Cultural Landscape of Maymand

There are some amazing villages all around Iran, and as a matter of fact, Maymand is one of those. The village is believed to be a primary human residence in the Iranian Plateau, dating back to 12,000 years ago.

The cultural landscape of Maymand was registered as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2015.

History

Maymand is an ancient village in which stone engravings nearly 10,000 years old are found, and deposits of pottery nearly 6,000 years old attest to the long history of settlement at the village site.

Regarding the origin of the village, there are two suggested stories. A group of scientists believes that the village was built by a group of the Aryan tribe about 800 to 700 years B.C. at the same time with the Median era. According to the second theory, the village dates back to the second or third century A.D. During the Arsacid era different tribes from southern Kerman migrated into different directions. One tribe found this area suitable place for living and settled in it by building their shelters which later developed into the existing homes. The place known as the fortress of Maymand, near the village, in which more than 150 ossuaries (bone-receptacle) of the Sassanid period were found, strengthens this theory.

Structure

According to the evidence, it is suggested that the cliff structures of Maymand were built to use for religious purposes. The landscape is located near Shahr-e Babak city in Kerman Province. In Maymand village many residents live in one of the 350 hand-dug houses amid the rocks. It is believed some of these houses have been inhabited for more than 3,000 years.

Worshippers of Mithras believe that the sun is invincible and it guided them to consider mountains as sacred. Hence the stone cutters and architects of Maymand have set their beliefs out in the construction of their dwellings.