Mount Oshida
Mount Khajeh
Mount Khajeh
Highest point
Elevation	609 m (1,998 ft)
Coordinates	30°56′21″N61°14′44″E / 30.9391°N 61.2455°E /30.9391; 61.2455
Geography
Mount Oshida Sistan andBaluchestan,Iran Show map of Iran Mount Oshida Mount Oshida (West and Central Asia) Show map of West and Central Asia
Geology
Mountain type	Hill
Rock type	Black basalt

Oshida orMount Khwaja orMount Khwajeh (Persian:کوه خواجه,romanized: Kuh-e Kh^vājeh) is a flat-topped blackbasalt hill rising up as an island in the middle ofLake Hamun, in theIranian province ofSistan and Baluchestan.^[1]

The trapezoid-shaped basalt lava outcropping, located 30 km southwest of the town ofZabol, rises to 609 meters above sea level and has a diameter ranging from 2.0 to 2.5 kilometres. It is the only natural height in the Sistan area, and is named after an Islamic pilgrimage site on the hill: the tomb and shrine of Khwaja Ali Mahdi, a descendant ofAli ibn Abi Talib.^[2]

Mount Khwaja is also considered an important archaeological site. On the southern promontory of the eastern slope, the ruins of a citadel complex - known as theGhagha-Shahr - with its remains of afire temple date to pre-Islamic Iran. According toZoroastrian legend,Lake Hamun is "the keeper of Zoroaster's seed." In Zoroastrian eschatology, when the final renovation of the world is near, maidens will enter the lake and then give birth to thesaoshyans, the saviours of humankind.^[3]

The citadel complex was first investigated byMarc Aurel Stein in 1915–1916. The site was later excavated byErnst Herzfeld, and was again investigated in part by Giorgio Gullini in a short expedition of 1960. Initially, Herzfeld tentatively dated the palace complex to the 1st century CE, that is, to theArsacid period (248 BCE-224 CE). Herzfeld later revised his estimate to a later date and today theSassanid period (224-651 CE) is usually considered to be more likely. Three bas-reliefs on the outer walls that depict riders and horses are attributed to this later period. Beyond the citadel at the top of the plateau are several other unrelated buildings, of uncertain function and probably dating to the Islamic period.^[4]

• 
  Mount Khajeh mural.^[5]
• 
  Mount Khajeh mural.^[5]
• 
  Drawing of a Mount Khajeh painting, Ghahga-Shahr.^[5]
• 
  Kuh-i Khwaja Sasanian wall painting of a woman with mouth cover, 7th century CE.^[5]
• 
  Kuh-i Khwaja Sasanian wall painting, 7th century CE.^[5]

• Sistan Basin
• Helmand River

• Keall, Edward J."Architecture: Parthian Period".Encyclopædia Iranica.ISSN 2330-4804. RetrievedApril 8, 2018.
• Ramazan-nia, Nersi (February 1997)."The treasures of Lake Hamun: An Interview with Soroor Ghanimati".The Iranian. Berkeley, California: Abadan Publishing Co. RetrievedApril 8, 2018.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toMount Khajeh.

• Ernst Herzfeld Papers, Series 5: Drawings and Maps, Records of Kuh-e Khwaja Collections Search Center, S.I.R.I.S., Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

• Mountains of Sistan and Baluchestan Province
• Archaeological sites in Iran
• Architecture in Iran
• Castles in Iran
• Landforms of Sistan and Baluchestan province
• Sistan
• Former populated places in Iran
• Buildings and structures in Sistan and Baluchestan province
• Tourist attractions in Sistan and Baluchestan province
• Buildings and structures on the Iran National Heritage List
• Sasanian castles
• Mountains of Iran

• Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Coordinates on Wikidata
• Articles containing Persian-language text
• Commons category link is on Wikidata