TEHRAN – Iranian police arrested two women suspected of smuggling ancient artifacts and recovered 495 pieces of ancient coins and other treasures in Khuzestan province.

The objects were discovered from their dwelling after the police received reports of illegal excavations and attempts to smuggle ancient artifacts in Ramhormoz county of the southwestern province, Mehr reported on Saturday.

Historical objects discovered from this band include coins of historical and Islamic periods as well as valuable creations such as daggers, swords, figurines, seal statues, which are made of stone, metal, silver, gold, bronze, iron, tin, and copper, the deputy provincial tourism chief explained.

The objects are mainly related to the eras of Elamite, Achaemenid, Seleucid, Parthian, early Islamic, Seljuk, and Qajar, the official said.

A team of archaeologists and cultural heritage experts will conduct a thorough examination of the relics before they undergo restoration.

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 where 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 contemporaneously 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.

AFM