International Committee to Save Historical Remains of Tang-e-Bolaghi

18 January 2005

An international committee will be set up to help save the 129 archeological remains of Tang-e-Bolaghi gorge that will go under water when the Sivand Dam is flooded one year from now.

The 18 km Tang-e-Bolaghi is located 4 kilometers from the world heritage site of Pasargadae and is considered part of the first capital of the Achaemenid dynasty. Scholars believe it has been the kingdom route and the most important road of the country during the Achaemenid time, connecting Pasargadae to Persepolis and Susa.

Head of the Pars-e Pasargadae project, Mohammad Hasan Talebian, told CHN that they are trying to set up a committee under the supervision of UNESCO to prevent the loss of the historical sites of the area.

According to Talebian, scholars from Italy, France, Japan, Australia, Germany, Poland and England have so far announced their readiness to take part in the excavations of Tang-e-Bolaghi, and it is hoped that more would show up with the setting up of the committee, which is hoped to form in the upcoming months.

The formal request to organize the committee has already been handed to UNESCO and Mounir Bouchenaki, UNESCO assistant director general for culture has announced his approval when visiting the site, said Talebian.

Some 129 historical remains have been discovered in the area during the recent months, which include hills, metal kilns, caves and residential areas dating to the time before Christ, stone kilns, two group cemeteries, and more than 7 kilometers of border made by stone at the Parthian times.

Sivand Dam is planned to be flooded by next year when nearly 8 kilometers of historical sites of the Tang-e-Bolaghi gorge will go under water.

Dams have been constructed in the recent years to help economic development and water supply in some developing countries, but these projects have endangered their cultural heritage and therefore scholars have been prompted to save them before flooding the dams.

Pasargadae ancient site, 70 km north of Persepolis in Fars province, consists of many historical treasures like Cyrus Mausoleum and Public Audience Palace, and is the first Achaemenid capital in which the oldest Iranian garden system called Chahar-bagh (4 gardens) was used.

Pasargadae is the fifth Iranian site inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2004, and therefore deserves special care and any attempt to endanger it is prohibited.

The construction of Sivand Dam started in 1992 on the river of Tang-e-Bolaghi without the permission of the Iranian Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization.