Meymand is a very ancient village which is located in the south-eastern Iranian province of Kerman. This UNESCO world heritage site is believed to be a primary human residence in the Iranian Plateau, dating back to 12,000 years ago.
Meymand also Romanized as Maymand, Meimand and Maimand is a village in Meymand Rural District, in the Central District of Shahr-e Babak County, Kerman Province, Iran.
Meymand is a very ancient village which is located in the south-eastern Iranian province of Kerman. This UNESCO world heritage site is believed to be a primary human residence in the Iranian Plateau, dating back to 12,000 years ago, that is since the middle stone ages, making it a mesolithic village and it has been continuously inhabited for 2,000 to 3,000 years making it one of Iran's four oldest surviving villages. Living conditions in Meymand are harsh due to the aridity of the land and to high temperatures in summers and very cold winters. During the winter months they live lower down the valley in cave dwellings carved out of the soft rock (kamar), an unusual form of housing in a dry, desert environment. engravings nearly 10,000 years old are found around the village, and deposits of pottery nearly 6,000 years old attest to the long history of settlement at the village site.
According to local tradition, Maymand was a Zoroastrian settlement before the advent of Islam and that prior to become Zoroastrian, the residents worshipped the sun. One of the cave units is that is now a museum has a sign post stating that was an Atash-Kadeh, a fire temple [also called Kicheh Dobandi, kicheh means cave-dwelling and dobandi means two bands perhaps signifying two enclosures], and there are claims that the ancient inhabitants also worshipped pre-Zoroastrian Mithraism. It is said that the original inhabitants did not bury their dead, but placed them in crypts carved into the mountainside. In addition, the village contains a 400 square metre complex of fifteen circular rooms where bones and personal belongings have been found, suggesting that it too was used as a crypt or even an ossuary.
Regarding the origin of these structures two theories have been suggested: According to the first theory, this village was built by a group of the Aryan tribe about 800 to 700 years B.C. and at the same time with the Median era. It is possible that the cliff structures of Meymand were built for religious purposes. Worshippers of Mithras believe that the sun is invincible and this guided them to consider mountains as sacred. Hence the stone cutters and architects of Meymand have set their beliefs out in the construction of their dwellings. Based on the second theory the village dates back to the second or third century A.D. During the Arsacid era different tribes of southern Kerman migrated in different directions. These tribes found suitable places for living and settled in those areas by building their shelters which developed in time into the existing homes. The existence of a place known as the fortress of Meymand, near the village, in which more than 150 ossuaries (bone-receptacle) of the Sassanid period were found, strengthens this theory. This cultural landscape is an example of a system that appears to have been more widespread in the past and involves the movement of people rather than animals. The village is supplied with water by two underground kareez (qanat) aqueducts that bring water down from the water catchment areas on the upper slopes of the surrounding hills.
Local vegetation consists of hardy plants and wild mulberry, pistachios and almonds trees. According to UNESCO, "the ravines (surrounding Maymand) are dotted with tiny oases where hazel trees, vineyards, jujubes, almonds and other trees are grown. The oases are surrounded by tilled fields some of which have suffered from successive periods of drought. The local language contains many words from the ancient Sassanid and Pahlavi languages. In 2005, Meymand was awarded the UNESCO-Greece Melina Mercouri International Prize for the Safeguarding and Management of Cultural Landscapes. The economy of the villagers is based on agriculture, herding, animal husbandry, carpet weaving and tourism. The orchards consist of pistachio, almond, walnut, and pomegranate, and mulberry trees. Meymand's carpets have an international reputation. Carpet weaving spawns supporting and ancillary crafts such as dyeing, felt-making, kilim-weaving (kilims, also spelt gilims or gelims, are flat tapestry-woven carpets or rugs), and crochet lace work. Meals consist of flat bread, yogurt and a thin soup made from milk and dried herbs. The custom is to tear the bread into bit-sized pieces and throw them into the bowl of soup. The meals supplemented by a diet of dairy products, nuts and traditional breads. Eggs are a treat and meat is eaten on especial occasions only. The diet while simply is nevertheless healthy and nutritious. The villagers are learning to take advantage of tourists and some of Meymand's elderly women have begun to sell local woven baskets and wild herbs. They also sell, for about IR60,000 in 2008, traditional nomad hats made from a handmade felt called namad - a matted felt made by soaking and pressing together wool.