TEHRAN – Iranian authorities have confiscated five ancient objects from smugglers in the western province of Kermanshah, a senior police official in charge of protecting cultural heritage has said.

Estimated to date back to the Achaemenid era (550–330 BC) and the Seleucid epoch (312 BC-63 BC), the objects include gold earrings, winged angel statues, and gold inscriptions, Amir Rahmatollahi said on Saturday. 

According to an initial assessment by cultural heritage experts, the objects worth some 200 billion rials (around $4.7 million at the official rate of 42,000 rials), he explained.

The antique dealers were detained and surrendered to the judicial system for further investigation, the police official added. 

Kermanshah embraces a variety of awe-inspiring historical sites including Bisotun and Taq-e Bostan, both on the UNESCO World Heritage list as well as the ancient Temple of Anahita.

Inscribed into the base of a towering cliff, Taq-e Bostan comprises extraordinary Sassanian bas-reliefs of ancient victorious kings divide opinions. Late afternoon is the best time to visit, as the cliff turns a brilliant orange in the setting sun, which then dies poetically on the far side of the duck pond.

Bisotun is a patchwork of immense yet impressive life-size carvings depicting the king Darius I and several other figures. UNESCO has it that Bisotun bears outstanding testimony to the important interchange of human values on the development of monumental art and writing, reflecting ancient traditions in monumental bas-reliefs.

The Temple of Anahita in the city of Kangavar is believed to have been built circa 200 BC. Several column bases and ruins of a wall remain from the magnificent Greek-style temple. The temple was used during the Parthian era (248 BC-224) as well as the Sassanid era (224-651).

ABU/AFM