Bronze Age writing phenomenon in South-Eastern Iran (ca. 3300-1880 BCE)
Résumé
The Bronze Age of South-Eastern Iran (the current Kerman and Sistan-Baluchistan provinces) can only be understood
within the broader context of the Iranian Plateau. The Proto-Iranian writing system is attested in this area in its two
stages, the more ancient Proto-Elamite (PE), dated ca. 3300–3000 BCE, and the more recent Linear Elamite (LE),
dated ca. 2300–1880 BCE. The area under scrutiny here is huge – 1255 km as the crow flies separates Susa from
Shahr-i Sokhta (see fig. 1 for the sites mentioned in the text). Such distances make it understandable that South-
Eastern Iran has specific regional practices and graphic variants distinct from a supposed “Susian norm”. The Proto-
Iranian writing system may therefore be considered to consist of a Western variant (Susiana and Fars) and an Eastern
one (Kerman and Sistan). Furthermore, Eastern Iran was never subject to any Mesopotamian scribal influence, as the
most ancient cuneiform texts in this area only date back to the first millennium BCE.
Domaines
Sciences de l'Homme et Société
Origine : Accord explicite pour ce dépôt