Ancient Salt Men of Zanjan Find Permanent Residence

The salt men were placed inside windows of hygroscopic glass at the Zolfaqari House which has recently become the Zanjan Archaeology Museum, the Persian service of CHN reported on Monday.

Over the past decade, six salt men have been unearthed at the Chehrabad Salt Mine located in the Hamzehlu region near Zanjan, Iran.

"The first phase of the project is completed now despite the insufficient funding for renovation of the Zolfaqari House and the four salt men are transferred to the museum," head of the Archaeological team at the mine Abolfazl Aali told CHN.

He added, "Except the First Salt Man which is on display at the National Museum of Iran in Tehran, the other four are put on display at this museum."

Aali also explained that the Fourth Salt Man has remained intact compared to the other ones, adding, "Before transferring the salt men, samples of the fourth one was submitted to Britain for additional studies."

Studies on the Fourth Salt Man indicate that the body date to the Parthian dynastic period which is about 2000 years old and that he was 15 or 16 years old at the time of death.

The Sixth Salt Man was left in-situ due to the dearth of equipment necessary for its preservation.

It is still not clear when the other salt men lived, but archaeologists estimate that the First Salt Man lived during the Sasanian dynastic era about 1700 years ago. He is believed to have died sometime between the ages of 35 and 40.

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Extracted From/Source: Mehr News [*]