TEHRAN -- The smashed column bases of the Apadana Palace of ancient Susa in Khuzestan Province were covered by mud bricks and sand during a project carried out to protect the artifacts against additional vandalism, a solution that comes too late!

The Shush, Chogha Zanbil, and Haft-Tappeh cultural heritage centers and the Khuzestan Cultural Heritage Lovers Society (Tariana) collaborated on the project, the Persian service of CHN reported on Saturday.
Mud-brick walls as tall as each column base have been built around the remnants of the pillars at a distance of 5 to 10 centimeters and the area in between has been filled with soft sand, Shush Cultural Heritage Center official Sirus Barfi said.
They were then plastered over with a mixture of mud and straw to complete the protective covering, he added.
Only two column bases of the four columns of the palace’s eastern gate have survived but unfortunately, in January 2008, they were each broken into two pieces and their inscriptions were obliterated, reportedly by vandals.
“The Khuzestan Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Department undertook the installation of rods around the zone, but the measure was inadequate and has not prevented unauthorized people from entering the precinct,” Tariana spokesman Mojtaba Gahestuni said earlier this year.
According to Gahestuni, the use of concrete and iron rods for demarcation purposes has even led to some damage to the area.
The inscriptions on the column bases had been written in Old Persian, Elamite, and Akkadian during the reign of Xerxes I (circa 486-465 BC).
A stone statue of Darius the Great discovered near the eastern gate of the palace is currently on display at the National Museum of Iran.