TEHRAN – Iran’s Cultural Heritage and Tourism Research Center have carried out 225 research projects on tourism and cultural heritage of the ancient country over the past year, an official with the center announced on Sunday. 

A total of 225 research projects have been done from the mid-December last year until this year’s Research Week, which is commemorated from December 12 to 18, Manijeh Hadian said. 

The projects, which aimed at identifying, introducing, reviving, and protecting the works related to Iranian history and cultural heritage, have implemented paying attention to the national priorities, she explained.

She also noted that the projects include researches related to archeological excavation, historical regions demarcation, intangible heritage documentation, endangered languages and dialects, traditional arts, and preserving UNESCO-tagged properties.

The official also reminded of restrictions for public gatherings in the coronavirus era, adding the pandemic has catered for more cyber interactions amongst the experts. 

While the outbreak of the coronavirus has affected our lives in every possible way, this difficult condition has also created opportunities for researchers and scholars to share their findings as well as scientific and professional resources through cyberspace, regardless of where they live, the official added.

Iran is home to one of the world’s oldest continuous major civilizations, embracing settlements dating back to c. 4000 BC. It also hosts some of the world’s oldest cultural monuments including bazaars, museums, mosques, bridges, bathhouses, madrasas, gardens, rich natural, rural landscapes as well as 24 UNESCO World Heritage sites. 

From a wider point of view, Iranian history can be divided into Pre-Islamic and Islamic eras. The Medes unified Iran as a nation and empire in 625 BC. The Islamic conquest of Persia (633–656) that put an end to the mighty Sassanid Empire (224–651) was a turning point in the history of the nation.

The name of Iran, formerly known as Persia, mostly conjures up the first Persian Empire, ruled by the Achaemenids (550 – 330 BC) and sites such as Pasargadae and Persepolis. However, there are tens of prehistorical sites as the Burnt City in Sistan-Baluchestan, Tepe Sialk in Kashan, Susa and Chogha Zanbil in the Khuzestan province, and Ecbatana in Hamedan which predate the Achaemenid period.

ABU/AFM