settlement that stretched many miles across the plateau ... rtifacts"have been dated to between 2500 and 2200 B.C. hey are said to be evidence ofthe "development of a complex civilization".

References

Literature

Encyclopædia Iranica
Rivers of Kerman Province Landforms of Kerman Province Jiroft culture {{Iran-river-stub