DAM, archeological site in Afghanistan, 30°55’ N, 62°01’ E, located approximately 20 km east of the Helmand delta, 10 km south of the Hāmūn-e Aškīn ʿĀm (the southeastern part of the Hāmūn-e Sīstān, on Afghan territory), and 10 km north of the extensive ruins of Kordū, in the desert on the edge of the moving sand dunes between Kordū and Patāndek.
The site is a field covered in potsherds representing a continuation of the Sasanian tradition in Islamic style. Among the most conspicuous mud-brick ruins are a rectangular hall with single large openings in the shorter front and rear walls and two in each of the long sides, as well as recognizable remains of an elliptical barrel vault that must once have covered an ayvān of Parthian or Sasanian date, and a very dilapidated medieval fortress probably located there in order to provide protection for traditional overland routes.
Bibliography:
W. Ball and J.-C. Gardin, Archaeological Gazetteer of Afghanistan, 2vols., Paris, 1982, no. 228.
K. Fischer, “Projects of Archaeological Maps from Afghan Seistan between 31°20’ to 30°50’ N and 62°00’ to 62° 10’ E,” Zentralasiatische Studien des Seminars für Sprach- und Kulturwissenschaft Zentralasiens der Universität Bonn 4, 1970, pp. 530-31, pls. 51-54.
Idem, “Rapport préliminaire sur la prospection archéologique du Séistan septentrional en octobre 1970,” Afghanistan (Kabul) 23/4, 1971a, p. 41, pls. 9-10.
Idem, “Types of Archaeological Remains in the Northern Parts of Afghan Seistan,” Bulletin of the Asia Institute of Pahlavi University 2, 1971b, p. 59 figs. 2-4.
(Klaus Fischer)
Originally Published: December 15, 1993
Last Updated: November 11, 2011
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