TEHRAN –An archaeological project is scheduled to be commenced on the 7,000-year-old Qoli Darvish Hill, which is situated in Qom province, southern Tehran, provincial tourism chief has said. 

 A budget of one billion rials (about $24,000 at the official rate of 42,000 rials) has been allocated to the project, which is one of the top priorities of the province’s cultural heritage department, Hamid Yazdani said on Thursday. 

Dating back to the Iron Age, the hill is located southwest of the city Qom. Archeological excavations, which began in 2002 showed that Qoli Darvish dates back to six to seven thousand years ago.

The hill covers land as big as 50 hectares. The discovery of historical elements of an ancient temple from the Bronze Age to the end of the Iron Age led to conclusions about the social classes and further anthropological researches about those periods of history.

In recent years, domestic and foreign tourists can visit the ancient hill, which was inscribed on the National Heritage list in 2003.

The country’s second-holiest city after Mashhad, Qom is home to both the magnificent shrine of Hazrat-e Masumeh (SA) and the major religious madrasas (schools). 

Apart from sightseers and pilgrims who visit Qom to pay homage at the holy shrine, the city is also a top destination for Shiite scholars and students who come from across the world to learn Islamic studies at its madrasas and browse through eminent religious bookshops.

ABU/AFM