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CAIS ARCHAEOLOGICAL & CULTURAL NEWS^©

12 September 2005

In an alleged letter to the Islamic regime's President, the Minister of Energy claimed, “the Energy Ministry is ready for any kind of cooperation for documentation through studies and registration of the historical sites of Pasargadae, transporting the valuable evidence there, and building a museum suitable for Sivand dam heritage.”

Following the news of Sivand dam in Bolaghi Gorge, Fars province, being flooded in the near future, a news has spread around the world that the Pasargadae is being in serious danger of being inundated and destructed.

The construction plan of Sivand damn began in 1992 and experts and archaeologists have been working round the clock to help save the heritage that will be lost when 8 kilometers of Bolaghi Gorge is to be drowned by the time the dam is put in service.

Bolaghi Gorge is located 4 kilometers from the World Heritage Site of Pasargadae and is considered part of its historical landscape. The Energy Minster of Iran has denied the destruction of the ancient Pasargadae world-famous monuments and has moreover promised to do their best in preserving the site.

In a letter to Mahmood Ahmadinejad, the regime's Minister of Energy, Parviz Fattah, has explained in detail the construction of the damn, its objectives, and economy profits, opposing the wrong rumor spread about issues related to cultural heritage. “The perimeters of the lake [behind the dam] at its largest reaches a 9-Kilometer distance from Pasargadae Monument, and the level of water in this part is 45 meters below the foundation of the tomb,” he added.

“On the way from Pasargadae to the lake, there exists an old canal or parts of the King Road, carved in the rocks, called Dokhtarbar canal, which are considered the most important historical remains of Bolaghi Plain. Fortunately, the canal is not to be affected by the lake,” Fattah allegedly writes in his letter.

He has also claimed that removing the historical evidence behind the dams has been previously done in Iran and other historical countries such as China and Egypt, and has expressed hope that with cooperation of the two organizations [Energy Ministry and Iran’s Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization], the invaluable historical heritage of Sivand will be saved and Sivand damn which has a significant role in the promotion of economy of the region will be exploited.

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The British Museum

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Asiatic Society