TEHRAN -- A Bronze Age rock carving hidden in Iran’s Zagros Mountains for 4,000 years was damaged by treasure hunters using explosives just months after its discovery in 2018.
The Bamo Mountain relief, located in Kermanshah province near the Iraqi border, was carved by King Iddin-Sin of the Simurrum kingdom around 2020-2030 B.C., according to Siavash Shahbazi, head of preservation for historical sites at Kermanshah’s Cultural Heritage Organization.
The carving consists of two panels on a steep cliff beside the Havasan River. The upper panel shows a victorious king stepping on a captive’s chest, with two kneeling prisoners nearby. Mesopotamian religious symbols appear alongside the figures. The lower panel shows Iddin-Sin standing, beardless, wearing a long robe and holding a bow.
Local villagers discovered the relief in 2018 — Iranian year 1397 — after tall reeds along the riverbank had hidden it for millennia. But the carving had already been damaged by a magnitude 7.3 earthquake that struck the Iran-Iraq border in November 2017, causing cracks and fractures in the stone.
Less than one year after the discovery, looters placed explosives in the cracks and detonated them, believing treasure was hidden behind the relief or hoping to remove the carving for sale on the antiquities black market. The blast destroyed portions of the inscription.
Within three years of being found, the 4,000-year-old relief suffered as much damage as it had endured in the previous 40 centuries, Shahbazi said. Cultural authorities have since carried out multiple restorations.
The Bamo Mountain relief is not Iddin-Sin’s only carving. Another relief belonging to the same king was discovered in the Miankal region of Sarpol-e Zahab county, also in Kermanshah province.
The site remains difficult to access due to steep terrain and hot weather, making tourism nearly impossible. Authorities plan to install informational signs near the carving, Shahbazi said.