Meet Irani mummies From Sassa...

pictures coming soon or you can check this site for some pictures:

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Ancient-Salt-Mummy-Discovered-in-Iran-58971.shtml

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/07/070703-salt-man.html

http://www.payvand.com/news/04/nov/1254.html

The government owned company wants to start mining activities in the site.Archaelogy groups are attempting to block the activities. Shameful.

The Salt Mummies, their face and skeleton intact along with their boots.Amzingly their blond hair has stood the test of time along with personal effect..

From 1993 to December 2005, a series of salt mummies were found in the Chehrabad salt mine near Zanjan in northwestern Iran. Details of the discoveries are somewhat vague . In fact, until November 2006, information about the mummies indicated that four had been found. However, a news report in November 2006 announced that five had been discovered. Now a sixth has been discovered. According to this last account, here are the dates and details of the discovery;

2. The first salt mummy was dated to 1700 years ago, referred to as the Sassanid era. Researchers believe that the others "as far back as the Achaemenid period some 500 years earlier."

3. The mystery of their death also makes them of great interest to scientists. After the third mummy was discovered buried under the boulder, one excavator concluded that a mine collapse had killed all of the salt mummies. Further study will be necessary, however, to prove this intriguing idea.

4. Their DNA will be studied. According to Daniel Potts of the University of Sydney (Australia), the salt mummies could provide "a huge amount of important data on the entire millennium between the Persian Empire and the coming of Islam."

5. Over 300 pieces of fabric, some of them with designs, have been found in addition to the mummies. Although the textiles are different sizes, some are as large as a square meter.The salt appears to have kept the dyes used in fabrics well-preserved