Iranian archaeology

As an example of what might be lost if the Iranian government presses ahead with its plan to obliterate pre-Islamic remains in Fars, it has today been reported that:

A 5,000-year-old golden artificial eye that once stared out mesmerisingly from the face of a female soothsayer or priestess in ancient Persia has been unearthed by Iranian and Italian archaeologists.

The eyeball — the earliest artificial eye found — would have transfixed those who saw it, convincing them that the woman — thought to have been strikingly tall — had occult powers and could see into the future, archaeologists said.