Sinister: Meet Iran's Former 'Salt Men'

In northwestern Iran's Zanjan province, the Hamzehli, Mahrabad and Chehrabad village region houses - in addition to many salt mines - a mystery of over 2, 000 years. From 1993 to 2018, remains of at least 8 individuals were found naturally mummified, preserved by salt and the extreme conditions of the region. The first discovery came by chance, during a routine mining operation.

The miners found a severed head so well preserved that the ear even carried a golden earring, and even today it is possible to observe the long hair and beard of the first "Salt Man." Subsequently, a leather boot with mummified parts of the leg and foot was also found. Along with the body, other artifacts were discovered, such as iron knives, wool trousers, a silver needle, a slingshot, some pieces of pottery, and fragments of tissue and bones.

It was 10 years before a second body was found in the mines with the most historical artifacts. The mummy was only 15 meters away from the first, and as of 2005, an archaeological dig began to recover more Salt Men. Since then, it has been estimated that the expeditions found at least 6 more. individuals, including a 16-year-old boy's mummy and various parts of other bodies.

Mysterious Mummies

Dating from radiocarbon, the remains of the Salt Men are of varying ages: from the First Persian Empire, from the Achaemenids, about 2, 200 years ago, to 1, 700 and 1, 500 years, past the last Persian empire, to the height of the Sasanian Empire. Both mummies and artifacts provided valuable historical information about the different eras to which they belonged. Scientists could see, for example, how they dressed, organized, and even how they fed the mine workers.

Extremely well preserved by the salinity and low humidity of the cave, hair, meat, bones and even internal organs were found intact. One of the bodies, for example, contained tapeworm eggs in its gut - one of the oldest evidences of the existence of these parasites in antiquity. But if on the one hand, science points to answers; on the other, it raises even more mysteries: the gold earring and the boot found in the head in 1993 are indications that the first Salt Man was one of more poses and high social standing. What was he doing there in the middle of the mine?

In addition, the researchers found that his skull had a fracture around his eye and traces of a heavy blow that caused his death. Was he the first Salt Man to be a victim of a mine accident, like the others, or a murder? Still with no definitive answers, the mummified head can be seen composing the catalog of the National Museum of Iran in the capital Tehran.

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