TEHRAN – A fresh conservation project will soon commence on arrays of the centuries-old ruins and architectural elements, which are scattered across Seymareh, an ancient city located in Ilam province, the provincial tourism chief announced on Monday.  

“A budget of 6.5 billion rials (about $154,000 at the official rate of 42,000 rials) has been allocated to the project that also touches upon agricultural lands situated within the ancient town,” Abdolmalek Shanbehzadeh said.

“Seymareh is the largest ancient site in Ilam province… and it is located on the southeastern outskirts of the modern town of Dareh Shahr,” the official explained.

Believed to be flourished on remnants of the Elamite capital, Madaktu, Seymareh dates back to the Sassanid-era (224 CE–651). Archeological findings show that the city included about 5,000 houses with some modern aspects like a water distribution system through clay pipes and underground sewers. The city was destroyed and deserted after a huge earthquake around 950 BC.

The remnants of the city were inscribed on the national heritage list in 1931.

Darreh Shahr was once the summer capital of Elamites, a pre-Iranian civilization dated from 2700 to 539 BC. The city also enjoyed centuries of prosperity during the Sassanid era.

Darreh Shahr and its surrounding regions boast vestiges of Sassanid constructions such as arches, ceilings, alleys, and passages that follow a specific order of urban development criteria of the time.

AFM/