Iranian saltmen to be protected by digital systems

Tehran, August 14 (ANI): Iran's cultural heritage officials are planning to use digital systems to protect and preserve the saltmen found in the country's Chehrabad Salt Mine.

According to a report in Press TV, the Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism office of Zanjan Province announced that the new systems would control the temperature and humidity of the cases in which the salt mummies will be housed.

Iranian experts had previously expressed their concern about the critical condition of the saltmen, which they said were kept under substandard conditions.

Six saltmen have been unearthed in the Chehrabad Salt Mine over the past decade, the first of which is housed at Iran's National Museum and four others are kept at the Archaeology Museum of Zanjan.

The first mummy is in good condition and is being kept in an environment with controlled temperature, humidity and light.

The sixth saltman has been left untouched since a snowstorm hit its resting place in 2008.

The third, fourth and the fifth salt mummies date back to the Achaemenid era while the sixth one belongs to either the Parthian or the Sassanid era.

Numerous studies have been conducted on the Chehrabad salt mummies. Oxford and York University studies revealed important information about their diet.

Other studies showed that the fourth saltman had moved from the northern Mazandaran Province to his final home in Zanjan. (ANI)