GOLD FOUND

[Badger Bart]

Wednesday April 27, 2005 - Chicago Sun Times

TEHRAN - Archaeologists digging in the ruins of an ancient palace in southern Iran have unearthed three kilos (6.6 pounds) of 2,500-year-old gold, the head of the Iranian excavation team has confirmed.

"We have found three folded plates of very pure gold for the first time in the area," said Eshan Yaghmai, who has for years been digging at the Achaemenid palace of Bardak Siah in Bushehr province.

"Once unfolded, there is a chance that we see inscriptions on the plates that give invaluable information about the kings who built the palace," Yaghmai said, believing the 24-carat gold could not have been used for common purposes.
He said the the plates would be sent to Tehran for further examination.

The Bardak Siah ruins were unearthed in 1977 in an area believed to be hiding more than 30 other ancient palaces.

 

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[omnicognic]

Hey Badger, have you seen any update for this? For some reason I missed this when you first posted it! Really Cool! I have to wonder what was on them? HH omnicognic 8)

 

[Badger Bart]

I looked but was unable to find any other reference to this find. I did find another similar report (below) from Iran, and within it are some strong indications as to why so little info is available from Iran. They seem pretty closed- mouthed about their discoveries, and it appears they take their archeology quite seriously. I also very much wanted to see the inscriptions on the gold plates, and will keep looking, they will turn up eventually. - Bart

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=588&art_id=qw1116077221152R131

Tehran - Archaeologists at a dig on a farm in western Iran have uncovered a skeleton with a solid gold mask in a bronze coffin in what could be the first of a fresh wave of Parthian-era discoveries.

"This finding is without precedence in our province," the head of the Lorestan cultural heritage organisation, Sirous Ebrahimi, told AFP.

"We were told by locals that some people were searching the area with metal detectors, so we rushed to the area, and sealed it off," he explained.

He said the coffin dates back between 1700 and 2200 years.

The Parthian Empire occupied all of modern Iran, Iraq and Armenia and parts of modern Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan from 247 BC to 224 AD.

However, archaeologists have said little in terms of written primary sources have been uncovered, adding weight to the fresh discovery of artifacts.

 

[surfrat96]

It was BRLA that found this!!!!

 

[omnicognic]

"We were told by locals that some people were searching the area with metal detectors, so we rushed to the area, and sealed it off," he explained.

Don't you love how the Archies do that! Must be a universal archie creed, complete with secret handshake and secret decoder ring they give you when you graduate! Detectorists find it, and archies take it and hide it away! Most finds end up on a shelf in a museum basement!

 

[Badger Bart]

GOLD FOUND - UPDATE...

Now the people with metal detectors have been labeled as SMUGGLERS too!

Unusual bronze coffin unearthed in Lorestan

Tehran Times Culture Desk
TEHRAN -- A bronze coffin containing a skeleton with a golden blindfold and a golden gag on its face were unearthed in farmland near the provincial capital city of Khorramabad in Lorestan Province, the director of an archaeological team working in the region said on Friday.

?It was an exciting discovery. The golden items and bronze coffin show that the casket was for a person from a prominent family,? Jalal Adeli added.

With four handles, the coffin is like a bathtub, and has been broken into four pieces. Its length and width is 180x87 centimeters and it is 55 centimeters in height. The bronze plate is 2 to 5 millimeters thick. The golden blindfold and gag were discovered on the face of the skeleton.

The items have been sent to the historical Falakolaflak Castle in Khorramabad for further study, and the team hopes to find other ancient artifacts at the site.

This was the first discovery in Iran of a body buried with a golden blindfold and gag. The archaeologists believe that the find could provide new information on the lifestyles of people living in the region over the past millennia.

?Due to the shards discovered around the casket, we surmise that the items date back to the Parthian era,? Adeli said.

The bronze coffin has been sulfated and its surface is covered with sediment.

Archaeologists may find an inscription or bas-reliefs on the coffin if the sulfates and sediment can be removed, Adeli added.

The coffin was unearthed in winter when the owner of the farmland reported sighting some smugglers searching with a metal detector in the area.

?A team of archaeologists were sent to the farm to make excavations and they unearthed the coffin and its contents during their operation,? said Sirus Ebrahimi, the director of the Lorestan Cultural Heritage and Tourism Department.

?Provincial officials were informed of the discovery and they agreed to not reveal the news in order to give them time to arrange security measures in the area,? he added.

The coffin is to be put on display at the Falakolaflak Castle during Iran?s Cultural Heritage Week, which begins on May 18.

The only other bronze coffin with golden artifacts ever found in Iran was discovered in 1983 in Arjan, 10 kilometers north of Behbahan in eastern Khuzestan Province. The U-shaped coffin contained a large, inscribed golden ring, 98 bracteate coins, a dagger, some textile fragments, and a silver rod, which came from the treasury of the Elamite king Kidin-Hutran.