TEHRAN – The commander of the Cultural Heritage Protection Unit in Fars province announced the arrest of four unauthorized excavators near Pasargadae in southern Iran.

Masoud Razmjui stated that police forces were dispatched to the suspects’ hide-out following a report of unauthorized digging in the Chakan valley, located five kilometers west of the World Heritage site.

He added, that after hours of hiking and patrolling the area, the location of the excavators was identified, and during a surprise operation, four individuals were apprehended red-handed during the excavation.

“From these unauthorized excavators, excavation tools including two electric picks, 30 meters of electrical cable, and a shovel were confiscated, and the suspects were handed over to judicial authorities for further legal proceedings.”

The 160-ha archaeological site of Pasargadae presents some of the earliest manifestations of Persian art and architecture. It includes, among other monuments, the compact limestone tomb on the Morgab plain that once held Cyrus the Great’s gilded sarcophagus; Tall-e Takht (“Solomon’s Throne”), a great fortified platform built on a hill and later incorporated into a sprawling citadel with substantial mud-brick defenses; and the royal ensemble, which consists of several palaces originally located within a garden layout (the so-called “Four Gardens”). Pasargadae became a prototype for the Persian Garden concept of four quadrants formally divided by waterways or pathways, its architecture characterized by refined details and slender verticality.

Experts believe that Pasargadae represents the first phase of this development, specifically Persian architecture, which later found its full expression in the city of Persepolis.

AM