TEHRAN Iran has launched extensive efforts in
cooperation with the Interpol for the return
of a mummy which is of an ancient Iranian
royal family member which was smuggled to
Pakistan.
This was announced by the Director General of
the Cultural Property Department of the
Cultural Heritage Organization, Faeq Tohidi.
Tohidi said Wednesday that on the basis of
existing evidence the embalmed corpse
definitely belongs to Iran, adding that
contradictory statements made within and
outside the country will not diminish the
significance of the issue.
He further added
that remarks made by those who had possession
of the embalmed corpse and official statements
of Pakistani police testify to the fact that
the mummy was smuggled out of the country.
He
warned that any attempt at deviating public
opinion by attributing the ancient remains to
other countries cannot undermine the efforts
of the Islamic Republic of Iran to have them
returned.
Tohidi said that with the dispatch
of its experts to Pakistan, the organization
will soon find out the real identity of the
embalmed corpse.
Given the cuneiform scripts engraved on the
coffin, experts believe that it dates back to
some 2500 years ago -- the time when the
Achaemenid dynasty ruled Iran.
Police
officials and experts of historical monuments
in Sistan-Baluchestan, southeast Iran, say the
corpse was unearthed during archaeological
excavations conducted in the Burnt City and
was smuggled outside the country in the
post-revolution era.
The embalmed corpse was recently seized by
Pakistani police from smugglers on the
Iran-Pakistan border.
Archaeological
excavations in the Burnt City have revealed
evidences of civilization dating back to 3200
B.C. which remained intact up to around
2100-2000 B.C. and during the four successive
periods in history. Italian archaeologists
launched excavations on the area from 1967 to
1979 and since then work was continued by
Iranian archaeologists.
