Sassanid censer bases unearthed during construction project in southern Iran

TEHRAN,July 6(MNA) -- Three censer bases, which date back to the Sassanid era, have recently been discovered during a construction project in the southern Iranian province of Bushehr. Covered with saruj, a mortar of cement and gypsum used in Sassanid era architecture, the stone bases were unearthed by some people restoring their house in the village of Keshtu, which was destroyed in an earthquake on April 9, an expert of the Bushehr Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Department told on Thursday. The censer bases may belong to a Zoroastrian fire temple, Hadi Akhlaqi said and added that the department has taken the control of the site where the structures were unearthed for more studies. The inverted palm-shaped censer bases have been made ‘artistically’, Akhlaqi stated. Similar censer bases have previously been discovered in the village of Bonyad in the province, the Palangard Tepe in Eslamabad Gharb in Kermanshah Province, and a fire temple near the town of Aran-Bidgol in Isfahan Province, he added.