Shahdad (, also Romanized as Shahdād; formerly, Khabīs) is a city and capital of Shahdad District, in Kerman County, Kerman Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 4,097, in 1,010 families. District Shahdad is the center of Shahdad district which includes smaller cities and villages such as Sirch, Anduhjerd, Chahar Farsakh, Go-diz, Keshit, Ibrahim Abad, Joshan and Dehseif. The driving distance from Kerman city to Shahdad is 95 km. The local climate is hot and dry. The main agricultural produce is date fruits. There are many castles and caravanserais at Shahdad and around. Examples are the Shafee Abaad castle and the Godeez castle. The shrine of Imamzadeh Zeyd, in the south of the town, is a respected religious site. There is also the main mosque Masjed-e-Rasool (Mosque of the Prophet) where people go to offer namaz. Climate Shahdad has a hot desert climate (Köppen climate classification BWh). The city is located at the edge of the Lut desert, which is one of the hottest and driest places in the world. The Summers are long and extremely hot, while the winter are short and mild. Archaeology Shahdad was a major Bronze Age center discovered in 1968. Around 1970, Ali Hakemi of Archaeological Institute of Iran investigated the site. He conducted excavations for seven seasons. "By the early third millennium B.C., Shahdad began to grow quickly as international trade with Mesopotamia expanded. Tomb excavations revealed spectacular artifacts amid stone blocks once painted in vibrant colors. These include several extraordinary, nearly life-size clay statues placed with the dead. The city's artisans worked lapis lazuli, silver, lead, turquoise, and other materials imported from as far away as eastern Afghanistan, as well as shells from the distant Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean. Evidence shows that ancient Shahdad had a large metalworking industry by this time." Location Shahdad is located in Shahdad Plain of Kerman province. To the east is the Lut Desert, and to the west are the Kerman mountains. Due to proximity of the Shahdad Plain to the Lut Desert, its climate is hot and dry; often there are strong winds blowing densely mixed with dust. The site of Shahdad was in antiquity located near the Shahdad River and some other streams flowing east. Shahdad shares many parallels with Shahr-i-Sokhta. Many other ancient settlements are found in what is now empty desert. This is where the Jiroft Civilization flourished. The legendary Aratta