The discovery of the Jiroft civilization in southeastern Iran has fundamentally altered the historical narrative of early urban development in the ancient Near East. Situated along the Halil River valley, near the modern city of Jiroft in Kerman Province, this cultural complex emerged during the late fourth and early third millennium BCE, contemporaneous with Early Dynastic Mesopotamia and the Proto-Elamite cultures of southwestern Iran.

Systematic excavations initiated in the early 2000s by Yousef Madjidzadeh revealed extensive architectural remains, administrative artifacts, and a vast corpus of finely carved chlorite (steatite) vessels. These objects, decorated with intricate iconography—ranging from geometric motifs to mythological scenes—demonstrate an advanced aesthetic sensibility and a coherent symbolic system. Their widespread distribution across regions such as Mesopotamia, Central Asia, and the Indus Valley suggests that Jiroft occupied a central position within an expansive interregional trade network.

Evidence of proto-writing and administrative control implies that Jiroft possessed the institutional characteristics of an early state society. Some inscribed tablets recovered from the site exhibit signs of an independent script, which, if confirmed, would represent one of the earliest known writing systems of the Iranian plateau. The monumental architecture, including terraced platforms and large public buildings, further attests to the complexity of its political and religious organization.

The cultural and artistic autonomy of Jiroft challenges earlier diffusionist models that traced all early urbanism in the region to Mesopotamian influence. Instead, the evidence supports the existence of a distinct and indigenous civilizational tradition within Iran—one that contributed actively to the broader cultural synthesis of the ancient Near East. As ongoing excavations continue to refine our understanding, Jiroft stands as a compelling testament to the depth, originality, and continuity of Iranian civilization from its earliest phases.