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 () is a city in the Central District (Baft County), Central District of Baft County, Kerman province, Kerman province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. It is southwest of Kerman. Baft has an elevation of abo ...

Jiroft Jiroft (; ) is a city in the Central District of Jiroft County, Kerman province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. It is south of the city of Kerman, and south of Tehran along Road 91. In the past it was also ...

and Kahnuj districts of

Kerman Province Kerman province () is the largest of the 31 provinces of Iran. Its capital is the city of Kerman. The province is in the southeast of Iran. In 2014 it was placed in Region 5. Mentioned in ancient times as the Achaemenid satrapy of Carma ...

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 ...

. 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, it flows along the foothills of the Bahr aseman mountains, then to the south-east until

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 ...

, 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 () is an inland basin or depression in southeast Iran, straddling the provinces of Kerman and Sistan-Baluchistan. The area of Hamoon and Jazmourian basin stretches to 69,600 square kilometers, with the western part of 35,600 ...

Baluchistan Balochistan ( ; , ), also spelled as Baluchistan or Baluchestan, is a historical region in West and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. This arid region of de ...

. 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 culture,Oscar 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 withi ...

. 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 ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

, 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

* Rivers of Kerman Province Landforms of Kerman province Jiroft culture {{Iran-river-stub