National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

this possibly be ascribed to a gradual subsidence of the coast-line on the Persian
side of the Gulf, for which the alluvium brought down by the drainage from the
mountains within comparatively recent historical times would not have sufficed
to compensate? My observations along the coast as far as Bushire furnished no
definite archaeological evidence to support such an explanation. But the possi-
bility of a change of the coast-line having taken place since prehistoric times
deserves consideration, and I propose to revert to the question farther on.¹¹

After moving our camp back to Mīnāb town I proceeded to visit a ruined site
to the south-west, the only one I could learn of in a direction where remains
connected with the old port, apart from those already examined, might be looked
for. Guided by the obliging officer commanding the local police, we moved
down the broad river-bed to the village of Nasariyeh, ensconced among orchards
and date-palm groves on the right bank. Then turning in a westerly direction,
the way led past low gravel ridges, with water-logged stretches between, to
a wide belt of low ground, which suggested an ancient river-bed, now grass-
covered and receiving the terminal overflow from irrigation canals. After
crossing this diagonally we arrived at the site known as Tump-i-surkh, the
'Red Mound', close to the south of the small hamlet of Gishnū, girt by date-
palms. There, between marshy beds, stretches what looks like a natural terrace
measuring some 380 yards from north to south with a maximum width of about
200 yards, and varying in height from 10 to 15 feet. The distance in a direct line
from Mīnāb town is a little over 7 miles.

The surface of the mound is covered with fragments of burnt brick, rough
stones, and coarse potsherds. These, as well as the few small pieces of glazed
ware and of coloured glass picked up, had all been affected by the salinity of the
ground. Wall foundations built of large unhewn stones were found here also as
at the sites near Kumbil, and occupation may be ascribed approximately to the
same Islamic period. Whether the wide marshy bed passing to the east of the
Tump-i-surkh is somehow connected with the khūr, or creek, running inland
beyond Burchik and Kalātun or the remnant of another old channel could not be
determined without a close survey of the whole ground. So much, however,
seems clear from the Survey of India Sheet No. 25. A, that this bed is quite dis-
tinct from the creek which boats ascend to Shāh Bandar and Tiāb.¹²