TEHRAN – Iranian authorities have recovered tens of ancient brass coins from a smuggler in Sanandaj, the capital of Kordestan province, western Iran.

The confiscated relics include 63 brass coins dating from the early Islamic era as well as replicas of the 1st millennium BC objects including an engraved rhyton and a carved vase, a local police commander said on Sunday.

The police arrested an individual who illegally kept the object, the commander said.

The suspect has been surrendered to the judicial system for further investigation and trial, he added.

Kordestan is named after its principal inhabitants. After the Turkish invasion of Iran in the 11th century CE (Seljuk period), the name Kurdistan was applied to the region comprising the northwestern Zagros Mountains. It was during the reign of Abbas I the Great of Iran’s Safavid dynasty (1501–1736) that the Kurds rose to prominence, having been enlisted by Abbas I to help stem the attacks of the marauding Uzbeks from the east in the early 17th century.

AFM