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<< Text Pages >> Charkhab Palace - Ancient Palace in Iran

Submitted by coldrum on Saturday, 12 September 2009  Page Views: 8580

Site WatchSite Name: Charkhab Palace Alternative Name: Palace of Cyrus the Great
Country: Iran
NOTE: This site is 24.31 km away from the location you searched for.

Type: Ancient Palace
Nearest Town: Borazjan  Nearest Village: Charkhab
Latitude: 34.400000N  Longitude: 47.666700E
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
no data Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
no data Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
no data Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
2
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Ancient Palace in Iran. The Worrisome Status of Achaemenid Sites in Bushehr. In a recent report by the Persian service of CHN published on Tuesday, the southern Iranian province of Bushehr is named alongside Khuzestan and Esfahan and number of other provinces by the Iranian archaeologists as an endangered province when comes to the heritage sites.

While government controlled Iran’s Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organisation (ICHTO) portrays and claims the Iranian heritage sites in Bushehr are protected and taken care of, the evidence tells a completely different story.

On August 3rd, a news regarding the dreadful status of Achaemenid palaces of Bardak Siyah (bardak siyā) and Charkhab (čarxāb) in Bushehr was published, which ICHTO immediately responded with a statement, rejecting the news and claims that the ancient sites are well protected and in good condition.

Iranian archaeologist and Achaemenid expert Mohammad-Taqi Ataee believes the issued statement is general and just refers to some historical evidence and previous archaeological expeditions in the province, without mentioning the issues that Iranian archaeologists are concerned about.

The statement includes some past promises that never materialised, restorations that no Iranian archaeologists are aware of it, and some general history about the previous archaeological expeditions in the area that took place before and after 1979 change of regime in Iran.

The statements regarding Bardak Siyah Palace claims that ICHTO has covered the whole site with a protection roof, which in reality some scaffolding has been erected the only thing this has done is to spoil the historical landscape (Fig.1.)

The archaeological activities section in the report refers to six seasons in Charkhab Palace (before and after 1979); two in Bardak Siyah Palace (one season in 1977 and an unfinished season in 2004); one season in Mohamad-Ābād, and one in Sang-e Siyah Palace (before 1979); and one in the Shahid Band-Ārezū Mound (after 1979).

Although all the archaeological activities prior to 1979 were compiled and are ready for publication, but nothing has been done yet. The Provincial Branch of ICHTO blames this on the lack of funding, while other provinces such as Lorestan, Mazandaran, Northern Khorasan and Kohkiloyeh with the same or even less funding have each conducted tens of successful archaeological research and have managed to publish their finds.

The only truth in this statement is the entry about the purchase of seven-thousand square meters of land surrounding the Bardak Siyah Palace, to prevent any agricultural activities near the palace.

However, the most devastating of all pre-Islamic sites in Bushsher is Sang-e Siyah Palace, which fails to mention its current condition in the report.

Sang-e Siyah Palace (sang-e siyāh – black stone) is located near the township of Dashtestan, sixty kilometres northeast of the Persian Gulf’s Port of Bushehr and one hundred and ten kilometres southwest of the city of Kazerun. The Palace is denoted to the Cyrus I, the grandson of king Achaemenes, the founder of the House of Achaemenid (later dynastic empire) and son of Teispes of Anshan. His grandson Cyrus the Great known as the “Father of the Iranian Nation” since he united and gathered all the Iranian peoples under a political and cultural umbrella in 550 BCE.

The first and only archaeological research on the site was conducted by archaeologist Dr Sirus Baqerzadeh in the winter of 1977 (Fig.2 and 3). The palace was restored; the recovered artefacts back then were transferred to the Iran’s Archaeological Research Centre and the results of the expedition were gathered in a book which was due to be published before the rise of Islamic Republic to power.

The said book was kept at the provincial ICHTO which mysteriously disappeared and to this day no one knows its whereabouts.

In mid 1980, The Taliban like destruction of giant Buddhas in Afghanistan, a number of post-revolutionary Islamic influential figures from Tehran and Bushehr with the assistance of another figure from the city of Borazjan known as Gholamreza A. have attended at the site of Achaemenid palace of Sang-e Siyah and bulldozed it down, and have dug over a meter into the foundation.

Today from the magnificent palace which was similar to Pasargadae, only a pile of rubble and broken stones remain (Fig. 4 and 5).

Although, due to the extensive destruction of the site, its restoration seems impossible, the ICHTO however has not taken any steps to protect what is left of the palace’s stones from being taken away by locals to be reused as building material.

Source: Circle of Ancient Iranian Studies

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"Charkhab Palace" | Login/Create an Account | 6 News and Comments
  
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Smugglers discovered and plundered a Parthian Dynastic site in Masjed-Soleiman by coldrum on Sunday, 23 October 2011
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Smugglers discovered and plundered a Parthian Dynastic site in Masjed-Soleiman

Smugglers in search of treasures in an area known as Shanzdah-Maylee (Šānzdah-Māylē / sixteen-mile) have discovered and plundered an ancient tappeh (archaeological mound) in a depth of four meters, according to a recent report by the Persian service of Mehr News Agency.

The site is located between Batvand and Karāee villages, near the city of Masjed-Soleiman in the south-western Iranian province of Khuzestan.

According to the report, 75 year old farmer Farhad Pur-Rezaee alerted volunteers at Khuzestan's Friends of the Cultural Heritage Association (TARIANA), regarding the illegal excavation in his 56 hectares farmland.

Nine years ago the same farmer reported illegal excavation in his land to Islamic Republic officials who ignored the complaint, as a result he reported this particular incident to TARIANA. The TARIANA volunteers attended the site and inspected the damages and subsequently reported to Khuzestan Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organisation (KCHTO) to take appropriate action.

Volunteer archaeologists working with TARIANA dated the site to the third Iranian dynasty, the Parthians (Arsacids) 248 BCE-224CE, due to the type of stone-work and style of construction which is similar to nearby ancient sites from that period. The volunteers also discovered a large number of openings in the farmland, which points to an ongoing operation by the smugglers. It is suspected that the holes are kind of test-trenches to ascertain the location of ancient structures buried beneath the farmland. It is expected to be looted soon if it has not been done so already.

The farmer also told TARAINA that he has obtained planning permission from KCHTO to build a factory-farm only 300 meters away from the plundered tappeh. This demonstrates that the permit was issued without any survey on the site; otherwise the results would have revealed the presence of an ancient structure and consequently would have stopped the plundering.

Locals believe that smugglers have people in KCHTO working with them, since this is beyond KCHTO’s norm of incompetency.

After informing the KCHTO, it came to light that the authority was aware of the existence of Parthian constructions in the farmland and promised an investigation. Three days later, KCHTO to everyone’s surprise claimed the discovery and plunder was a rumour. ICHTHO also backed KCHTO and issued a statement calling the news fictitious and asked news-agencies not to concern the public with the plundering of sites in Iran. Both KCHTO and ICHTO refused to explain the farmer's statement as well as the picures that were taken from the site as evidence.

ICHTO in March 2009 banned Iranian archaeologists from giving interviews, and anyone in breach of the imposed law will lose their job and will face draconian punishments.

The volunteers at TARIANA since its foundation in 2006 have single-handedly done the jobs of the government run KCHTO as well as the provincial police in safeguarding the Iranian heritage in Khuzestan Province. KCHTO management has constantly penalised and attacked TARIANA for being a ‘Wikileak’-like cultural body, but despite this they are still fighting for their noble cause. The majority in the province consider TARIANA as the main cultural body rather than KCHTO – with many sharing the view of a Khuzestani archaeologist who said, “it is better to dismantle KCHTO and let TARIANA do the job of safeguarding the Iranian heritage of the province in a real term, at no cost.”

http://www.cais-soas.com/news/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=158:smugglers-discovered-and-plundered-a-parthian-dynastic-site-in-masjed-soleiman-&catid=47
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The Cyrus Cylinder controversy by Andy B on Saturday, 08 January 2011
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In a report from the Circle of Ancient Iranian Studies (CAIS) it has been confirmed that the Iranian government has requested an extension to the loan of the Cyrus the Great Cylinder.

The Cyrus Cylinder was originally loaned to the National Museum of Iran for an exhibition that opened for four months in Tehran on the 12th September 2010. Together with two fragments of contemporary cuneiform tablets, it became the centrepiece of an exhibition that celebrates a great moment in the history of the Middle East. The loan reciprocates one made by the National Museum of Iran to the Forgotten Empire and Shah Abbas exhibitions in 2005 and 2009 held at the British Museum.

Any extension to the loan of this priceless artefact could be a matter of some concern, given that Iran’s National Security and Foreign Policy Council voted in favour of completely cutting ties with the United Kingdom on Sunday.

When asked by the CAIS for a statement on the loan, the British Museum replied “The request for an extension of the loan of the Cyrus Cylinder is currently being considered by the Trustees of the British Museum, but no agreement has yet been reached.”

In a bizarre twist to the story this statement from the British Museum regarding the authenticity was posted on their website on 30th November: “The exhibition of the Cyrus Cylinder opened at the National Museum in Tehran on 12th September 2010. It has proved to be very popular, and 77,366 visitors saw the exhibition between 12th September and 22nd October.

In view of the great success of the exhibition, it is very much to be regretted that reports have been circulating on the internet that it is a copy of the Cyrus Cylinder that has been sent to Tehran. The Trustees of the British Museum would like to deny this in the strongest possible terms. Before the exhibition opened, a panel of Iranian experts was invited to inspect the Cylinder and they confirmed its authenticity.

The misunderstanding has arisen because of recent conservation work on the cylinder, which has led to the ends of the cylinder looking different in various photographs. Conservation work on this and other pieces in the British Museum is an ongoing process, designed to make objects as stable as possible and render them fit for travel.”

Read more at
http://www.pasthorizons.com/index.php/archives/12/2010/the-cyrus-cylinder-controversy#ixzz14bDz07oL
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China's Cyrus Cylinder extracts spark debate in academia by coldrum on Wednesday, 25 August 2010
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China's Cyrus Cylinder extracts spark debate in academia

An Iranian archaeologist believes that more studies are needed to prove the authenticity of alleged extracts from the Cyrus Cylinder carved on two bone fragments found in China.


Cyrus' Cylinder: Considered as History's First Declaration of Human Rights
in Ancient Times is today displayed at the British Museum.
British Museum, London

"We should wait patiently for in-depth studies by experts on ancient languages and other laboratory research to confirm the genuineness of the objects," Kamyar Abdi told the Persian service of CHN on Saturday.

"If the objects are proven authentic, the discovery will begin to transform our knowledge about relations between the Near East, especially the Achaemenid Empire, and China during the first millennium, in particular during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770-221 BC)," he added

The discovery will also extend back the history of relations between China and Iran. Until the discovery, it was believed that political relations between Iran and China dated back to the Han Dynasty (206 BC-221 CE) in China and the Parthian dynasty in Iran.

"The Cyrus Cylinder had undoubtedly been important for the people living under the Achaemenid Empire, but, if the objects are proved authentic, the first question would be how the Cyrus text had been transferred to China and why the text was important enough for the Chinese to copy it," he stated.

Considered the world's first declaration of human rights, the Cyrus Cylinder is a document issued by the Persian emperor Cyrus the Great in the form of a clay cylinder inscribed in Akkadian cuneiform script.

The cylinder was created following the Persian conquest of Babylon in 539 BC, when Cyrus overthrew the Babylonian king Nabonidus and replaced him as ruler, ending the Neo-Babylonian Empire.

The text of the cylinder denounces Nabonidus as impious and portrays the victorious Cyrus as pleasing to the chief Babylonian god Marduk.

It goes on to describe how Cyrus had improved the lives of the citizens of Babylonia, repatriated displaced peoples and restored temples and cult sanctuaries.

The cylinder was discovered in 1879 by the Assyro-British archaeologist Hormuz Rassam in the foundations of the Esagila, the main temple of Babylon. Today, it is kept in the British Museum in London.

Two fossilized horse bones bearing cuneiform inscriptions, which are extracts from the text of the Cyrus Cylinder, have recently been discovered in China, the London-based Art Newspaper reported last week.

The objects seem to be genuine based on research by British Museum specialist Irving Finkel.

The texts inexplicably have fewer than one in every 20 of the Cyrus text's cuneiform signs transcribed, although they are in the correct order, Finkel said.

The bones had been donated to the Beijing Palace Museum in 1985 by deceased Chinese traditional doctor Xue Shenwei, who bought the artifacts in 1935 and 1940.

Two years after the donation of the objects, specialist Wu Yuhong realized that the text of the first bone came from the Cyrus proclamation, but the text of the second was not yet identified.

In January 2010, two fragments of a clay tablet with inscriptions of part of the text of the Cyrus proclamation were found in the British Museum's collection.

Afterwards, experts hypothesized that the Cyrus proclamation might have been widely copied during ancient times.

Thus, Finkel conducted an in-depth study on the pair of Chinese bones to determine whether they might be authentic.

Based on existing photographs, he learned that the text on the second bone was also from the Cyrus proclamation, and requested more information from Beijing.

Chinese Assyriologist Yushu Gong provided a much better image of the text and

Read the rest of this post...
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Re: Cyrus the Great’ Palace Faces Total Destruction by DrewParsons on Saturday, 22 May 2010
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Illegal Construction Threatening The Achaemenid Tomb in Bushehr.

This news item resourced by coldrum.

Construction by local residents, ignored by the authority has imperiled an Achaemenid tomb, believed to be the tomb of Cyrus I, the Achaemenid king and son of Teispes and grandfather of Cyrus II the Great, near the village of Tang-e Eram in Bushehr Province.

Experts have demarcated a 100-meter perimeter for the site, which was registered on the National Heritage List in 1997, the Persian service of the Mehr News Agency reported on Wednesday. Any construction done on this perimeter is illegal, however, construction of buildings has increased in the vicinity of the boundary. The first breach of the site’s perimeter was done by the Islamic Republic regional electrical supplier when they installed a power line some 4 meters from the tomb a few years ago.

Known as Gur-Dokhtar (the burial of Daughter) by the local people, the site was discovered in 1960 by Belgian archaeologist Louis Vandenberg, who believed the tomb belonged to Cyrus I. In addition, a number of experts have said that Mandane, mother of Cyrus the Great, is buried at the site, but other scholars believe that the tomb belongs to Atossa, the daughter of Cyrus the Great and the wife and Queen of Darius the Great.
Built of 24 pieces of stone, the structure is very similar in architecture to the mausoleum of Cyrus the Great at Pasargadae in Fars Province. However, it is several times smaller than the Cyrus the Great mausoleum. The tomb is 4.5 meters in height and contains a small pool.

A team of Iranian experts led by Hassan Rahsaz conducted a series of restoration efforts on the structure in early 2000’s.


More at: http://www.cais-soas.com/news/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=117:illegal-construction-threatening-the-achaemenid-tomb-in-bushehr&catid=41

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Cyrus the Great’ Palace Faces Total Destruction by coldrum on Wednesday, 07 October 2009
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Cyrus the Great’ Palace Faces Total Destruction

Some sections of Cyrus the Greats’ palace known as Charkhab (čarxāb) located in the Borazjan Plain, in the Persian Gulf’s Bushehr Province has been completely destroyed and the remaining of the edifice is on the verge of total destruction if no action is taken soon, reported the Persian service of CHN.

According to the report, two years ago archaeologists left the site for no apparent reason and the unique early Achaemenid edifice has been left to be destroyed. The director of the team has continuously requested the recommence of some archaeological research but this has been rejected and permit denied.

“This site is important evidence for the Iranian nation and their rule over the waters of the Persian Gulf. I have asked number of times from the Bushehr Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organisation [BCHTO] to restart the [archaeological] excavations, but it seems the organisation tries to repel me from this task,” said Aliakbar Sarfaraz, the former director of archaeological team at Charkhab Palace.

Archaeological excavations conducted in past have shown it was built by the order of Cyrus the Great the founder of second Iranian dynasty, the Achaemenids (550-330 BCE) and left incomplete.

While regretting the lack of protection for this unique ancient edifice, Sarafraz said Charkhab Palace is as important as Persepolis and Pasargadae palaces in terms of its compliance with architectural regulations.

Borazjan Plain, due to its closeness to the Persian Gulf, was considered an important area during the Achaemenid dynasty, especially as one of the imperial naval forces was stationed there. The naval base served as the base for transferring the imperial troops to the satrapies in North Africa in case of emergency, as well as controlling the waters of the Persian Gulf.

http://www.cais-soas.com/news/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=86:cyrus-the-great-palace-faces-total-destruction-&catid=36
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Bardak Siyah palace by Andy B on Saturday, 12 September 2009
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The winter palace of Dariush or 'Darius' located 12 km. north of the current city of Burazjan is known as the Bardak Siyah (palace). This palace has 10 pillars in two rows and is architectured according to Achaemenian design. Black stone is used as a foundation of these pillars.

http://www.itto.org/tourismattractions/?sight=560
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