TEHRAN - The number of foreign and domestic tourists visiting the millennia-old site of Hasanlu in northwest Iran jumped 27 percent in the past Iranian calendar year (March 2019-20) compared with a year earlier.

“A total of 5,652 people toured Hasanlu during the past Iranian year 1398 that shows a 27 percent increase year on year,” said Hassan Shiri, the director of the archaeological site, CHTN reported.

Rounds of excavations has so far revealed important knowledge about the prehistory of northwestern Iran, particularly during the late 2nd and early 1st millennia BC.

Among the most important objects uncovered at Hasanlu were an unusually decorated silver bowl, several iron garment pins headed by bronze lions, a solid gold bowl, a knife handle with gold cloisonné, and two hollow bronze horse heads that served to hold liquids.

According to the Britannica Encyclopedia, Hasanlu was inhabited from about 2100 to about 825 BC, but the richest period yet excavated dates to the 10th and 9th centuries BC. The period, often called “Mannaean” after the name of the people who lived in the area, is characterized by a gray pottery accompanied by black and red varieties, the black ware being of much finer quality and probably made in imitation of metal vessels.

Experts say parallels to the motifs on the Hasanlu objects have been found in Elam, Assyria, north Syria, and Urartu, indicating that Iran not only received considerable cultural and artistic stimuli from other areas but also in turn exerted influence on the Middle East.

AFM/MG