Mohammad Ibrahim Zarei, head of the Institute for Cultural Heritage and Tourism, spoke during a scieific visit to Abdanan city in Ilam province, which could launch one of the brightest archaeological chapters in the Middle East: ideifying stone mines where the magnifice pillars of Darius have been carried out.
According to Zarei, the unprecedeed finding was first iroduced by Mohammad Heydari, a concerned teacher of Abadani, and then eered the scieific review phase with expert reviews and initial approval of Loghman Ahmadzadeh Shohani, an archaeologist of the Shush World Heritage Site. A set of satellite data, field observations, and geological analysis eveually brought the researchers to a poi in the heart of Kabirkuh; Where not one mine, but three consecutive mines were ideified with definitive evidence of bastati and possibly Achaemenid mining activities.
Zarei poied out the importance of this discovery:
So far, the exact location of the mines supplying massive stones used in the construction of the Susa Palace was unclear. Although Darius the Great in the Apadana Palace inscription referred to a place called Abiradush, its location remained in a state of ambiguity. Now and with the new findings, these mines have been possible to adapt to that historical description.
Head of the Institute for Cultural Heritage and Tourism:
More detailed tests are being carried out to compare the samples in the Susa Palace columns. These specialized studies will eer a new phase in the next two weeks, and if the stones are proven, the Shush World Registrar can be updated with new information; A strategic step that provides the opportunity to revise and enhance the global position of the ancie site as well as the mine discovery area.
Zarei added:
During the studies, signs of ancie stone cutting tools, remnas of extraction and significa amous of iron ore have also been discovered; A rock that is likely to be strongly used to produce metal fasteners in Achaemenid stone architecture. These discoveries, along with the geological characteristics of the region, reinforce the likelihood of the Achaemenid mines.
He said.
The approximate distance of these mines to Susa is about 2 kilometers, and the route of stones in ancie times was probably a combination of mouainous and blue routes, especially through the Karkheh River. The rebuilding of this historic transport network opens new prospects for understanding the manageme system, human resources and native technologies.
From a farmer’s poi of view, the importance of this discovery is beyond Iran’s borders. If the relationship between Abadan mines and Achaemenid constructions in Susa is finalized, the discovery could be the same as the discovery of the Peechian marble mine in Athens for the construction of the Parthenon; A decisive poi in the history of classical architecture of the world.
The head of the Institute for Cultural Heritage and Tourism said at the end:
Further research can not only enable the registration of newly discovered Mines in UNESCO, but will also significaly upgrade the indigenous capacities of the area from the middle Zagros for the developme of scieific, historical and cultural tourism.
