Farshid Iravani Ghadim

The data collected from friezes and cornices can help one know about the geographic history of a land. The Mesopotamian scripts since Ur III to the early middle Elamite period, mentioned a land named Tukrish which exported gold, lapis lazuli, chlorite, and marbled dishes to Mesopotamia. This paper studies the Mesopotamian written resources and compares them with the documents discovered in the archeological excavations of BMAC in the Northeast Iran and South Turkmenistan. Based on this comparative study, the paper intends to locate Tukrish somewhere within the boundaries of Northeast Iran and South Turkmenistan. In this comparative study, the traded products of Tukrish which have been listed in the Mesopotamian scripts were assessed against the Mesopotamian domestic products and the items discovered in the excavations of BMAC settlements. The most important questions concerned how the scripts correspond to the iconographic and geographic history interpretations and how the archeological discoveries in the area match the list of the traded products in the Mesopotamian scripts. The results indicated that the list of the traded products from Tukrish, detailed in the Mesopotamian scripts, correspond to the products and merchandise of BMAC. Moreover, BMAC is chronologically contemporaneous with Tukrish, as mentioned in the Mesopotamian scripts. Considering these points and the cultural-artistic propinquity between the Northeast Iran-South Turkmenistan region and Mesopotamia at that point in history, the study suggests Tukrish be positioned somewhere within the cultural-geographic limits of BMAC.

North east of Iran has been of crucial importance compared to other areas due to important routes crossing it. From the perspective of archaeologists, the expansion of regional and trans-regional trade exchanges is an evidence of Bronze Age in Iran. Resistive animals in land trade are of crucial importance. Chariots and wheeled vehicles were important transportation means in Bronze Age. Wheeled chariots became prevalent in north east of Iran and four-wheeled chariots replaced two-wheeled ones over time. At first they were drawn by cow power, but then animals like camels and equids replaced cows. Considering the importance of adequate and appropriate means of transporting goods and trade materials in one hand, and the strategic and special role of the north east of the Iranian Plateau on the other hand, this paper attempts to study and recognize transportation means used in this area in Bronze Age, using archaeological documents and data.

Megaron -‏ shaped buildings are one of the specific kinds of rectangular architecture that have been used for many centuries, as a common form, within a wide geographical range from West Asia to Europe. These types of buildings were built in central, east, and southeast of Europe, Anatolia, Aegean Cultural Area, and Eastern Mediterranean coast. The oldest remains of Megaron-shaped architectural structures were found in the Middle East on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea (Levant area‏), in an archaeological site near the Jordan River, dating back to the seventh millennium BC. In addition, the first remains of Megaron-shaped structures in Anatolia were found in the site of Troy (the Hissarlik Hill), which dates back to the beginning of the third millennium and the end of the fourth millennium BC. The historical and cultural influence of this architectural style can be seen in the architectural traditions of classical antiquity in Greece and Roman civilization, especially in the construction of residential houses and temples. The oldest written documentary evidence and reference about Megaron, as an architectural structure, has been identified in the poems of Homer, an ancient Greek poet. There are hypotheses about the origin of the word Megaron that refers it to the Semitic or Egyptian languages, but they have not provided sufficient evidence for their assumptions. Therefore, there is generally more agreement on the theory that the root of the word Megaron is Indo-European. Academic awareness and research around the first forms of this architecture have made major progress since 1870 and after archaeological excavation at the west of Turkey and Greece. The period in which this architecture was invented and used is synchronous with the widespread social complexity, cultural and economic changes in the western Anatolian, Aegean, and Eastern Mediterranean regions. The spread of geographic extent, time period, and functional characteristics of Megaron buildings have led to the formation of different and sometimes contradictory views and opinions about the structure and concepts associated with the architecture of the Megaron.‏ This form of building and its derivatives, in Anatolia and its surrounding territories, are specifically used as religious, ritual or political centers (ceremonial), workshops, public buildings,‏ and especially residential buildings.‏ Hence, in accordance with different functions, many secondary functional structural ingredients have been created. This research was conducted because of the historical background and importance of the Megaron and its role in the history of Anatolian architecture, and is based on official archaeological reports in mentioned areas, and historical sources. It also addresses the issue of how the definition of the Megaron architecture can be redefined by considering different and sometimes conflicting views. In this regard, the Megaron is usually a rectangular building or a right-corner construction divided into two sections by two lateral walls, the larger section (main hall), and the smaller one (vestibule). These features, regardless of other features, form the basic skeleton of the structure. In this regard, the Megaron type architecture is divided into two groups of single-structure and complexes. Secondary structures in this type of architecture are divided into two groups: structural extensions and non-structural extensions. In defining this architecture, we should not ignore variable criteria dependent on secondary factors. It should be considered that the Megaron architecture is not a fixed form with definite and absolute elements, but according to efficiency, the era, or geographic location, other functional parts may exist. In this research, in the Anatolian region, considering various indicators and important Megaron structures still more information exists to be explored about these structures apart from the One hundred and seventy-one buildings‏ identified, reviewed, and introduced to this date.