TEHRAN - Iranian cultural heritage officials said they have identified traces of a tomb complex dating back to the Parthian-Sasanian period in Tiran-Karvan county of Isfahan province, central Iran, marking what authorities described as the first known burial complex of its kind discovered in the area.

Mohsen Mazaheri, head of the Tiran-Karvan office of cultural heritage, tourism and handicrafts, said the site was confirmed following inspections and preliminary studies conducted by senior archaeologists from the provincial archaeology center.

According to Mazaheri, the newly identified complex was recognized as a Parthian-Sasanian tomb structure after expert examinations of the site.

“The archaeological complex has been identified and confirmed as a Parthian-Sasanian tomb,” Mazaheri said, according to remarks carried by Iran’s Mehr News Agency.

Tiran-Karvan county contains a range of historical and archaeological sites from different periods of Iranian history.

Mazaheri said the burial complex is situated outside urban boundaries and away from residential areas. He added that the site had been subjected to repeated illegal excavations before its official identification.

“Unfortunately, the site has been illegally excavated several times,” he said.

Iranian authorities frequently report cases of unauthorized digging at archaeological sites, often linked to attempts to recover historical artifacts for illegal trade.

Mazaheri said the newly discovered site would undergo further scientific study and archaeological excavation after the required permits are issued by the Research Institute of Cultural Heritage and Tourism.

He said future excavations are intended to provide more detailed archaeological data about the structure, its historical context and the communities associated with it.

The discovery relates to a period spanning the Parthian and Sasanian eras, two major dynasties in ancient Iranian history.

The Parthian Empire, also known as the Arsacid Empire, ruled large parts of Iran and neighboring regions for nearly five centuries. At its height, the empire extended from parts of present-day Turkey to areas of Afghanistan and western Pakistan.

Located along sections of the Silk Road trade network, the Parthian state became an important center for trade and political exchange between the Roman Empire and Han China.

Historians describe the Parthian period as a time in which Iranian, Hellenistic and regional cultural traditions interacted through architecture, governance and art.

The Parthians are also known for their prolonged military rivalry with Rome. In 53 BC, Parthian forces defeated the Roman army led by Marcus Licinius Crassus at the Battle of Carrhae, one of the major confrontations between the two powers.

The Parthian Empire ended in 224 CE after Ardashir I defeated the last Arsacid ruler, Artabanus IV, and established the Sasanian Empire.

Founded by the House of Sasan, the Sasanian Empire ruled Iran and neighboring territories for more than four centuries and became one of the principal powers of late antiquity.

At its territorial height, the Sasanian Empire controlled modern-day Iran and Iraq as well as parts of the Caucasus, Central Asia, the Arabian Peninsula and the Indian subcontinent.

Historians say the Sasanian period was marked by centralized administration, military expansion and the revival of Zoroastrianism as a state-supported religious system.

The era also saw the construction of major architectural monuments, bridges, palaces and urban centers, many of which remain important archaeological sites in Iran today.

Iranian archaeologists have in recent years increased surveys and rescue excavations across several provinces as authorities seek to document and preserve cultural heritage sites threatened by urban expansion, environmental factors and illegal digging.

The Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Ministry has previously said that many archaeological locations across Iran remain insufficiently explored, particularly in rural and mountainous regions.

Officials did not specify the size of the newly discovered tomb complex in Tiran-Karvan or whether artifacts had been recovered from the site during preliminary inspections.

Further archaeological work is expected to begin after formal authorization is granted by the relevant research authorities, Mazaheri said.
AM