Shahdad
Shahdad (, also Romanized as Shahdād; formerly, Khabīs) is a city and capital of Shahdad District, in Kerman County, Kerman Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 4,097, in 1,010 families. District. Shahdad is the center of Shahdad district which includes smaller cities and villages such as Sirch, Anduhjerd, Chahar Farsakh, Go-diz, Keshit, Ibrahim Abad, Joshan and Dehseif. The driving distance from Kerman city to Shahdad is 95 km. The local climate is hot and dry. The main agricultural produce is date fruits. There are many castles and caravanserais at Shahdad and around. Examples are the Shafee  Abaad castle and the Godeez castle. The shrine of Imam Zadeh Zeyd, in the south of the town, is a respected religious site. Climate. Shahdad has a hot desert climate (Köppen climate classification "BWh"). The city is located at the edge of the Lut desert, which is one of the hottest an driest places in the world. The Summers are long and extremely hot, while the winter are short and mild. Archaeology. Shahdad was a major Bronze Age center discovered in 1968. Around 1970, Ali Hakemi of Archaeological Institute of Iran investigated the site. He conducted excavations for seven seasons . "By the early third millennium B.C., Shahdad began to grow quickly as international trade with Mesopotamia expanded. Tomb excavations revealed spectacular artifacts amid stone blocks once painted in vibrant colors. These include several extraordinary, nearly life-size clay statues placed with the dead. The city's artisans worked lapis lazuli, silver, lead, turquoise, and other materials imported from as far away as eastern Afghanistan, as well as shells from the distant Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean. Evidence shows that ancient Shahdad had a large metalworking industry by this time." Location. Shahdad is located in Shahdad Plain of Kerman province. To  the east is the Lut Desert, and to the west are the Kerman mountains. Due to proximity of the Shahdad Plain to the Lut Desert, its climate is hot and dry; often there are strong winds blowing densely mixed with dust. The site of Shahdad was in antiquity located near the Shahdad River and some other streams flowing east. Shahdad shares many parallels with Shahr-i-Sokhta. Many other ancient settlements are found in what is now empty desert. This is where the Jiroft Civilization flourished. The legendary Aratta of the Sumerian sources may have been located in this area . Also, according to Iranian archaeologist Hassan Fazeli Nashli, some 900 Bronze Age sites have been documented in the Sistan Basin, which is located further to the east, mostly in Afghanistan. According to recent research, Shahdad increased in size from the middle of third millennium BC (2500 BC), and was flourishing for more than 500 years. The ancient site is located north of modern town. The oldest known metal flag in human history was found in this city.