IranMania News, Iran
Dec 5 2007

Ilkhanid-era Christian cemetery found in Iran

Wednesday, December 05, 2007 – ?2005 IranMania.com

LONDON, December 5 (IranMania) – A Christian cemetery dating back to
the Mongol era has recently been discovered near the Soltanieh Dome,
an Islamic monument registered on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage
List, MNA reported.

A single gravestone bearing ancient Armenian script led a team of
experts from the Soltanieh Dome Cultural Heritage Center to the
discovery of the burial ground, the Persian service of CHN reported
on Monday.

The artifact was unearthed by the team about two years ago during a
demarcation operation for the dome site.

`We were assisted in the deciphering of the script by a number of
Christian historians. After examining the relic, they informed us
that the artifact dates back to the Mongol era and that it was highly
likely that a cemetery dating back to that time would be located in
the vicinity,’ the center executive manager Mohammadreza Qorbanzadeh
said.

A translation of the inscription reads as follows: `Jesus, the only
son of the father, when it is time to return, the sleeping soul of
the late…’

Other parts of the inscription are illegible due to erosion.

`The cemetery, which is located near the Abbasabad region of the
Soltanieh Dome and the ancient city of Soltanieh will add to our
knowledge of the history of these sites,’ Qorbanzadeh said.

The Mongol ruler Hulegu Khan (c. 1217-1265), who founded the Ilkhanid
dynasty in Iran, selected the north central region of Iran for his
center of government. Hulegu’s mother showed an inclination towards
the Christian religion and as a result many Christian residents of
Tabriz emigrated to Soltanieh (location of present day Zanjan), being
an area over which he ruled.

In addition, Marco Giovanni Brambilla, an Italian professor at
Tehran’s Shahid Beheshti University, during his studies on the city
of Soltanieh, had previously surmised the existence of a Christian
Mongol era cemetery in the region.