When we talk about “Bardehmaforeh” archeologists take us back to the first millennium BC. In other words, we have to go back to when the people of ancient times prepared a smooth and flat surface on a high and rocky mountain, but now no lines or signs can be seen on it! Are there any inscriptions left on this stone from those days? Did this stone have no inscription on it from the very beginning? This is a question that may still need to be answered. Whatever it is, Bardehmaforeh is a relic of ancient times, on our land, with many secrets hidden in it.
Bardehmaforeh is located in Piranshahr city in West Azerbaijan province, in the heart of the mountain called Landishikhan and near Small Zab River. Bardehmaforeh is in Lakban village. It can be reached by going through a difficult winding road. The road is narrow but the sound of water flowing can be heard everywhere, and there are signs of life and movement. That area’s long and distant history should be known and guessed from the ancient hills and fortresses that have survived for thousands of years. Historical and archaeological excavations will reveal more or less the life of ancient people in that area.
In the Kurdish language, Bardehmaforeh means “carpet stone.” This naming may be because the surface of the stone-carved on the rock is smooth and spotless and is spread like a carpet on the mountain. The natives have imagined this unwritten stone as a carpet lying on a rough rock.
The ancient stone of Bardemaforeh is located at a height of more than three meters. It is two meters long and one meter wide. As we have said, the lines were either wiped out, through time, or never written at all. But the main question is, who made this stone so wide and flat? Archeological speculations take the researchers to the Mannaea era and one of its rulers, “Oalki.” The Assyrian chronicles, from 834 to 727 BC, listed Oalki as one of the kings of Manna. When Shalmaneser III, king of Assyria, invaded the Ualki territory in 828 BC, he fled to the mountains with his tribe. The Assyrians looted the property of Ualki and the people of Manna and captured his fortress. Was Oalki able to return and gain back his rulership or not, we do not know. Maybe it was in the same raids that the idea of writing the stone of Bardemaforeh was forgotten forever. In any case, there is no doubt that Bardemaforeh is the work of the Mannaea people.
The Mannaeas lived south of Lake Urmia, and a large part of the present Kurdistan province was part of their territory. Most information about their civilization is obtained through Assyrian and Urartian annals. Unfortunately, there are no stone inscriptions of Mannaeas kings. From the 8th century BC onwards, the Mannaea had many conflicts and wars with the Assyrian Empire and the Urartur government. They later joined the Medes and helped the Medes to rule over a large area of the Iranian plateau. Around 660 BC, the Mannaea were defeated by the Scythians and lost their land. It was from this time that they joined the Medes.
The smooth and uninscribed stone of Bardehmaforeh was carved in a narrow passage where the fortress we mentioned before was located. There could have been an inscription on it identifying the fortress and the name of the ruler. Although, whatever is said about Bardehmaforeh is not beyond speculation, it is an ancient work and a sign of the people who lived in previous millennia.
