Hamun-e Jaz Murian () is an inland basin or depression in southeast

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, straddling the provinces of

Kerman Kerman (; ) is a city in the Central District (Kerman County), Central District of Kerman County, Kerman province, Kerman province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. History Kerman was founded as a def ...

and Sistan-Baluchistan. The area of Hamoon and Jazmourian basin stretches to 69,600 square kilometers, with the western part of 35,600 square kilometers in Kerman province and the eastern part of 34,000 square kilometers in Sistan-Baluchestan province. The Jazmurian Wetland is located in an

endorheic basin An endorheic basin ( ; also endoreic basin and endorreic basin) is a drainage basin that normally retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water (e.g. rivers and oceans); instead, the water drainage flows into permanent ...

at the southern edge of the Dasht-e-Lut. Several factors such as high evaporation, overexploitation of groundwater, dam construction on the rivers feeding the wetland, and the effect of drought and climate changes have caused this wetland to dry out during the recent years.

Geography

At the center of the basin is a "seasonal lake," or ''

hamun A hamun (or hamoun) ( ''hāmūn'') refers to inland desert lakes or marshlands, formed as natural seasonal reservoirs in areas adjoining the Helmand basin, found across eastern Iran, southern Afghanistan and western Pakistan. They form a critical ...

''. The lake can remain almost totally dry during dry years, while in wetter years it can have water year around. Jaz Murian is an oblong shape, east to west, surrounded by high mountain ranges reaching peaks in excess of 6500 feet (2000 m). The lowest elevations are to the extreme west of the basin towards the towns of Kahnuj and

Minab Minab () is a city in the Central District of Minab County, Hormozgan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. Overview The second-largest city in the province of Hormozgan is Minab, which is located in ...

. Two principal rivers flow into the basin: from the west, the Halil Rud, and from the east, the

Bampur River Bampur River is located in southern Iran that flows into the Baluchistan region. The Bampur River starts in the Karvandar Mountains and flows 120 km past Damin, Bampur and Iranshahr before dissipating in the desert sands. History The Bampur River ...

. However, neither river brings much water to the central parts of the basin to feed the lake, as their waters are largely or totally removed for agriculture on the way. After

Jiroft Dam Jiroft Dam (Persian: سد جیرفت) is a hydroelectric dam in Iran with an installed electricity generating capability of 85 MWh situated in Kerman Province. The fifth concrete dam built in the country, it was begun in 1975 and completed in 199 ...

was built on the Halil Rud and went under operation in 1992, the perennial river at the downstream did not receive its environmental flow and appeared as an ephemeral river since then, this affected the Jaz Murian seriously.

Cultural importance

In the scriptures of the

Zoroastrian religion Zoroastrianism ( ), also called Mazdayasnā () or Beh-dīn (), is an Iranian religion centred on the Avesta and the teachings of Zarathushtra Spitama, who is more commonly referred to by the Greek translation, Zoroaster ( ). Among the wor ...

, the basin has a holy character, similar to that of

Hamun-e Helmand Lake Hāmūn (, ''Daryāche-ye Hāmūn''; ), or the Hamoun Oasis, is a seasonal lake and wetlands in the endorheic Sīstān Basin in the Sistan region on the Afghanistan–Iran border. In Iran, it is also known as ''Hāmūn-e Helmand'', ''Hām� ...

. These scriptures call the basin by its

Middle Persian Middle Persian, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg ( Inscriptional Pahlavi script: , Manichaean script: , Avestan script: ) in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasania ...

name, "Chitro Mêyân." The theory that the Jaz Murian basin was repaired or even constructed by Chandragupta Maurya was proposed by the Armenian Indologist Seth. His theory was based on the linguistic resemblance between the name of the lake, "Jaz Murian", and the Pali word "Moriya" (written as "Muriya" in Prakrit), as well as the discovery of a large Buddhist sanctuary at 'Koh-i-Khwaja' in the Sistan region. However, this view has not been supported or accepted by later historians.

References

{{Reflist *J. V. Harrison, "The Jaz Murian Depression, Persian Baluchistan," The Geographical Journal, Vol. 101, No. 5/6 (May - Jun., 1943), pp. 206–225. *N. L. Falcon Frs, "From Musandam to the Iranian Makran," The Geographical Journal, Vol. 141, No. 1 (Mar., 1975), pp. 55–58. Depressions (geology) Endorheic basins of Asia Landforms of Iran Landforms of Kerman province Landforms of Sistan and Baluchestan province