Mummified "salt men" of Iran shifted to archaeological museum

Tehran, May 14 : Four salt men, which are Iranian mummies, have been shifted to an archaeological museum in Iran.

Over the past decade, six salt men have been unearthed at the Chehrabad Salt Mine located in the Hamzehlu region near Zanjan, Iran.

Out of these six salt men, four were kept at the Rakhtshuikhaneh Museum in Zanjan.

But now, these four have been placed inside windows of hygroscopic glass at the Zanjan Archaeology Museum, according to the Persian service of CHN.

"The first phase of the project is completed now despite the insufficient funding for renovation of the Zolfaqari House and the four salt men are transferred to the museum," head of the Archaeological team at the mine Abolfazl Aali told CHN.

"Except the First Salt Man which is on display at the National Museum of Iran in Tehran, the other four are put on display at this museum," he added.

According to Aali, the fourth Salt Man has remained intact compared to the other ones.

Studies on the Fourth Salt Man indicate that the body is 2000 years old and that he was 15 or 16 years old at the time of death.

The Sixth Salt Man was left in-situ due to the dearth of equipment necessary for its preservation.

It is still not clear when the other salt men lived, but archaeologists estimate that the First Salt Man lived about 1700 years ago. He is believed to have died sometime between the ages of 35 and 40.

ANI