Silk Hill is an ancient area in the southwest of Kashan, which is one of the oldest known civilizations in the world with eight thousand years old. Silk Hill, which was placed in the list of national monuments of Iran on 24th of Shahrivar 1310 with number 38, is considered as one of the sightseeing places of Kashan, which contains the works of different eras of human civilization, including the Neolithic Age, the Copper and Stone Age, the Age of Urbanization, the Iron Age and the Median Period. It has its own place. The most important civilizational works known in Silk include the first man-made villages and houses, the first domesticated animals and plants, the first pottery and metal melting furnaces, and the first works of calligraphy and writing.
Introducing Silk Hill
Silk Hill is located in the southwest of Kashan and is considered to be the ruin of the oldest ancient ziggurat in Iran, where the first urban civilization was formed. This historical hill was discovered for the first time in 1311 by Roman Girshman. One of the features that makes this area more interesting for those interested in ancient civilizations is the 5,000-year-old life of the people. Besides, the discovery of the most primitive types of pottery to the most advanced ones in this historical area shows the progress of civilization and people’s life. One of the interesting points of this ancient area is the presence of thousands of years old potsherds on the ground and around these hills.
Also, spinning and weaving spindles show that these people are familiar with this industry. In addition, the residents of the region made tools and tools by melting metals. With the discovery of the metal smelting furnace in the southern part of this hill, the city of Silk can be considered one of the most industrialized cities of that era. The set of exhibition spaces of Silk Ancient Base includes findings from different periods of Silk and a theater to introduce documentary shows. The ancient silk mounds are an important part of this outdoor base where tourists can visit some of the vats, burials, trenches and workshops of Professor Grishman, as the first explorer in this area.
Silk Hill is considered one of the most valuable ancient monuments in Iran and the world, which has kept the evidence of the evolution of human life since about eight thousand years ago (from the Neolithic period to the Median period). This area includes the North Hill (Small Silk) with an area of five hectares, the South Hill (Big Silk) with an area of eight hectares, Cemetery A and Cemetery B. From old to new, these hills display the works of different eras of human civilization including Neolithic Age, Copper and Stone Age, Urbanization Age, Iron Age and Median Period.
Several decades ago, with the flooding of the Kashan agricultural lands, a large and thousands-year-old Silk civilization was revealed, and tools and pottery different from the current tools were found, which aroused everyone’s astonishment and curiosity. In the meantime, profit-seeking people wanted to go the 100-year route overnight, and as a result, they overturned the soil of this hill. After some time, by selling the works by the people, especially the farmers of the region, to the antique dealers, the looters also opened their doors. A lost civilization that was spared from natural destructive factors for thousands of years became a farm of antique dealers and finally, by transferring historical artifacts to Western countries, “Romain Girshman”, an archaeologist of the Louvre Museum in France, with the aim of recognizing and perhaps saving a civilization that serves all the people of the world. It belonged to Iran.
French Archaeological Commission:
During the years 1312, 1313 and 1316 A.H., the ancient site of Silk Hill was explored for the first time by the French archaeological team headed by Roman Girshman. This group published the results of their activity in Paris in 1317 in two volumes titled Silk Kashan in French, which were later translated into Persian by Iran’s Cultural Heritage Publications. Roman Girshman estimated the history of this civilization to be about 10 thousand years. After the termination of Girshman’s activities and the publication of his reports, no attention was paid to Silk until 1380; So much of the land in this area was turned into agricultural land. According to some old residents, measures were taken to expand the city and house constructions, and if this process continues, nothing but a name and memory will remain from this ancient hill. Until the Iranian archeological group went to Silk Hill.
Iranian Archaeological Board:
This delegation, led by Dr. Sadegh Malek Shahmirzadi, explored this historical area during the years 1380 to 1385. His exploration group, which was selected from all experts in different fields, even from other countries, achieved new results during five seasons of exploration, including the discovery of Silk Ziggurat; A place of worship that Roman Girshman (the discoverer of Chaghazenbil Ziggurat) had failed to discover.
According to the research of this group, the inner walls of the houses were painted with ocher mud and the dead were buried under the floors of the rooms, which did not have brick or stone pavements. The dead were buried in these graves in the form of “champate” and objects were placed in the grave along with them, which were valuable and abundant in some graves and few and worthless in others. In the ruins of the ancient Silk hill, some human skeletons and ancient dishes were found, which are currently kept in the Louvre Museum of France, the National Museum of Iran and the Fine Garden Museum, and a museum next to this ancient collection. The results of the excavations of the Iranian Archaeological Board were published in the following volumes:
- Ziggurat of Silk: Report on the first chapter of exploration
- Silk potters: report of the second season of exploration
- Silversmiths of Silk: Report of the third season of exploration
- The Silk Hunters: Report on the fourth season of exploration
- Silk, the oldest walled village in Iran: final report of exploration
- Silk Villagers: A Collection of Exploration Essays
After the end of Dr. Malek Shahmirzadi’s excavations, this ancient site was destroyed. Some cultural heritage experts had announced that excavations were carried out by the Kashan Electricity Department in the first-class Silk Road and the installation of concrete light poles; An incident that caused other people to resort to illegal actions such as construction, digging and even asphalting the streets around the silk arena. Dr. Hassan Fazli was also in charge of archaeological excavations in Silk Hill in 2007-2008. The results of these researches have been published in several books and are available to everyone. This work was registered on the 24th of Shahrivar 1310 at number 38 in the list of national works of Iran and is in the list of candidate works for world registration.
Historical periods of Silk Hill
Based on the excavations and studies, archaeologists have divided the works in Silk hill into 6 cultural periods, which are named from old to new respectively from Silk 1 to Silk 6. Some of these works have been displayed in the showcases according to chronological order.
first round
The first period spans from 8,000 to 7,300 years ago, which is related to the oldest or first inhabitants of the northern hill. The Silk people lived in small groups on the northern hill in houses made of non-durable materials such as reeds and wood. During this period, people were hunter-gatherers and provided their main food by hunting wild animals such as deer, rams, boars, gazelles, and on the other hand by collecting fruits and snacks and seeds of wild plants such as pistachios, almonds, etc. They spent Also, the people of this period took the first steps in domesticating animals such as goats and sheep and cultivating plants such as wheat and barley. In addition, they had success in making coarse, pea-colored pottery with primitive designs. In the showcases of this section, you will see these works:
Stone tools for hunting and cutting
The first handmade pottery of this period
Necklace beads
Sandstone for grinding wheat and barley seeds
Clay scythe for reaping
Carbonized plant seed
Second period
The second period includes 7200 to 6700 years ago. The small community living on the northern hill, who lived in temporary houses, prospered during this period and built a small village. These simple houses were built with layers and handmade clay. The people of this period had learned agriculture and animal husbandry well and used domestic animals and plants. Also, the pottery of this period was more elegant than the previous period and was decorated with black geometric and plant motifs. Another point about this period is the existence of evidence of yarn spinning and possibly cloth weaving.
Some of the works of this course are:
Clay cooking pots
Handmade clay with holes for better mortar adhesion
Pieces of pottery from this period in red-orange color with black motifs (known as Cheshme Ali pottery)
Spinning sardoks
Flower figures
Third period
The third period is called the interval between 6300 and 5400 years ago; The period when the Silk people moved from the northern hill to the southern hill. Here they built houses with a more standard architecture consisting of a room, a stove and a niche. During this period, people succeeded in extracting copper metal and exported part of their metal products to the southwest and Mesopotamia regions. The invention of the pottery wheel also belongs to the third period, and for this reason, the pottery of this period is more delicate and has human, animal and plant motifs.
Gradually, the Silk people entered a new stage of urban life and each person took on a special job and occupation. In this way, the trading of manufactured goods grew rapidly and conducting transactions required a new way of non-verbal recording. The first way of recording economic transactions was in the form of tokens or commodity counters made of mud, stone, bone, and pottery, which were made in different geometric and animal shapes, and each one was dedicated to a specific commodity. The objects of this period are displayed in two showcases three and four:
Three-Silk period pottery pieces with animal, human and plant motifs
Residues left over from the process of melting copper metal and its products
Decorative beads, stone chips, tokens or counters
Fourth period
The fourth period starts from 5300 years ago and continues until 4900 years ago. During this period, the population increases and, as a result, trade expands. According to the findings of this period, it seems that at this stage the Khan or the local ruler in Silkk held the power and controlled the society politically and administratively. In fact, early writing tablets were invented for the first time in Khuzestan and Fars regions and then spread to other regions such as the center of the Iranian Plateau, North-East and South-East of Iran. The presence of these extra-regional cultural materials in this period indicates the commercial and political connections of the rulers and people of these regions. Also, during this period, the production of a type of dish called Labe Varikhet became popular on a large scale, which was probably used for baking bread. The showcase items of this course include the following:
- Bowls with curved edges and threaded bottoms
- Clay plates and cylindrical seal and its seal effect
- Pressing (lip decoration)
Fifth period
At the end of the fourth Silk period, in the areas of the central plateau of Iran such as Erisman, Uzbeki and Silk, we see a crisis of monotony for 1000 to 1200 years, which probably occurred due to environmental problems such as drought. Silk Hill was probably used by new people for settlement from 3,600 to 3,000 years ago. One of the important characteristics of this period was the emergence and spread of gray pottery, which according to some archaeologists, including Roman Girshman, indicates the arrival of Aryan tribes in the region.
Among the works and evidences of this period, we can mention Al-efa cemetery, 100 meters southwest of the Silk site. 15 graves were explored from this cemetery and all their objects were stolen in the past. There are not many works and evidences of this period left in the area itself and only the foundations of some houses have been found. The showcase objects of this section are:
- Gray pottery and lids
- A copy made of a gray teapot
- Pieces of terracotta figurines of goats and sheep
The sixth period
The sixth period covers from 3000 to 2700 BC and is the last period of settlement in Silk hill, after which the Silk area is abandoned forever and its people are scattered in other areas of Kashan plain and continue their lives. In this period, the tradition of making patterned pottery is revived and tubular vessels with a special shape and Aryan motifs such as warriors, winged horses, etc. become popular. Among the works and remains of this period, we can mention the large adobe structure and Besilk cemetery, 150 meters northwest of South Hill, which, according to Girshman’s excavations, contains 217 graves, of which only 70 are safe and intact. Most of the objects of this period were obtained from the graves of the cemetery, which include the following:
- Beak tube teapots with mythological decorations
- Decorative bunches in the shape of animal heads, such as horses, foxes, etc.
- Engraved pottery pieces
- Metal ornaments such as armbands, bronze bracelets, pins, needles and arrow heads, cylindrical seals
Tips for visiting Silk Hill
Silk ancient site hosts visitors every day from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM.- The cost of the entrance ticket (in 1401) is 10,000 Tomans for Iranian visitors and 100,000 Tomans for foreign visitors.