The expanse of Tall-e Barmi, also known as Barmak, is a remnant of Iran’s Elamite period and is now located near a village called Kimeh, in Ramhormoz County, Khuzestan Province. Archaeologists consider Tall-e Barmi to have been an Elamite city that was gradually buried over time, leaving behind nothing of its former grandeur except a mound of earth and artifacts—many of which have been looted by antiquities traffickers. This ancient mound was registered on Iran’s National Heritage List on 10 Tir 1347 in the Iranian calendar (July 1, 1968), and 58 years have now passed since its registration.
For a more precise location of Tall-e Barmi, it should be placed west of the Ala River of Ramhormoz—a river that, after crossing the plains of southern Khuzestan, eventually flows into the Persian Gulf. It was likely because of the easy access to the waters leading to the Persian Gulf that the ancient Elamites chose this site for settlement and the development of their civilization.
Archaeological studies have dated periods of human occupation at this mound to the Late Susa period (the 5th millennium BCE), the 3rd millennium BCE, the Neo-Elamite period (the first half of the 1st millennium BCE), the Achaemenid, Seleucid, Parthian, Sasanian, and Islamic periods. This alone is enough to demonstrate that we are dealing with a site of exceptional importance in Iran’s ancient history.
Antiquities smugglers were also aware of this significance and, over the years and decades, never ceased digging and disturbing the site. The most recent act of looting dates back to Farvardin 1391 in the Iranian calendar (March–April 2012), when, in an attempt to reach a treasure trove of jewelry, they excavated a tunnel measuring four meters in height and twenty meters in width (according to a report by the Mehr News Agency, 4 Farvardin 1391). It should also be noted that in 1386 (2007–2008), treasure hunters discovered a valuable hoard at Tall-e Barmi and plundered it.
Today, 58 years have passed since Tall-e Barmi was placed on Iran’s National Heritage List—a highly valuable archaeological site that has repeatedly been violated and damaged by treasure hunters and illicit antiquities traders. The question is: if the national registration of a historical and archaeological site does not lead to its protection, what purpose does such registration serve? Is not placing a national heritage site on the official list meant to ensure its preservation and safeguard the remains hidden within it?
Tall-e Barmi tells us that even national registration cannot always be trusted. The reach of antiquities traffickers and archaeological looters extends everywhere.
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