TEHRAN – Cultural heritage authorities have designated legal boundaries and a protected zone for the historical site of Batvand in Khuzestan province, officials said, in a move aimed at strengthening preservation measures.

The Khuzestan provincial department of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts announced the decision for the site, which is located near Batvand village in Masjed Soleyman county in southwestern Iran.

Ahmadreza Hosseini-Boroujeni, acting head of the province’s cultural heritage deputy, on Tuesday said the measure was taken to ensure structured protection, coordinated site management and prevention of unauthorized interventions, Miras Aria reported.

“The approval and designation of the site’s boundaries provide the necessary framework for conservation planning, research and sustainable organization of this treasured site,” Hosseini-Boroujeni said.

The site bears evidence of continuous human settlement and historical development from the Elymaean and Parthian periods to the Islamic era, he said.

He added that the historical fabric of Batvand village, dating back to the Qajar period, is recognized among Iran’s villages with valuable historical texture, increasing the cultural significance of the area at regional and national levels.

The Batvand site was registered on Iran’s National Heritage List in 2017 under registration number 31844, Hosseini-Boroujeni said.

Documentation and studies to determine the site’s legal boundaries began in the first half of the current Iranian year, starting in March 2024, using archaeological surveying methods and aerial imagery, he added.

The studies were reviewed and approved by Iran’s Research Institute of Archaeology before receiving final approval from the boundary council of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts in December, the official explained.

Authorities said the plan was implemented with the support of provincial and national heritage bodies and marked a step toward long-term protection of Khuzestan’s historical assets.

Situated at the head of the Persian Gulf and bordering Iraq on the west, Khuzestan was settled about 6000 BC by a people with affinities to the Sumerians, who came from the Zagros Mountains region. Urban centers appeared there contemporaneous with the first cities in Mesopotamia in the 4th millennium.

Khuzestan, according to Encyclopedia Britannica, came to constitute the heart of the Elamite kingdom, with Susa as its capital. Alexander the Great took Susa shortly after the Battle of Gaugamela in 331, and from 311 to 148, Khuzestan was a satrapy (named Susiana) of the Seleucid Empire, with its capital at Seleucia on the Eulaeus River.

The region was passed firmly into Parthian control between 148 and 113 BC and then under Sasanian rule about 226 CE. Moreover, it was a frontier zone between the Roman-Byzantine and the Parthian-Sasanian empires and finally was taken by the Arabs in about 642.

AM