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.CAIS NEWS© ARCHAEOLOGICAL & CULTURAL NEWS OF THE IRANIAN WORLD |
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Alleged Qom' Restoration Project Turns into a Devastating One
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27 November 2006 |
LONDON,
(CAIS - edited by Shapour Suren-Pahlav) -- The project to renovate historic texture of Qom, Tehran’s
neighbouring province, has now become a devastating one, destroying large areas
of the 6000-year-old site of Shad Qoli (šādgolī)
and other old sites of this province as well as the areas which had remained
intact for long.
The
Yaser Project was initiated last year to restore Qom’s historic texture.
However, lack of expertise in implementation of the project has led into
destruction of the area’s historic sites.
“Many
years ago, the Yaser Project, backed by the provincial municipality and governor
office, could win the approval of members of the Parliamentary Commission for
Article 5 to the renovation of the historic texture of Qom. Following the
issuance of this approval, which is not completely unambiguous, the project was
initiated. Implementation of this project destroyed the historical and intact
texture of Qom,” said Mohammad Kavousi, an archaeologist and expert of
Cultural Heritage and Tourism Department of Qom province.
Widening
of the historical sites of Qom by project executors led into accidental
discovery of Shad Qoli ancient site which is dated to the prehistoric era.
However, despite the fact that archaeologists repeatedly stressed the historic
importance of this ancient site, continuation of activities in the area led into
destruction of this 6000-year-old site.
“As
soon as we were informed of the destruction of the prehistoric site of Shad Qoli,
we reported the case to Iran’s Archaeology Research Centre for further
follow-ups,” said Jalil Golshan, director of Office of Historic Sites of
Iran’s Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization (ICHTO).
Before
and right after the discovery of the ancient site of Shad Qoli, archaeologists
went to the area and emphasized the necessity for excavating the entire area for
an additional term. According to these archaeologists, the recent changes in the
management of the Archaeology Research Centre brought a two month delay to
excavations in this site. In the meantime, the Yaser project was resumed and
almost completely destroyed the ancient site of Shad Qoli before archaeologists
got a chance to study the area.
From
the very few discoveries made by archaeologists in the historic site of Shad
Qoli before it was further destroyed by the Yaser project, archaeologists
concluded that the area holds invaluable traces of the 4th millennium
BCE. More important information could be extracted from this ancient site if
archaeologists were given enough time to study the area.
In recent decades the pre-Islamic Qom has suffered immensely, and many of its' ancient heritage were destroyed. Ma’mourin Tappeh which once was the civilization hub of Iron Age in 3200 years ago, today finds itself surrounded by the newly built International Airport called Khomeini in Southern Tehran. Also during the building of the extravagant tomb of Khomeini that cost Iranian nation US $2.5 billion (cost one hundred times greater than 2500 years of imperial celebrations in 1970s), near the airport, construction workers have found large number of artefacts dated back to the same period, which later were destroyed in order to erase all traces of pre-Islamic past in the area.
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"History is the Light on the Path to Future" |
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Encyclopaedia Iranica
The British Institute of Persian Studies "Persepolis Reconstructed"
The British Museum
The Royal Asiatic Society
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