TEHRAN – The first phase of a new conservation and rehabilitation project has begun on the monumental statue of Sasanian King Shapur I in Shapur Cave, near Kazerun in southern Iran, the head of the Sasanian Archaeological Landscape of Fars said.

Afshin Ebrahimi said on Saturday that the project marks the first major conservation and rehabilitation effort for the statue in about seven decades, following its re-erection during the early years of the second Pahlavi period.

The first phase comprises four main measures, Ebrahimi explained. The initial step is detailed scientific documentation of the statue using short- and long-range photogrammetry, drones and cameras. The data will be used to prepare a comprehensive conservation plan.

A technical and protective scaffold measuring 4 by 4 meters and 7 meters high will then be installed around the statue to provide conservation and restoration teams with safe access to different parts of the monument.

The project also calls for the installation of a transparent polycarbonate barrier at a safe distance around the statue to prevent visitors from directly accessing or touching it.

The fourth measure involves organizing and conserving detached fragments of the statue that are scattered around the monument.

Ebrahimi said the first phase is expected to take about three months, while the entire project is projected to take between two and two and a half years. The scaffolding will be removed after the conservation work is completed.

He stressed the need for specialized conservation, noting that the statue was last re-erected during the second Pahlavi era, when concrete legs were installed. No major restoration work has been carried out on the monument since then, he added.

Preliminary assessments have indicated that the statue requires urgent technical and specialized intervention, Ebrahimi said, describing the current phase as a first step toward addressing those needs.

Located in the Zagros Mountains in the Chogan Valley near Kazerun, Shapur Cave is a major site of Sasanian archaeology and forms part of the Sasanian Archaeological Landscape of Fars, which is inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

Carved from a single stalagmite, the statue is about 7 meters high, with shoulders about 2 meters wide and arms measuring approximately 3 meters in length.

According to sources, following the Muslim conquest of Persia and the collapse of the Sasanian Empire about 1,400 years ago, the statue was toppled, and part of one of its legs was broken.

AM