Iranian police seize Mesopotamian artefacts


A total of 59 artefacts were seized last week in Varamin, Tehran Province, during a police raid, a local cultural heritage official said.

Iranian police seize Mesopotamian artefacts

"The artefacts date back to the 3rd millennium BC," Sahab Pouzaki, the head of the Varamin office of Iran's Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization, said during a press conference on Thursday, Mehr News Agency reported.

"Preliminary studies show 29 relics trace their roots back to Mesopotamian civilizations in southwestern Iran but more research is required," he said.

The haul includes everyday objects, statues, jewelries and beads bearing writings.

Pazouki said the objects are particularly valuable because very few artefacts belonging to Mesopotamian civilizations have been found in southwestern Iran.

Mespotamia (Ancient Greek for the land between rivers) was an ancient region located between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates, comprising most of modern-day Iraq, Kuwait, eastern parts of Syria, southeastern Turkey and Iran-Iraq borders.

Referred to as the cradle of civilization, Mesopotamia is credited with some of the most important developments in human history, from mathematics and astronomy to agriculture and invention of wheel.

Source: Financial Tribune [July 19, 2017]

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ötzi and Tuscany: long-distance connections in the Copper Age

Image
The copper from Ötzi’s axe comes from Southern Tuscany. In September 2016, Professor Gilberto Artioli from the University of Padua had already announced this when presenting his first research findings on the occasion of the Bolzano Mummy Congress which had been jointly organised by the Eurac Institute for Mummies and the Iceman and the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology to commemorate the 25th anniversary of finding Ötzi’s remains. The copper axe of the Iceman [Credit: © South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology] Finding out about the origin of the copper was a complete surprise, as up till now archaeologists had assumed that the copper used in the Alpine region came from Alpine deposits or the Balkan region. What has not yet been ascertained is whether the Iceman acquired the copper from Tuscany as raw material or as a ready-made blade. Artioli’s publication furthermore establishes links to coeval metallurgical activity in Tuscany. Future research projects aim to retrace trading routes
Read more

New excavation season starts in ancient Sagalassos

Image
Excavation and restoration work has resumed in the ancient city of Sagalassos in southwestern Turkey. Monumental centre of Sagalassos: The urban quarter of Upper Agora  [Credit: Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism ] A team of 90 people from different countries will work in the excavation area this year and the works will continue for the next three months. A team of five experts from the city’s Mehmet Akif Ersoy University (MAKÜ) will give academic and technological support to the excavation. The head of the excavation team, Professor Jereon Poblome, said the most excavation would be done in the ancient agora area. “Our biggest excavation will take place in the eastern part of the upper agora, as the oldest building of Sagalassos was found there two years ago. As far as we have learned, there was a trade building in this area. This building was constructed in the second century B.C. and is the oldest official building of Sagalassos. Here is a rich place and our building is standing
Read more

Ptolemaic buildings and bridge unearthed in Alexandria, Egypt

Image
The Hellenic Institute for the Research of Alexandrian Culture (H.R.I.A.C), directed by archaeologist Kalliopi Papakostas, has discovered ancient buildings and a bridge in the Shalallat Gardens area in Alexandria, Egypt. The Ptolemaic public building, where the carved tunnel has been discovered, was located in 2015  [Credit: ANA/MNA] According to the Athens Macedonia News Agency, excavations in the area have been ongoing for 21 years and archaeologists have now unearthed a long carved tunnel at a depth of 10 metres that sheds new light on the large public building from the Ptolemaic period that was found in 2015. The Ptolemaic public building, where the carved tunnel has been discovered,  was located in 2015 [Credit: ANA/MNA] Though its boundaries have yet to be revealed the building, which is thought to have had an arched ceiling, is of massive proportions. Excavation in the Shallalat Gardens in Alexandria, Egypt   [Credit: ANA/MNA] “This is a very significant discovery, because i
Read more