[MSN] Stolen Ancient Goblet of Jiroft Found in Yazd

[Museum Security Network Mailinglist]

4/29/2006 3:41:00 PM   
 
Stolen Ancient Goblet of Jiroft Found in Yazd 

  A stone goblet which dates back to 3000 BC and belongs to Jiroft's
civilization was found in the city of Bafgh in Yazd province. 
 
Tehran, 29 April 2006 (CHN) -- A 5000-year-old stone goblet with the design
of two lions, two scorpions, and four wolves carved on it which had been
stolen by illegal smugglers from Jiroft was seized in the city of Bafgh in
Yazd province by the police department.

"The police department of Bafgh succeeded in finding an antique goblet made
of soapstone belonging to the third millennium BC. Designs of the head of
two lions, two scorpions, and four wolves can be seen all around this bowl,"
said Mohammad Reza Fotouhi, director of the Cultural Heritage and Tourism
Organization of Bafgh to CHN. 

According to Fotouhi, the height of this goblet is between 20 to 24
centimeters and the lion heads on the two sides of it served as handles.

Experts believe that the discovery of this goblet and other stone artifacts
can be used as a proof to Iran's claim in international courts for the
ownership of the articles which were smuggled across Iran's borders to other
countries and are currently being kept in some of the world museums.

Halil Rud historical site, located on the basin of Halil Rud River in Kerman
province, once enjoyed a rich civilization. A large number of stone, clay
and architectural remains have been discovered during the excavations in
this historical site so far. The wide plundering of the historical and
archeological relics by smugglers led to the lost of a lot of these
invaluable evidences. Most of these historical relics were taken outside the
country illegally and are being kept in galleries outside Iran.
Unfortunately, those who now possess these artifacts deny that they actually
belong to Jiroft's civilization and thus refuse to give them back to Iran.
To bring these ancient relics back to the country, Iran has asked for an
international court to redeem its stolen historical artifacts. 

Plundering of Matot Abad cemetery by the smugglers which was an unbelievable
disaster in the history of archeology attracted the attention of the public
to this region for the first time. 

The discovered stone objects in Jiroft belonging to the first half of the
third millennium BC point to the developed art of carving on stones at that
time which was more developed than that of Mesopotamia. 

Analytical studies on relics found in Jiroft in a research center in the
United States indicate that the discovered materials in this region date
back to the third millennium BC. Considering an inscription found earlier in
the region, archeologists believe that the writing language of Jiroft is
more ancient than that of Mesopotamia and that the script language was
transferred to Mesopotamia from this region. 
 
http://www.chn.ir/en/news/?section=2&id=6342