Artifact with Hellenistic influence discovered at Sassanid city

Another artifact rescued from dam construction in Iran:

"A team of archaeologists working at the ruins of a Sassanid city in southern Iran’s Fars Province has recently discovered an artifact bearing some traces of the Hellenistic artistic style.

The artifact bears images of two faces looking in the opposite direction engraved on a flat piece of ivory, the Persian service of CHN reported on Monday.

It is only the second time such an artifact has been found at an ancient site in Iran.

"The influence of Hellenistic art is clearly observed in the appearance of the eyes of the faces," team director Alireza Jafari-Zand said.

The artifact is estimated to date back to a period between 200 BC and 200 CE when local states, which were concurrent with the Parthian Empire, appeared to rule the region after the Seleucids, he explained.

A similar artifact had been identified by a foreign archaeologist at an ancient site in the Izeh region of Khuzestan Province about 70 years ago.

The 360-hectare city contains ruins of structures from the Parthian and the Sasanian dynasty eras as well as the post-Sasanian period.

The Sasanian city located behind the Salman-e Farsi Dam, and will be completely destroyed when the dam authorities complete the inundation process."

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