Khaled Nabi's Cemetery

Khaled Nabi’s Cemetery is located in the Golestan Province, 70 kilometers north of Gonbad’e Kavoos on the secondary road at the border of Turkmenistan. The cemetery is in close proximity to Khaled Nabi’s Mausoleum who is believed to have been a prophet from Yemen. It is generally believed that Khaled Nabi was the only prophet between Jesus and Muhammad and lived in the area approximately 1,600 years ago while the cemetery itself possibly goes back to the Mazdaki era in the 6th century.

One of the interesting and culturally amazing characteristics of this cemetery is its tombstones. The tombstones of the deceased, depending on their sex, are shaped as the female or male genital organs. The female tombstones are carved as ovaries and wombs while the male tombstones resemble an erect penis.

Around the main Khaled Nabi hill, especially to the north and around the main graveyard hilltop, one can find scattered male and female tombstones of varying sizes. Half way between the shrine hilltop and the main cemetery, on the side of the footpath stands the tallest male phallic tombstone as if greeting the visitor to the cemetery.

The local myth about the cemetery and its occupants is that following the departure of Khaled Nabi, the inhabitants of the area began worshiping the sun and as a result, and as punishment, they were all turned to stone (the male tombstones).

There are over 600 stone gravestones shaped like penises and breasts, all of varying size and shape.  Some of the phalluses are even taller than most visitors to the cemetery.