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LONDON, (CAIS) -- According to number of experts, K'aba of Zoroaster at the Achaemenid site of Naqsh-e Rostam in Fars Province would collapse in less than ten years, if the new railroad currently under construction by the Islamic Republic near the monuments becomes operational.

“The powerful jolts caused by trains will devastate the unique Achaemenid monument in a short time, maybe less than ten years,” an expert of the Parseh and Pasargadae Research Foundation, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Persian service of CHN on Wednesday.

Not only a five-meter high embankment spoiling the landscape of Naqsh-e Rostam has been made for the railway track about 350 meters from the monument. In addition, the rumbling of the trains will damage the monument in the future.

The embankments for the railway track have been completed from Shiraz to Hājiābād village and from Esfahān to Marvdasht, despite Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organisation disapproval for the construction of the railroad.

Experts have said the best solution is that the railroad should be graded to five meters deep below ground level beside the transit road, which is located at an appropriate distance from Naqsh-e Rostam.

The project also threatens the Sasanian dynastic era bas-reliefs depicting Shapur I triumph over the Roman emperors Valerian and Philip.

In addition, experts believe that the construction of the railroad near the monuments of Naqsh-e Rostam in Fars Province will cause Persepolis to be added to the UNESCO List of World Heritage in Danger.

There are various theories on the original purpose of K'aba of Zoroaster. Some experts believe that the monument was the home of a complete copy of the holy Avesta, which had been written on 12,000 leather parchments.

Iranian archaeologist and historian Reza Moradi Ghiasabadi rejected this theory and described the monument as the world’s most unique calendrical and astronomical structure.

“At the end of Shahrivar (the sixth month of the Iranian calendar, August 23-September 22) we can determine exactly the day of the month by the light shed by the sun on K'aba of Zoroaster. It has been used for daily needs, determining the time of cultivating crops, and collecting taxes,” he explained.

A number of other researchers believe that structure was a place where the Ancient Iranians’ sacred fire was kept burning eternally, while some claimed to be the tomb of Smerdis, the son of Cyrus the Great, who according to Greek Herodotus was murdered by his brother Cambyses (king of Persia 529–522 BCE).

K'aba of Zoroaster bears number of inscription belonged to Parthian and Sasanian dynastic eras. On the trilingual inscription, written in the Parthian-Pahlavi, Sasanid-Pahlavi (Middle-Persian), and Greek languages, describes the war between Iran and Rome in which Iranians under Shapur I defeated Romans and their emperor Valerian was captured in 260 and died in captivity.

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