Tehran municipality hit the historic cemetery with a loader

The director of the Ray National Base announced the attack of the “Bam Ray” or “Tabarak Garden” project on the “Zirin” historical cemetery and said:

The municipal project in Ray is without a permit and approved plan from the cultural heritage authorities and should be stopped.

Qadir Efrond, director of Ray’s heritage base, told ISNA:

Since the past months, Ray’s national base has requested three times from the respected prosecutor of Ray city to stop the municipal project of the 20th district of Tehran, known as “Bam Ray” or “Tabarak Garden”. Yesterday (Sunday, November 6), after visiting the illegal and destructive process of the project, we finally filed a complaint against the municipality and the project agents in the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Islamic Revolution of Ray city, and demanded to stop the project, and we announced this to the project manager in person.

Afrond stated:

Unfortunately, this project, which was started in the past years without a permit and an approved plan from the cultural heritage authority, ended up ignoring the cultural heritage of Ray, and followed the same trend that the National Ray Base entered the issue for the first time at the end of this spring through the unit The protection of cultural heritage stopped the project. By suing the municipality in Ray and then the court of Ray entering the matter, decisions were made that unfortunately the municipality never acted on, and inevitably the National Base of Ray complained for the last time against the relevant officials of the municipality in Ray and the Ray roof project and demanded a complete stop of the project. .

This archaeologist added:

Unfortunately, in many cases, cultural and civilizational heritage works have become victims of so-called show and damaging projects! And this time, we will not allow the officials themselves, who have a legal duty, to sacrifice Ray’s cultural heritage for their short-term goals. The mythical mountain of Bibi Shahrbanu, which was called Tabarak before Islam, has been a sacred and highly respected area throughout ancient history, both in prehistoric and historical times until the Sassanid era and then during the Islamic period.

He added:

In the past, great archaeologists such as Dr. Shadarvan Adl, as well as Dr. Yahya Kothari, Professor Ismail Yaghmai and others have explored and researched in this historical cemetery.

According to Efrond, Dr. Shahryar Adl, who had conducted archeological exploration and research in this historical site a decade ago, in an article in French, compared this historical place to the ancient city of Athens and the holy Olympus, called Mount Tabarak/Bibi Shahrbanu “holy”. And this historical cemetery was called “The City of the Dead (Necropolis)” which in the Islamic era, in the same tradition, became a magnificent field of towering tombs with various architecture and decorations of brickwork, plastering, tiling, etc. and all kinds of domes and The vault, arches, etc. had been converted, and at least in one case, it is estimated that the height of a mausoleum tower is close to the height of the world-famous Qaboos dome.

Ray’s heritage base manager said:

Unfortunately, most of these mausoleums were destroyed by earthquakes or other incidents until the end of the Qajar period and the beginning of the Pahlavi period. In the same article, Shadervan Adl announced the number of identified works and remains of this tower of tombs as 118 works. In addition to that, there are a significant number of historical mines of the Qajar period and before that within the scope of the project and around it, which should be prioritized for protection, improvement, equipping, and exploitation of tourism in order to add to the richness of this collection, and the current situation of Ray Municipality regardless of This precious and magnificent cultural and civilizational heritage basically ignores such valuable assets and is destroying them.

Efrond said:

It is as if the municipality is designing and building a normal park. The municipality should stop this destructive project and instead of ignoring and neglecting the cultural and civilizational heritage of Ray, it should consider its first duty and duty to serve these valuable works, and strive to its cultural duty and duty in saving, caring for and reviving these valuable and glorious works. Gomard and make them proud, otherwise this type of park construction will leave nothing but damage and destruction and a bitter memory for the noble and dear people of Ray as the proud inheritors of the magnificent Ray and dear Iran.

Zarin cemetery is located on the southern slope of Bibi Shahrbanu mountain, opposite and west of Borj Naqarakhane mountain and on the edge of gardens known as “Prince”. The cemetery is said to have once had 118 graves with four types of patriarchal burials. In the past years, near this area, a forest park of about 20 hectares and its access road have been built, which was also a reaction of the municipality of Ray.