What associations do you have with the word "mummy"? Most will immediately imagine the Egyptian pharaohs, saved by the skillful actions of the worshipers. Probably, there will be those who will call the leader of communism lying on the main square of the Russian capital a "mummy". Iran has its own absolutely unique mummies. There are very few of them: less than a dozen. But just like the Egyptian ones, Iranian mummies are carriers of ancient secrets.
Who are the salt people?
These are salt mummies found in salt mines in Iran. The specific place of the find is the remains of Zanjan in the north-west of Iran, the territory of the village of Khamzelu to the west of the city of Zanjan. As many as six mummies were discovered between 1993 and 2010. They survived thanks to a rare form of natural mummification.
First meeting with the salt people
What could a simple worker be thinking about walking in the morning to a salt mine in the winter of 1993? Maybe about when his work will come to an end? Or how he can accomplish the tasks set by his superiors for the day? Be that as it may, it is unlikely that he seriously expected to find a well-preserved corpse of an ancient resident of Persia. However, unexpected turns are one of the most common occurrences in world history.
The Chehrabad salt mines are located in northwestern Iran, 75 kilometers from the city of Zanjan. The mines are created in small hills sandwiched between two narrow valleys that stretch from northwest to southeast. These mines are located at an altitude of about 1350 meters above sea level.
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In 1993, workers at the Douzlak mine unexpectedly bump into a man's head while carrying out routine excavation work to extract salt. Despite the natural deformations caused by exposure to salt, the mummy could easily distinguish large facial features, white hair and a long beard. In addition, the gold ring in the ear of the deceased is well preserved. Salt environment has proven to be an excellent preservative.
After that, researchers from the local branch of the Organization for Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism of Iran arrive at the site. Excavations have been organized, during which archaeologists have discovered three iron knives, short wool trousers, a silver knitting needle, a belt, leather rope, a whetstone, several fragments of ceramics, patterned pieces of textile, a leather boot with the remains of a human leg, several broken bones and even a walnut … All finds were found in the middle of a 45 meter long tunnel.
After the excavation, representatives of the Iranian Cultural Heritage, Crafts and Tourism Organization in Zanjan province decide that the mummy found is a single find, so further searches are stopped. Workers continue to mine salt in the mines, and the history of Iranian mummies is interrupted to begin again in the 21st century.
Salt boom
Ten years later, the situation repeats itself. Salt workers again stumble upon the remains of ancient mummies and turn to the local authorities. Researchers from the Organization for Cultural Heritage, Folk Crafts and Tourism of Iran in Zanjan province again begin excavations and discover many wood and metal products, fragments of ceramics and clothing.
This time, archaeologists understand that they are dealing with a unique archaeological site, and the finds will continue to be discovered.
The news of the ancient salt mummies is becoming a real sensation in the world of archeology. Many international organizations are called in to help with further research. The excavations involved:
- Iranian Center for Archaeological Research (ICAR), Shiraz, (Iran)
- Ruhr University in Bochum (Germany)
- Institute of Geomorphology of Zanjan University (Iran)
- Center for Evolutionary Medicine at the University of Zurich (Switzerland)
- Research Laboratory of Archeology and Art History, University of Oxford (UK)
- Institute of Archeology, York University (UK)
- Institute of Parasitology and Mycology, University of Tehran (Iran)
- Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Franche-Comté (France)
In 2005 large and truly systematic excavations began. One attempt did not satisfy the archaeologists, therefore, subsequently, researchers return with enviable regularity to the archaeological site in Chehrabad. New excavations are being carried out in 2007-2008 and 2010, and twice more in 2011. Since 2008, the government has prohibited companies from mining salt in the area.
As a result of many years of research, the remains of at least eight people who died at different times were found, as well as many specimens of ancient tools, clothing, and ceramics. The very same place with its findings was included in many textbooks on archeology, as a unique historical site.
Salt people, who are they?
In order to understand who these people were and when they lived, scientists began to carefully study the remains. In this they were helped by modern research methods. So, initially it was believed that 5 mummies were removed to the surface. However, anatomical analysis showed that the remains belonged to 8 different people.
The bones of the five best-preserved salt people have been subjected to radiocarbon analysis. This method allows you to determine the age of objects and materials of biological origin. The analysis showed that the first salt man discovered lived and died 1750 years ago during the reign of the Iranian Sassanid dynasty (226-652 AD). The age of the second mummy is 1550 years, which also allows us to attribute it to the Sassanid period.
The third, fourth and fifth salt man were much older. Radiocarbon analysis showed that these people died 2330, 2300 and 2285 years ago. Thus, they all belong to the period of the Achaemenid dynasty (VI century BC - 330 BC).
The remains of clothing, tools and utensils make it possible to say with confidence that these people were miners who were mining salt in local mines. They died, most likely, as a result of an accident - the collapse of the tunnel.
It turns out that ancient salt mines existed in this place for about 1000 years. Accidents in mines are not rare even now, so one should not be surprised by accidents. Much more interesting is that in ancient Iran, people in the same place, century after century, were engaged in the extraction of salt. Probably, the memory of this place as a salt center was very enduring.
Thus, salt people are ordinary miners who died at different times in ancient mines during the collapse. But is everything so prosaic?
Mummy Mystery # 1
If the fate of the majority of salt people raises little doubt, then with the very first ancient man, with the discovery of whom the whole salt epic began, everything is far from simple.
As we mentioned, a gold earring was found in his ear. In addition, the appearance of this person also does not coincide with an ordinary miner: long hair, a beard, leather boots. All this suggests that our hero belonged to the rich people. He could not work in this form in the mines, mining salt. But what was he doing in the mine?
Scientists could not get even an indirect answer or a hint to this question. But other interesting details were established.
Three-dimensional photographs revealed numerous fractures and other injuries around the eyes of Salt Man # 1. Research has shown that he received these injuries before his death as a result of severe blows to the head. Whether it was premeditated murder or the reasons lie in something else, it was not possible to establish.
Mummies today
Where should the salt people be in our progressive times? The answer, it would seem, is obvious: like all decent mummies, they should be in open museums, presented for everyone to see. But there are also significant nuances here.
Salt Man No. 1 with his impressive beard is now the centerpiece of one of the halls of the Iranian National Museum in Tehran.
The remains of other mummies are in the Zanjan Salt People Museum, created specifically to demonstrate the results of excavations in Chehrabad.
For the storage of salt people, special transparent chambers were created, which allow experts to constantly monitor the condition of the exhibits and monitor changes in their conditions. Each of the showcases cost $ 25,000. Despite such luxurious conditions, it was not possible to achieve ideal conditions for storing mummies. As a result, there is a threat of destruction of exhibits. Alas, the environment of our world is not quite suitable for people who have lived in a salt underground for two thousand years.
During the excavations, two more salt people were found. However, given the high cost of storage and the lack of a guarantee of the safety of the objects, it was decided to leave them underground for now.
Be that as it may, the salt people have already played a huge role in the study of ancient Persia, revealing to us a whole historical layer dedicated to the mining of the Achaemenid and Sassanid times. Scientists learned how the ancient inhabitants of Iran mined salt, what they wore, how they looked and even what they ate. If in ancient Greece, salt mining was put on a stream where slaves were actively used, then in ancient Iran it is rather a periodic event using hired workers.
The archaeological excavations in Zanjan have already revealed a lot, but this place still contains many secrets, and its potential is far from being exhausted. Of course, the monument in Chehrabad does not yet have the glory of the tomb of Tutankhamun and no films have been made about its "inhabitants". Although, maybe someday Hollywood will get to the Iranian mummies? A painting like "The Rise of the Salt People" could be a good way to promote Iranian archeology.
Salt is not the only natural conservative known to science. The intense cold in the Andes helped preserve the bodies of people who lived during the heyday of the Inca Empire in what is now Peru. And from some northern European swamps, archaeologists are still extracting remains dating back to the Iron Age and preserved due to the cold temperature, acidity of the water, and lack of oxygen.
As noted by scientists, the bodies lie in the position that they were once given by the stones that fell from above. The huge amount of salt around did not allow the tissues to decay, since the salt prevented the growth of bacteria, including those causing the processes of decomposition and putrefaction. Thus, a worker who was the victim of an industrial accident added to the fund of rare natural mummies.
Moreover, the stomachs of some workers still contained the remains of food eaten centuries ago.
Studies conducted in 2012 on one of the salt men who lived 2,200 years ago revealed that the remains of a tapeworm egg are in the human tract, which is considered a significant discovery for determining the types of food of that time and the type of infection with worms. The presence of tapeworm indicates that the consumption of semi-raw meat was common at that time.
The clothing that remained on the bodies of the mummies provided very valuable information about the ways of wearing clothing, dyeing and making fabric during that period. For example, all the clothes remained on the mummy of the fourth salt man. The fabric of the garment is in very good condition.
Extensive research into development, drilling, and research into the mine itself, together with the results of analysis of carbon 14, indicate that in the fifth century BC (the Achaemenid period), this mine was already in operation and that it had repeatedly collapsed, as a result of which the workers of the mine died. The mine was exploited until the fifth century (the Sassanid era), while using a tool in the form of pickaxes. Columns and rooms were also installed in the mine, and drilling was also carried out inside the mine. The methods of extracting salt from the mine during the Achaemenid and Sassanid periods were different.