Monday, 16th May 2005 (2596 views)

Archaeologists have uncovered a gold mask dating from the Parthian era on a dig in western Iran.

The mask is formed of two pieces, one to cover the eyes and the other to cover the mouth, and was discovered on a skeleton inside a bronze coffin, near the city of Khoramabad.

It is believed to be between 1,700 and 2,200 years old, dating from the Parthian era, when the Parthian Empire occupied all of modern Iran, Iraq and Armenia and many other parts of the Middle East and central Asia.

"We were told by locals that some people were searching the area with metal detectors, so we rushed to the area, and sealed it off," Sirous Ebrahimi, the head of the Lorestan cultural heritage organisation, told AFP.

Mr Ebrahimi added: "This finding is without precedence in our province." He said he believed the skeleton to be that of a very affluent man.

The Parthian Empire was one of the most enduring in the Middle East, lasting from 247 BC to 224 AD, and providing a buffer to the eastern expansion of the Roman Empire.

 

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