TEHRAN – Five ancient vessels have recently been confiscated from smugglers in the southern city of Abadeh in Fars province, a local tourism official has said.  

The earthenware objects, which are of historical value, are now under assessment at Abadeh’s office for the cultural heritage, tourism, and handicrafts, Davoud Jafarpour said on Monday. 

The culprits were surrendered to the judicial system for further investigation and prosecution, the official added. 

The ancient region, known as Pars (Fars), or Persis, was the heart of the Achaemenid Empire founded by Cyrus the Great and had its capital at Pasargadae. Darius I the Great moved the capital to nearby Persepolis in the late 6th or early 5th century BC. Alexander the Great defeated the Achaemenian army at Arbela in 331 and burned Persepolis.

Persis became part of the Seleucid kingdom in 312 after Alexander’s death. The Parthian empire (247 BC– 224 CE) of the Arsacids (corresponding roughly to the modern Khorasan in Iran) replaced the Seleucids' rule in Persis during 170–138 BC. The Sasanid Empire (224 CE–651) had its capital at Istkhr. Not until the 18th century, under the Zand dynasty (1750–79) of southern Iran, did Fars again became the heart of an empire, with its capital at Shiraz.

ABU/AFM