KhargorKhark Island(Persian:جزیره خارک) is acontinental islandofIranin thePersian Gulf.The island is 25 km (16 mi) off the coast of Iran and 483 km (300 mi) northwest of theStrait of Hormuz.Its total area is 20 km2(7.7 sq mi). Administered by the adjacent coastalBushehr Province,Khark Island provides a sea port for the export of oil and extends Iranianterritorial seaclaims into the Persian Gulf oil fields. Located on Khark Island isKhark,the only city in theKhark District.
Native name: جزیره خارک | |
|---|---|
 | |
  Khark Island | |
| Geography | |
| Location | Persian Gulf |
| Coordinates | 29°14′42″N50°18′36″E/ 29.24500°N 50.31000°E |
| Administration | |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 8193 (2016[1]) |
History
edit
Mentioned in theHudud al-'Alamas a good source for pearls around 982 AD, Khark was visited by the French travellerJean de Thévenotin 1665, who recorded trade at the time withIsfahanandBasra.[2]In 1753 theDutch Empireestablished both a trading post and a fort on the island after securing perpetual ownership of the island from Mir Nasáir, the Arab ruler of Bandar Rig, in return for a present of 2000 rupees.[3]In 1766 the Dutch fort was captured by Mir Mahanna, the governor ofBandar Rig.[4]
The island was briefly occupied in 1838 by the British to block theSiege of Herat (1838)but was soon returned. Amoco built and operated the oil terminal on the island. Its property was expropriated after the revolution.
Once the world's largest offshore crude oil terminal and the principal sea terminal for Iranian oil, the Khark Island facilities were put out of commission in the fall of 1986. Heavy bombing of the Khark Island facilities from 1980 through 1988 by theIraqi Air Forceduring theIran–Iraq Warvery nearly destroyed most of the terminal facilities. Khark Island was situated in the middle of theDarius Oilfield,also destroyed by the intensive bombing. Repair to all facilities has been very slow, even after the war ended in 1988. The events experienced by this island gave rise to the dispute in the English contract law caseThe Kanchenjunga[1990] 1 Lloyd's Rep 391, regarding the conditions for repudiatory breach of contract and a claimant's right to elect to accept repudiation.
In 2009, Iran exported and swapped 950 million barrels of crude oil via southern Khark oil terminal.[5]
Archaeology
edit | |
  Shown within Iran | |
| Location | 25 km (16 mi) off the coast ofIran |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 29°14′08″N50°18′36″E/ 29.235481°N 50.31°E |
| History | |
| Periods | Selucid,Parthian,Nabataean |
| Site notes | |
| Archaeologists | F. Sarre, E. Herzfeld, Marie-Joseph Steve |
| Condition | ruins |
| Public access | Yes |
 | |
| Location | Kharg Island,Iran |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 29°12′51″N50°19′10″E/ 29.214028°N 50.319333°E |
| Tower | |
| Foundation | concrete base |
| Construction | aluminium skeletal tower |
| Height | 14 m (46 ft) |
| Shape | square pyramidal tower with central cylinder and lantern[6][7] |
| Light | |
| Focal height | 90 m (300 ft) |
| Range | 17 nmi (31 km; 20 mi) |
| Characteristic | Fl(2) W 12s |
The first archaeological evidence of human occupation on Khark island was reported by Captain A. W. Stiffe in 1898, with studies published about his discoveries by F. Sarre and E. Herzfeld in 1910. They discovered two rock-cut chambered tombs featuring arched entranceways to a main chamber withvestibulefrom which spawned around twenty smaller chambers. The southern tomb is 13 m (43 ft) deep and features a relief of a reclining man drinking in theSeleucidandParthianstyles ofPalmyraalong with a damaged relief suggested to featureNikeon the face of a sphere-topped column. Mary-Joseph Steve has argued that the architecture of the tombs is more reminiscent ofNabataeanarchitecture atPetrathan anythingPalmyrene.[8][9][10][11][12]
Another eighty three rock cut tombs and sixty twomegalithictombs have been studied on Kharg. The rock-cut tombs fall into four categories; single chambered, shallow tombs of varying shape, pit burials and excavated multi-chambered complexes. Steve also noticed the presence of severalNestorianstyle crosses at some of the tombs.[10]
There are also ruins of a coarse stonetempleon the island measuring around 7.5 m (25 ft) square with a plasteredaltar for firein the centre.[2]
AChristianchurch complex or ancientmonasteryof some 96 m (315 ft) by 85 m (279 ft) is also located on the island featuring a chapel, nineteenmonkscells, library and courtyard.[2]
Achaemenid inscription
editOn November 14, 2007, acuneiforminscription dating back toAchaemenid erawas discovered on Kharg Island inOld Persian.The inscription is carved on a coral rock in Old Persian semi-syllabic cuneiform signs. Despite the usually well-ordered regular system of Achaemenid inscriptions, this one is in an unusual order written in five lines.[13]
Translation
“The not irrigated land was happy [with] my bringing out [of water]”[14]
The linguistHabib Borjianexplains that if the inscription is authentic, combined with the island's known history ofkarizusage, "which came about under the Achaemenid rule in theNear East(550–330 BCE) ", it can be suggested that there was aPersiancolonisation of Kharg under the Achaemenids.[14]The Iranian dialect of the Persian settlers of the Achaemenid period may have in turn been the ancestor of theKhargi language,with Borjian adding that "there is no contradicting evidence to make this hypothesis implausible".[14]
On May 31, 2008, the inscription was seriously damaged by unknown vandal(s). They destroyed it with a sharp object, such that about 70 percent of the inscription was seriously damaged. The nature of the damage indicates that it was done deliberately.[15]
The 17th-century French travellerJean de Thévenotnoted the presence of qanat (i.e. kariz) on the island that would have provided ancient irrigation.[2]
In popular culture
editThe island appears with a SAM radar installation on it in theSega Genesisflight simulatorF-15 Strike Eagle IIin the Persian Gulf mission map.
The island is featured as a playable map inDICE'sBattlefield 3video game,[16]having some resemblance to the real island.
It also appears inDelta Force: Black Hawk Down – Team Sabre.
See also
edit
References
edit- ^"Census of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 1395 (2016)".AMAR(in Persian). The Statistical Center of Iran. p. 18. Archived fromthe original(Excel)on 3 August 2017.Retrieved19 December2022.
- ^abcdPotts, D.T. (2004)."KHARG ISLAND ii. History and archeology".InYarshater, Ehsan(ed.).Encyclopædia Iranica, Online Edition.Encyclopædia Iranica Foundation.
- ^J. R. Perry, "The Banu Ka'b: An amphibious brigand state in Khuzistan," Le monde iranien et l'Islam 1, 1971, pp. 131-52. Idem, "Mir Muhanna and the Dutch: Patterns of piracy in the Persian Gulf," Stud. Ir. 2, 1973, p85.
- ^Abdullah, Thabit (2001).Merchants, Mamluks, and murder: the political economy of trade in eighteenth century Basra.Albany: State University of New York Press.ISBN978-0-7914-4808-3.Retrieved3 March2011.
- ^"Khark Oil Exports".Iran Daily.2009. Archived from the original on May 22, 2009.Retrieved3 March2011.
{{cite news}}:CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^Rowlett, Russ."Lighthouses of Iran".The Lighthouse Directory.University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.Retrieved2016-10-03.
- ^NGA List of Lights – Pub.112Retrieved 3 October 2016
- ^Stiffe, Captain A. W., "Persian Gulf notes. Kharag island," Geographical Journal 12, 1898, pp. 179-82. Sykes, P.M., A History of Persia, vol. 2, London, 1915.
- ^F. Sarre and E. Herzfeld, Iranische Felsreliefs, Berlin, 1910.
- ^abSteve, M.-J., "Sur l'île de Khârg dans le golfe Persique," Dossiers d'Arche‚ologie 243, pp. 74-80, 1999.
- ^Steve, M.-J., et al. L'ille de Kharg. Une page de l'histoire du Golfe Persique et du monachisme oriental. Civilisations du Proche-Orient, Gent, Serie I, Archeologie et Environnement, (Forthcoming)
- ^Haerinck, E., "Quelques monuments fune‚raires de l'île de Kharg dans le Golfe Persique," Iranica Antiqua 11, 1975, pp. 144-67. Idem, "More pre-Islamic coins from southeastern Arabia," Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 9, 1998, pp. 278-301. Handbuch des Persischen Golfs, 5th ed., Hamburg, Deutsches Hydrographisches Institut, 1976.
- ^"Newly Found Old-Persian Cuneiform Inscription of Kharg Island Deciphered".Iranian Cultural Heritage News Agency.8 December 2007. Archived fromthe originalon 29 September 2011.Retrieved3 March2011.
- ^abcBorjian, Habib(2019). "The Language of the Kharg Island".Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society.29(4): 680.doi:10.1017/S1356186319000403.S2CID213053987.
- ^"Khark island's Achaemenid inscription seriously damaged".Payvand News.1 June 2008.Retrieved3 March2011.
- ^"Battlefield 3 Maps".Electronic Arts.2011. Archived fromthe originalon 15 October 2011.Retrieved15 October2011.