Tehran, 29 September 2007 (CHN Foreign Desk) – Cultural deputy of Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts, and Tourism Organization (ICHHTO) has strongly asked for documentation of Izeh bas-reliefs and inscriptions as the initial step for saving these 3000-year-old historical evidence before they damaged completely.     

 

Warning about the risky situation of the bas-reliefs and inscriptions in Izeh, experts believe that if this trend of splashing the bas-reliefs and inscriptions with paint and writing and carving memento phrases on them continue, in a near future nothing would remain from these Elamite bas-reliefs and they will not be visible anymore. Even tourists to Izeh city have voiced their concern about the chaotic situation of these 3000-year-old bas-reliefs.  

 

In a talk with CHN, Siavash Saberi head of the office for safeguarding movable historical properties lamented the current situation of 3000-year-old bas-reliefs of Izeh and said that the best measure for rescuing these historical evidence would be to document them.

 

“Documentation of these bas-reliefs should be started as soon as possible in order to maintain these historical evidence for next generations,” said Saberi.

 

According to Saberi, teaching people how to protect their cultural heritage evidence would be the best approach for preparing the ground for preventing further damages to historical sites.

 

Prior to this experts of Ayapir Cultural Heritage Research Center also requested urgent budget support to finance restoration of bas-releifs and inscriptions of the historic sites of Eshkaft-e Salman and Kul-Farah, located in the city of Izeh in the Iranian southwestern province of Khuzestan where feature many historic evidence mostly belonging to the Elamite civilization (3400-550 BC). 

 

Soudabeh Sadigh

foreigndesk@chn.ir