Another stone sign of ancient Iran is in the city of Khusf, South Khorasan province. This work, carved on a rock in one of the valleys of Rech Mountain, is a collection of several inscriptions in the Pahlavi script and three drawings. That place is called Kaljangal.
The engraving of Kaljangal is of a Parthian man wearing along robe and is fighting a lion, without any war tools. He has his right hand on his waist and is attacking the lion with his left hand. His dress has long sleeves and a round collar and does not have an array. The length of the petroglyph is 164 cm, and its width is 123 cm, and it is seen on a polished and black slate. The inscriptions are carved in front of the Parthian man and have 21 letters.
Archeologists believe this work to be from 200 upto 250 AD. Although its inscription is Parthian, it is considered to be engraved at the beginning of the Sasanian period. Therefore, this picture and its writing appeared in the final years of the Parthian rule and the beginning of the rise of the Sassanid Empire.
The battle between a man and a lion has examples in the Assyrian reliefs and also in Persepolis, and they all originate from more or less the same idea. Man’s struggle with lions and mythical animals has a long history and can be seen in petroglyphs and ancient cylinder seals. In the dialect of Birjandi and Khusfi, Kal means hole, and Jangal means warrior. So, Kaljangal is a name derived from the petroglyph.
One of the inscriptions has one line, another has two lines, and the third has 13 lines. For the first time in 1330 (1951) this stone inscription was read through the research of Dr Sadegh Kia: “Pour ardeshir, Nakhodar shahrban”. Nakhodar means “holding the highest position”. therefore, it means “the son of Ardeshir, holder of the highest position”. Based on a belief that, of course, has no historical or linguistic evidence, the natives consider it to be the image of Guiv, the famous warrior of the Shahnameh, and say that it is written on it: “I am Guiv, the slayer of the lion”! However, Dr Kia’s reading says that it was written and engraved by the order of a commander named Ardeshir. Ardeshir’s name is also seen in other Parthian writings.
In the southern part of the rock, the profile of a man wearing a long garment is visible. The two lines written in Pahlavi language is not legible due to complete erosion. The third image can be seen in the north of the valley, and its image is the same as the other two images and shows the half face and figure of a man. Its one-line writing is in Pahlavi script and has been called: “Vishtiyon Rastorosh.” Maybe “Vishtiyon” is his name and “honest” is an attribute given to him. Who was Vishtiyon, it is not known.
The current state of the Kaljangal inscriptions and engravings
In its July report, “Voice of Heritage” website has sounded concern about the destruction of this ancient work. This report mentions its “deliberate destruction” and a note by a destructive visitor who wrote his family name on the lion’s back with a sharp object! This type of memorial writing is a disaster that has afflicted many of our ancient and ancient works, and it is a sign of a completely incorrect and harmful attitude of some of us towards ancestral and historical works. In any case, this historical work that shows a warrior fighting a lion and killing it maybe a symbol of the battle between good and evil, or a symbol of Mithraism.
