Third Archaeological Season Excavation of the Ancient city of Esfarayen (Belqis) Based on the Results of Site Magnetometry

According to historical and archaeological sources, the ancient city of Esfarayen was one of the important settlement centers of the Islamic era. During its existence and prosperity, this city was a link between the two famous and big cities of Nishapur and Jurjan, but from the end of the Safavid period onwards, due to various reasons, it declined and its inhabitants gradually moved to the new city. So far, parts of the ancient city of Esfarayen have been excavated by archaeologists during several different seasons. In the meantime, choosing a suitable place for archaeological excavations in this area has always been one of the most important issues for its explorers, because due to the limitation of financial resources and the large area of the area, it was necessary to determine suitable places for excavation in advance. so that its archaeological exploration can be done with more certainty. For this purpose, at the beginning of the third season of excavations, six hectares of the city were investigated with the help of magnetometric method. Then, based on the results of magnetometry, the excavations of this season were carried out. According to these explanations, the main goal of the current research is to present the results of magnetometry and compare it with the findings of the archaeological exploration of the ancient city of Esfarayen. In the current research, the descriptive-analytical method has been used using the results of field and library studies. As a result of these studies, many evidences of industrial activities were identified in the site, including architectural remains of a pottery kiln and many evidences of pottery production, which are important in the archaeological studies of the Islamic era.