Note: Located in northern Iran at an elevation of 3,900 feet on a barren gravel plain. It is noted as the site of what is possibly the oldest mosque in Iran, the Tarik Khaneh, dating from the 9th century; it is also the site of tomb towers of the Seljuq period. There were settlements at nearby Tepe Hissar dating from prehistoric times through the Sasanian period. Damghan was an important town on the Silk Road, and capital of the medieval province of Qumis but was destroyed by Afghans in 1723. The town trades in pistachios and almonds.