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Iran
A man wearing traditional Kurdish clothing looks out over Hawraman Takht valley, in November 2020. Photo: Mohammed Bakhtiar
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The United Nations cultural organization UNESCO on Tuesday added the Hawraman region of western Iran to its World Heritage list.
The Hawraman region, located in Iran’s western Kurdistan and Kermanshah provinces, is known for its stunning mountain scenery, unique culture, and history. Its addition to the heritage list was accepted with a unanimous vote by UNESCO on Tuesday.
“Tiered steep-slope planning and architecture, gardening on dry-stone terraces, livestock breeding, and seasonal vertical migration are among the distinctive features of the local culture and life of the semi-nomadic Hawrami people who dwell in lowlands and highlands during different seasons of each year,” UNESCO stated.
The Hawrami people are a Kurdish tribe that has lived in the area since about 3000 BCE, living in the rugged Zagros Mountains.
“Their uninterrupted presence in the landscape, which is also characterized by exceptional biodiversity and endemism, is evidenced by stone tools, caves and rock shelters, mounds, remnants of permanent and temporary settlement sites, and workshops, cemeteries, roads, villages, castles, and more. The 12 villages included in the property illustrate the Hawrami people’s evolving responses to the scarcity of productive land in their mountainous environment through the millennia,” stated UNESCO.
Artifacts belonging to the Paleolithic era have been found in the region.
The people of Hawraman are seen as self-sufficient, producing their own clothing, shoes, and tools. It also boasts walnut, pomegranate, and mulberry trees. Cultural festivals annually attract thousands of visitors.
The Hawrami dialect is considered by many as one of the oldest in the Kurdish language and it has a long history of literature and poetry.
Last year, Hawraman locals campaigned to get their region added to the UNESCO list, hoping the designation would boost tourism and provide some financial security.
Hawraman is the second Iranian site added to the World Heritage List this week. On Sunday, UNESCO added the Trans-Iranian Railway to the list. There are total of 26 Iranian sites recognized by UNESCO.
On Monday, another site in a Kurdish area was also named to the heritage list. UNESCO added the Arslantepe Mound, located in Turkey’s Malatya plain.
“Archaeological evidence from the site testifies to its occupation from at least the 6th millennium BCE up until the late Roman period. The earliest layers of the Early Uruk period are characterized by adobe houses from the first half of the 4th millennium BCE,” UNESCO said of the site.
The World Heritage List includes over a thousand sites around the world valued for their distinct cultural or natural importance.
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