TEHRAN—Iranian authorities have recently recovered several ancient objects estimated to date from the Elymais, Seleucid, and Parthian eras.

The relics, which include an Elymais-era bronze coin and pieces of a marble vessel were seized from smugglers in Dezful of Khuzestan province, CHTN reported on Wednesday.

In addition, an ancient Roman gold coin attributed to Julius Caesar was recovered from the suspects by police forces in charge of protecting cultural heritage, the report said.

Elymais or Elamais was an autonomous state from the second century BC to the early 3rd century CE, frequently a vassal under Parthian control. The dynasty is believed to be established by Kamnaskires, known from coins dated 81 BC, and it survived until its extinction by the Sassanid king Ardashir I (180-242 CE).

Khuzestan is home to three UNESCO World Heritage sites of Susa, Tchogha Zanbil and Shushtar Historical Hydraulic System, yet it is a region of raw beauty that its visitors could spend weeks exploring. The province is also a cradle for handicrafts and arts whose crafters inherited from their preceding generations.

Lying at the head of the Persian Gulf and bordering Iraq on the west, Khuzestan was settled about 6000 BC by a people with affinities to the Sumerians, who came from the Zagros Mountains region. Urban centers appeared there nearly contemporaneous with the first cities in Mesopotamia in the 4th millennium. Khuzestan, according to Encyclopedia Britannica, came to constitute the heart of the Elamite kingdom, with Susa as its capital.

AM