TEHRAN - An ancient earthenware jar believed to date back to the Sasanian era has been unearthed during a routine excavation in a village in southern Iran, according to local heritage authorities.

The giant vessel was discovered on Sunday in the village of Jelowdar, a rural district in Arsanjan county of Fars province. The find occurred during an excavation for the installation of a power pole.  

Mohammad Sabet-Eqlidi, the provincial tourism chief, told reporters that the jar likely served as a storage container for grains or food supplies. “No objects such as gold, coins, or metals were found inside,” he said, adding that initial assessments suggest the artifact dates back to the Sasanian period (224–651 CE).

Following the discovery, cultural heritage protection units and archaeological experts were dispatched to the site. The jar has since been transferred to the World Heritage site of Persepolis for further examination.

“Research is now underway at the Persepolis complex to determine more details about the jar’s age and historical significance,” Sabet-Eqlidi stated. “A precise assessment of its age and features will require additional studies by cultural heritage specialists.”

A video of the find began circulating on social media Monday evening, prompting widespread public interest in the region’s ancient past.

The results of the ongoing expert analysis are expected to be announced following the completion of thorough evaluations, the official underlined.

The Sassanid era is of very high importance in the history of Iran. Under the Sassanids, Persian architecture and the arts experienced a general renaissance. Architecture often took grandiose proportions, such as palaces at Ctesiphon, Firuzabad, and Sarvestan, which are amongst the highlights of the ensemble. Generally, a Sassanid archaeological landscape represents a highly efficient system of land use and strategic usage of natural topography in the creation of the earliest cultural centers of the Sassanid civilization. In that era, works from both the East and West were translated into Pahlavi, the language of the Sassanians.

In 2018, an ensemble of Sassanian historical cities in southern Iran, titled “Sassanid Archaeological Landscape of Fars Region,” was named a UNESCO site. The ensemble comprises eight archaeological sites situated in three geographical parts of Firuzabad, Bishapur, and Sarvestan. The World Heritage reflects the optimized usage of natural topography and bears witness to the influence of Achaemenid and Parthian cultural traditions and Roman art, which later had a significant impact on the architecture and artistic styles of the Islamic era.

AM