TEHRAN—Piranshahr, which is home to tens of ancient sites, needs an archaeological museum, the tourism chief of the northwestern Iranian city said on Monday.

“Archeological excavations, conducted in 41 historical sites of Piranshahr, have yielded artifacts dating from the Iron Age and other prehistoric eras… and this indicates the need to establish an archaeological museum in this city,” Soleyman Bashiri said.

“Government funds should be allocated to resume archaeological excavations,” the official said.

Azarbaijan has been the seat of several ancient civilizations. It formed part of Urartu and later of Media. In the 4th century BC, it was conquered by Alexander the Great and was named Atropatene after one of Alexander’s generals, Atropates, who established a small kingdom there. The area returned to the Persian (Iranian) rule under the Sasanians in the 3rd century CE. The Arabs controlled Azerbaijan from the 7th century until Turkish nomads overran it in the 11th century. Thenceforth, the inhabitants of the region were Turkish speakers.

The Azarbaijan region was overrun by the Mongols in the 13th century, and, under the ruler Hulegu, Azarbaijan became the center of a Mongol empire extending from Syria on the west to the Oxus River (now the Amu Darya) on the east.

AM