TEHRAN – A newly identified Sassanid-era inscription has been discovered during recent archaeological surveys around Naqsh-e Rostam in Fars province, southern Iran, marking the “fifth ossuary-related inscription” documented in the latest investigations of the area.
Archaeologist and historian Abolhassan Atabaki announced the discovery, saying the three-line inscription dates to the late Sassanid period (224–651 CE) and was found in an area known as Darreh-ye Barre’i, also referred to as the Shahzadeh Esmail Rock, approximately 500 meters north of Naqsh-e Rostam, Jamaran news agency reported on Thursday.
Atabaki said the inscription is among five ossuary inscriptions identified during recent surveys around the ancient archaeological complex. Two of the five inscriptions were found in the Darreh-ye Barre’I area.
In that regard, historian and researcher Najmeh Ebrahimi said six Pahlavi inscriptions associated with ossuaries at the site had previously been identified and documented.
Photographic records of several of these inscriptions are preserved in the archives of the Smithsonian Institution, including images taken by German archaeologist Ernst Herzfeld, who documented archaeological remains in the area, the report said.
Although some of the previously recorded inscriptions have been examined in earlier studies, damage to the stones and the erosion of their inscriptions have made parts of the texts difficult to decipher, Ebrahimi said.
She added that recent investigations had led to the identification of two additional inscriptions in the area, both of which have suffered considerable damage. The inscription reported in the latest discovery is one of the newly documented examples.
Naqsh-e Rostam, situated near Persepolis in Fars province, is one of Iran’s most significant archaeological sites, preserving monuments from different periods of ancient Iranian history.
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