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Is Islamic Republic embracing Iran’s ancient past?

The Islamic Republic has abandoned previously contentious attitudes toward Iran's cultural heritage, but it has much more work to do to protect sites.
An Iranian family look at the "Gate of All Nations" at the ancient Persian city of Persepolis near Shiraz in southern Iran on September 26, 2014. Persepolis, is one of the greatest architectural complexes of the ancient world, built atop a huge limestone platform. It was the main royal residence and ceremonial center of the Achaemenid empire of Persia (550-330 BC), but was later burned and plundered by Alexander the Great in 330 BC. AFP PHOTO/BEHROUZ MEHRI        (Photo credit should read BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP/
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Members of Iran’s diaspora community tell the tale of Ayatollah Sadegh Khalkhali mounting a bulldozer in 1979 and attempting to destroy Persepolis. The story represents the Islamic Revolution as having brought to an end a renaissance in the preservation and appreciation of Iran’s cultural heritage. It is undeniable, however, that today there is a political will in Iran for it to emerge stronger in the field of cultural heritage protection.

Obsessed with stressing the Indo-Aryan lineage of Iranian culture as opposed to its Semitic heritage, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi longed for Iran to be accepted on the world stage as a bridge between ancient Vedic cultures and the Greco-Roman civilizations of Europe. His efforts helped to facilitate an unprecedented rise in the unearthing and study of Iran’s ancient history. From 1958 to 1978, more archaeological excavations and fieldwork took place in Iran — much of it involving foreign-led expeditions — than had taken place in the previous 70 years.

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