イランで海洋文化遺産の保護進む

１８８０年代にイラン政府がドイツから軍艦を購入したそうですが、イランが最初に外国から購入した軍艦の遺跡が確認され、政府によって厳重に保護されることが決まりました。沈没船の位置はその地方では知られていたそうですが、遺物が売り払われていたことなどから政府が介入し、正式に調査が始まり、その結果船の確認が行われました。これから遺跡の現状維持のための計画が出されることでしょう。

Tehran, 5 August 2006 (CHN Foreign Desk) — Governor of the southern province of Bushehr ordered the dispatch of a team of special police forces to the Persian Gulf shores where remains of the first warship purchased by the Persians have been identified to protect it from being plundered by the thieves.

Studies by a group of experts near the Persian Gulf seashores led to the discovery of the remains of a warship. Further investigations revealed that this warship must have been the one which was sailed during the reign of Nassereddin Shah of the Qajar dynasty for the first time. The warship was named Persepolis and entered the waters of the Persian Gulf at the time of the Qajar King.

After the news was announced to the governor of the Bushehr, special envoys were appointed to protect the area until conditions are prepared for taking the warship out and transferring it to a safe place. The decision came after it was found that parts of the shipwreck had been stolen and sold in the market.

Confirming this news, Ali Afrashteh, Bushehr’s Governor, said: “Considering the old age and historic value of this warship, we will use parts of our facilities to protect it until experts are ready to bring the remains of the ship out of mud.”

According to Kambiz Alampour, executive officer of the Persian Gulf Marine Museum who traveled to Bushehr to examine the remains of the ship, identification of this warship was based on historic documents. “When studying the Persepolis warship, experts acquired some evidence which complied very well with pictures which already existed in historic archives,” said Alampour. He also said that the ship was made of sheets of steal clinched together, something that shows it was built before the advent of welding technology. Alampour declared that since the ship is not in a good condition, it will be a hard task to bring it out completely.

Dr. Abdolkarim Mashayekh, director of Foundation for Iranian Studies in Bushehr, speaks of the historic characteristics of this warship by saying: “Nassereddin Shah orders one of his officials to buy a warship for Iran. He goes to the Bremen Port in Germany and brings in a warship to the Bushehr Port in 1882. Based on information presented in a book entitled ‘2500 Years on the Seas’ written by Farajollah Rezayi, this warship was purchased along with another ship for 30,000 British Liras. Having a 600 ton capacity and operated by a 450 horsepower engine, the warship could carry more than four artilleries.”

During the reign of Reza Khan, the first Pahlavid King who ruled from 1925 to 1941 AD, when it was decided to form a unified army, this warship went out of order and was moved to the Abasak Island in the Persian Gulf. The warship stayed there until it mysteriously disappeared before the Revolution of the 1979 in Iran.

This historic evidence is expected to go on display in the Persian Gulf Marine Museum after being salvaged and restored by experts.

Maryam Tabeshian

foreigndesk@chn.ir

引用元：http://www.chnpress.com/news/?section=2&id=6556