  Images of Persepolis ( In modern day Iran it's known as Takht-e Jamshid). To the ancient Persians, the city was
known as Parsa - Persepolis being the Greek interpretation of the name.
New discoveries and restoration of historical sites in Iran Page 1
On Page 2
*Historical town found in Iran
*Ancient Susa
*Skulls of various races found in Iran's Semnan
*Iran's experts hope to find lost Achaemenid city
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Archaeologists return to Iran's "Burnt City"
A team of Iranian and foreign archaeologists began the 11th season of studies and excavations at the Burnt City, a
5200 year-old site in southeastern Iran, on November 10, MNA reported.
Twenty experts from the Italian National Research Center on Aging, Rome’s National Museum of Oriental Art, and the
University of Newcastle are participating in the project.
The team, which is led by Seyyed Mansur Seyyed-Sajjadi, also comprises experts from the University of Sistan and
Baluchestan.The experts from the University of Newcastle are to examine the diet of the inhabitants of the city by
studying the hair discovered in the graves during previous excavations.The team also plans to make a moulage of the
4800-year-old skull of a woman that had an artificial eyeball, which was discovered in grave number 6705 of the
Burnt City’s cemetery, in order to make a reconstruction of her face. Covering an area of 150 hectares, the Burnt City
is located 57 kilometers from the city of Zabol in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan Province.
It was one of the world’s largest cities at the dawn of the urban era and is one of the most important prehistoric sites of
the country which was well developed during the third millennium BC.
The city had four stages of civilization and was burnt down three times. Since it was not rebuilt after the last time it was
burnt down, it has been named the Burnt City,
4,800-year-old face to be restored
An archeological team is to restore the face of a female skeleton with a 4,800-year-old artificial eye discovered in Iran's
Burnt City.In December 2006, archeologists discovered the world's earliest artificial eyeball worn by a woman in Burnt
City's necropolis.
Following year-long intense studies, an expert team consisting of 20 Iranian and Italian archeologists will restore the
face of the owner of the eye.
The latest studies revealed the artificial eye is composed of various materials including bitumen paste and animal fat.
The circle engraved in the surface of the artificial eye represents the iris and the gold lines drawn on the surface
symbolize the finest capillaries in the eye.
The eye, which is 2.5 cm in diameter, has two holes at the sides through which a golden thread was used to hold the
eyeball in place.
Experts say that the skeleton dates back to 2900 BC, when the Bronze Age archeological site was a wealthy city
and enjoyed the status of a trading post at the crossroads of the East and the West.
Iran private sector to restore 110 historical sites
Saad-ul-Saltaneh Complex in the eastern market of Qazvin is one of Iran?s most treasured architectural and structures
which contains artifacts from the Qajar era (1781-1925), Iran Daily reported.
The complex includes warehouses, loading areas, storerooms, camel stables, Rasteh Bazaar, Bath and a quadrangular
market.Saad-ul-Saltaneh is Iran?s biggest caravanserai to be located within the city.
The proximity of Saad-ul-Saltaneh to the market and business district of the Safavieh city and its location in the
economic and trade zone of the city had a special bearing on economic, cultural and tourism conditions of the region.
The edifice that sprawls over an area of 2.6 hectares was built by Baqer Khan Saad-ul-Saltaneh, governor of Qazvin
during the reign of the Qajar king, Nasser-e-Din Shah (1848-1896) era.
It is the first grand historical building that the private sector has undertaken to restore.
Deputy head of Iran?s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization disclosed that a total of 200 registered
historical sites have been pinpointed by the Fund for Restoring and Operating Historical and Cultural Monuments.
A total of 110 historical buildings will be entrusted to the private sector for restoration and preventing their destruction,
Hamid Baqaei added.
This is while managing director of the fund said that concurrent with the signing a memorandum of understanding to
cede Saad-ul-Saltaneh to the private sector, new investment strategies for cultural and historical monuments will be
adopted in cooperation with the private sector and universities.
Noting that refurbishing historical monuments is aimed at achieving sustainable economic development of cultural
heritage sites, Ali Asghar Parhizgar noted that complete information about assigning the restoration of historical
monuments to the private sector will be available in the First Seminar of Investment Opportunities in Tourism Industry
which began on Saturday.
The two-day event ended on Sunday.
Section of ancient canal discovered north of Iran
A team of Iranian and British archaeologists have recently discovered a 50 kilometer section of an ancient canal near the
Gorgan Great Wall in northern Iran?s Golestan Province, MNA reported.
?The canal was used to transfer water from the Gorganrud River to the people who once lived in the vicinity of the wall,
moats, castles, and brick kilns,? the team?s Iranian director Hamid Omrani told the Persian service of CHN.
This section of canal was still in use, but for a different purpose, up until the 1979 Islamic Revolution when the Voshmgir
Dam was built by French engineers.
Last week, the team, which includes experts from the universities of Durham and Edinburgh, also discovered a sixteenth
fort at the Gorgan Great Wall.
Archaeologists estimate that it was built at about the same time as the Great Wall of China and that it was used as a
defense system against the invasions of the Ephthalites, a nomadic people who once lived in Central Asia.
Initial studies suggest that the wall measures 200 kilometers in length. This would make it Asia?s second longest wall
after the Great Wall of China.
Tombstone Museum in Ardebil, Iran
Over 200 tombstones, most of which date back to the Safavid era (1501-1736 AD), are on display in the stone museum
at the mausoleum of Sheikh Safieddin Ardebili in Ardebil.
According to CHN, the museum becomes operational in Shahidgah Cemetery concurrent with the Government Week
(Aug. 24-31).
Commenting on the stones at Shahidgah Site, director of Provincial Museums Department Malakeh Golmaghanizadeh
said, we are currently preparing the stones for display. Most of the stones are damaged as the inscriptions are hardly
legible.
He further stated that the main objective of the event is to protect and rearrange the stones.
Shahidgah Cemetery covers eastern and western sides of Sheikh Safieddin Ardebili. The graveyard was so named
during the reign of Shah Esmaeil Safavi I.
A number of heroes martyred in the Chaldoran War in 920 AH are buried in the cemetery.
Based on historical documents pertaining to the site, following the establishment of Safavid dynasty, it was used for
laying religious and political figures to rest.
Source: IranMania.com
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