The looting of an ancient tomb in Fars province (update: the reaction of the general director of museums to the news)

The looting of a large ancient tomb around Beyza city and in Fars province has been making news these days. It is said that the works of this tomb belong to one of the kings of the pre-Achaemenid dynasties in the ancient region of Anshan.

Anshan’s gold cargo contains many bronze and silver objects and about 24 to 28 kilograms of gold works, including dishes, statues, ornaments, etc., and now these objects have fallen into the hands of historical object smugglers.

Underground market observers have said:

In the negligence of Fars province’s cultural heritage authorities, unauthorized diggers found this tomb and probably stole historical objects as big as a Nissan van from this tomb.

According to these people, the objects that the historical objects smuggling gang intends to sell in the underground market of Iran are packed and there is a possibility of taking them out of the country. It also seems that this very valuable cargo is now in the hands of someone who is responsible for introducing and selling them to buyers of historical objects in the underground antique market.

This valuable cargo that unauthorized diggers removed from the country’s most important ancient tomb in Beyza city, Fars province, was looted from this tomb within the last 10 years, and probably the unauthorized diggers were able to find it by using new metal detectors that scan the ground up to 3 meters deep. find this shipment in their ancient tomb.

According to these people, it is estimated that there are more than 600 pieces of bronze objects, some of which are half a meter in size, and gold tights with an opening of 30 to 40 cm, and large containers similar to the treasures of Ramhormoz and Jobji. There is also a golden statue in this shipment, which probably belongs to an ancient goddess.

It is said that in the cargo looted from the royal tomb of Anshan in Baida Fars, in addition to war tools and ornaments, there were also a large number of silver plaques, marble stone works, and stone and gold containers.

It is said that there were some pottery in this tomb, but the most important object in this underground cargo is 4 golden crowns, one of which is a big crown and the rest is a half crown along with 4 square limestone stones. According to the observers of the underground market of historical objects, in this shipment there is also a golden glass that is decorated with animal patterns, and the inscriptions on this work and on the back of the glass are of the same period as the objects that the late Ezzatullah Gardjan found in Marlik hill and probably belong to First millennium BC.

According to the observers and those who know about the activities in the underground market of historical objects, after the news of the smuggling of historical objects from Imam Khomeini airport and the arrest of the smugglers of historical objects in this case, the buyers of historical objects in the underground market have decreased and despite the high supply of historical objects in this market, no one He is not willing to buy historical objects obtained from unauthorized excavations.

There have been reports of the identification of the looted treasure from the tomb of the “Anshan” kings from Fars province in the underground market of antiques and the attempt of smugglers to sell it on virtual networks, but the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts has not yet reacted to it, but Morteza Adibzadeh, the general director of the country’s museums, said that he is investigating the dimensions of this news and verifying it.

On the other hand, the news website affiliated with the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts publishes news repeatedly throughout the week about the discovery and confiscation of metal detectors, illegal diggers’ tools and the identification of historical objects sales networks.

The reaction of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and an archaeologist

The news published about the identification of the looted treasure from the tomb of the kings “Anshan” from Fars province in the underground market of antiques and the efforts of smugglers to sell it on virtual networks, although it was not accompanied by a direct response from the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts, but the Director General of the Museums The country has made a decision about it.

Morteza Adeebzadeh, the general director of the country’s museums, said that he is investigating the dimensions of this news and verifying it.

On the other hand, the news website affiliated with the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts publishes news repeatedly throughout the week about the discovery and confiscation of metal detectors, illegal diggers’ tools and the identification of historical objects sales networks.

Ali Asghar Nowrozi – an archaeologist and a member of the scientific faculty of the Research Institute of Archeology – also warns following the publication of such news:

We are witnessing the continuation of targeted excavations with a commercial plan, and unfortunately we are witnessing the destruction of valuable historical sites (Anshan) for the discovery and looting of very elite, but unidentified objects.

This archaeologist, after publishing the news of the looting of the golden treasure of the tomb of the Elamite kings in Anshan, Fars, although it has not yet been officially confirmed or denied, in a note titled “The looting of ancient Elam (Elam) civilization artifacts in Anshan (Pers); The vacuum of scientific exploration has been filled by unauthorized diggers!

This archaeologist wrote in his note:

Anshan, another legendary capital of Ilam (Eylam) in present-day Pars (Persian) province, has remained completely untouched except for the exploration of a few limited trenches in the years before the Islamic Revolution. A large part of the history of this land lies in its ancient layers. Unfortunately, the city of Anshan is being swallowed up by the small village of “Milian” regardless of its unique and global values, and the state of Anshan is being swallowed up by the looters of the country’s historical monuments.