TEHRAN – A total of 702 historical objects have recently been recovered in the Iranian capital, a senior police official in charge of protecting cultural heritage has announced. 

The relics, which are estimated to date back to the Sassanid era (224-651), were about to be smuggled abroad by an antique dealer to be delivered to a buyer in one of the Persian Gulf states, but police intercepted them before delivery, Mehr quoted Hossein Rahimi as saying on Tuesday. 

There are 298 coins, some potteries, and other objects among the seized relics, the official added. 

The coins are the first-ever minted in Iran, and some clothing from the same period is stuck to the pottery, he explained. 

Cultural heritage experts have not been able to determine a price for some of these items because they are so valuable, he mentioned. 

He also noted that a person has been detained in this regard and surrendered to the judicial system for further investigation. 

In many ways, Iran under the Sassanian rule witnessed tremendous achievements of Persian civilization. Experts say that the art and architecture of the nation experienced a general renaissance during Sassanid rule.

In that era, crafts such as metalwork and gem-engraving grew highly sophisticated, as scholarship was encouraged by the state; many works from both the East and West were translated into Pahlavi, the official language of the Sassanians.

The legendary wealth of the Sassanian court is fully confirmed by the existence of more than one hundred examples of bowls or plates of precious metal known at present. One of the finest examples is the silver plate with partial gilding in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The dynasty was destroyed by Arab invaders during a span from 637 to 651.

ABU/AFM