Inundation of Iranian dam may destroy large number of Pre-Islamic sites
August 17th, 2009 - 3:19 pm ICT by ANILondon, August 17 (ANI): Reports indicate that the inundation and construction of facilities of the Upper Gotvand Dam in Dasht-e Lali, Khuzestan Province, in Iran, would destroy four registered and large number of non-registered pre-Islamic Iranian sites.
“(Upper) Gotvand Dam and construction of Masjed Soleiman-Lali road by (the Islamic Republic) Ministry of Energy would destroy many historical sites in Lali and Masjed Soleiman”, Mojtaba Gahestuni, the spokesman for the Khuzestan’s Friends of the Cultural Heritage Association (TARIANA), told Persian news agency CHN.
According to Gahestuni, “the artificial lake which is over 90 kilometres long would cover townships of Gotvand and Lali as well as the city of Masjed Soleiman. As the result of the inundation, four registered historical sites and large number of non-registered sites would drown.”
“The inundation would take place in March 2010, and no archaeological research has ever been carried out in lali, while the area holds large number of historical sites,” he said.
The construction of a road from Masjed-Soleiman to Lali, would destroy a number of historical mounds (tappeh), one of which is the remains of a pre-Islamic fortress known as Bardi.
“The Ministry of Energy for construction of the road has taken over a large section of the fortress”, said Gahestuni.
According to him, Bardi Fortress has never been excavated and the Lali Cultural Heritage (LCH) has left the site unprotected.
Also, The Ministry of Energy has not informed LCH regarding their activities in the historical fortress. (ANI)
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Tags: archaeological research, cultural heritage association, fortress, inundation, iran, iranian dam, iranian sites, islamic republic, islamic sites, khuzestan, kilometres, lch, ministry of energy, mojtaba, mounds, news agency, persian news, spokesman, tariana, townships