Khajeh Mountain (Oshida Mountain) or (Rostam Mountain) is in Sistan Plain and 30 kilometers from the south west of Zabol City. Oshida in Middle Persian language means “eternal”. This trapezoid-shaped mountain which is holy against three religions of Islam, Christianity and Zoroaster is made of black basalt and is located at the height of 609 meters from sea level like an island in the middle of Hamun Lake. The historical zone of Khajeh Mountain is an enormous castle and a unique urban fortress from Arsacid and Sassanid eras. This great monument is known as the adobe and mud Persepolis and it is the only urban fortress remaining from Arsacid era in Iran.
Numerous ancient monuments of Sassanid and Arsacid eras and remains of Islamic places and Buddhist temples are remaining in this place that include a series of palaces, Castle Kahak Kahzad, Forty Girls Castle, Sarsang Castle, tomb of Khajeh Ghaltan, the old building of Gandom-e Beryan, House of Satan, separate tombs and Islamic graves. Investigating the complex, Ernest Herzfeld selected the title “Adobe Persepolis” for the series of the palaces in 1925-1929.
Over the archeological studies on Khajeh Mountain in Sistan, 7 areasrelated to the paleolithic era were discovered for the first time. Getting to know these areas, Khajeh Mountain is the sixth place in Iran with monuments of that era. The oldest monuments discovered in Khajeh Mountain were related to pieces of pottery from Achaemenians. Additionally, another cave was discovered during the investigations.
