Iranian heritage

On the one hand continuous archeological research is bringing new details of history to light in Iran. On the other, development demands lead to ignoring rich archeological harvests.

The joint team led by Professor Pierfrancesco Callieri of the University of Bologna and Alireza Asgari of Iran’s Parsa and Pasargadae Research Foundation (PPRF) plans to find more information about the architectural structure of the ancient city of Persepolis, PPRF director Mohammad-Hassan Talebian told the Persian service of Cultural Heritage News.

Persepolis was unearthed during excavations conducted by US archaeologist Ernest Hertzfeld in 1910. In 1979, the Achaemenid site was registered on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. PPRF is compiling information on ancient sites adjacent to Persepolis in order to attach the dossier to the Persepolis document registered on the UNESCO list, the write-up informs us.

In conjunction with the plan, experts are currently studying Naqsh-e Rajab, Naqsh-e Rustam, Mount Rahmat, the Sassanid city of Istakhr, and several other ancient sites near Persepolis. According to the latest studies carried out by Iranian archaeologists, Persepolis is much larger than previous surveys have indicated.

The Sassanid city of Istakhr is located on the outskirts of the 6,000-year-old Mount Rahmat (also known as the Rahmatabad Tepe) near Persepolis in the Marvdasht region. Mount Rahmat is home to the tombs of many Achaemenid and Sassanid princes and commanders.

Naqsh-e Rustam and Naqsh-e Rajab are located six kilometers north of Persepolis and have bas-reliefs dating back to the Elamite, Achaemenid and Sassanid eras.

But on the perimeter of the ancient city of Susa government officials responsible for cultural heritage and tourism have chosen to accept plans for a multipurpose hotel complex. This, despite the fact that strata from the Sassanid and Parthian eras have been discovered at a depth of 20 centimeters to one meter.

Susa (the Biblical city of Shushan, now the modern city of Shush) was an ancient city in the Elamite, Persian and Parthian empires of Iran, located about 150 miles east of the Tigris River in Khuzestan Province of Iran, notes the article. Susa is one of the oldest known settlements in the region, probably founded around 4000 BC, though the first traces of an inhabited settlement date back to 7000 BC. Originally, archaeologists had determined a 400-hectare perimeter for Susa.