TEHRAN - A historical grave stone inscription has been identified in the city of Abadeh, Fars province, Abolhassan Atabaki, a researcher said.

Atabaki, who holds a PhD in History, has decoded the language of this inscription in close collaboration with the tour guides Babak Parsa-Jam and Arash Namiranian. 

He told ISNA that the preliminary studies indicate that the inscription had been hidden in a small cave.

Accordingly, the grave stone, which contains the order of making a grave, had been hidden from visitors purposely. It is difficult to have access to it, he added. 

Atabaki explained that the grave stone pertains to a rock grave or stone mass burial.

He added that the documentation of the newly identified inscription, which is in Pahlavi script and pertains to the late Sassanid era, has been given to the Fars Cultural Heritage Department’s expert for a possible registration on the National Heritage List. 

The full reading of this inscription will be published in an article in the country's scientific journals soon. 

The writing of this inscription shows that its date predates the Pahlavi inscriptions of Kalat Bahman or Qaleh Gabari in this area. 

Babak Parsa-Jam, the tour guide, said this Pahlavi inscription is part of a new identity of Abadeh city. It can change the history of the region, he added.

Abadeh is the entrance gate of Fars province from the north. Archeological excavations indicated that the history of settlement in current Abadeh site dates back to the First Millennium BC. The region has been a place of settlement for caravans and trade route between the north and south of Iran.

KD