The Qalaychi glazed bricks, a remnant of the Manichaean civilization after being returned to the country and exhibited in the Museum of Ancient Iran, are now on display in the Buchan Museum.
Buchan glazed bricks are a remnant of northwestern Iran’s ancient 3,000-year-old Manichaean civilization. These bricks were stolen from Iran in the 1960s. Some of the bricks found their way into private collections and the rest were kept by an Iranian family in Switzerland. They wanted to sell the bricks to the collectors and thus gain a huge sum of windfall wealth without thinking that the looted heritage belonged to the Iranian people and not their personal property.
The artifacts known as Buchanan glazed bricks, have now been restored to Buchan Qalaychi Hill. Buchan is a city on the border between the two provinces of Kurdistan and West Azerbaijan and has ancient sites that date back to the Manichaean civilization. One example is the old site of Ziviye, and the other is Qalaychi, 7 km from the city of Buchan. Qalaychiwas called “Izioto” in the writings of Assyrian civilization and was the capital of Mana. The Manichaean period is one thousand BC to the beginning of the Achaemenid civilization. The small Mani rule was spread in the south of Lake Urmia and in the area that covers the province of Kurdistan and parts of the West and East Azerbaijan regions.
It is worth mentioning that nine chapters of archeological excavations have been carried out on Qalaychi hill. The exhibition is attended by Morteza Adibzadeh, Head of the General Directorate of Museums, Jebrael Nokandeh, Director of the National Museum of Iran, Alireza Delkhosh, Director General of Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kim Zistler, Chargé d’Affaires of the Swiss Embassy in Iran, Jalil Jabbari, and Director General of Heritage, Culture and Tourism. The exhibition was inaugurated on June 17, 2022, in the museum of glory, in the presence of Morteza Adibzadeh.
According to the report of Aria Heritage and according to the public relations of the General Directorate of Heritage, Culture, Tourism, and Handicrafts of West Azerbaijan, the head of the General Directorate of Museums said in this ceremony: “Getting the Buchanan archeological museum rapidly operational requires the participation of all officials and charities, and the historical objects belonging to Buchanan will be collected from all over Iran and transferred to this museum as soon as the city’s museum is operational”
At the opening ceremony of the exhibition of Qalaychi bricks in Buchanan on June 17, 2022, Morteza Adibzadeh added: “Returning historical objects is one of the important tasks of the General Directorate of Museums.” In this office, all extradition cases are being investigated, and it is expected that many of Iran’s historical objects will be returned shortly.
The return of Qalaychi bricks after 30 years
Jebrael Nokandeh, director of the National Museum of Iran, also said at the meeting: “Restoring the 2,800-year-old bricks of Qalaychi Buchan was a great task, and these bricks returned to the country after 30 years.”
Nokandeh pointed out that setting up an exhibition in Cities that do not have a museum under the auspices of the Ministry of Heritage, Culture, Tourism, and Handicrafts is not an easy task, but the efforts and sympathy of Buchanan officials to accept the responsibility of preserving and maintaining bricks led to the exhibition in Buchanan.
He added: “Some believe that the objects belonging to each city should be kept in the museum of that same region, but let us keep this in mind that it’s necessary to keep historical artifacts and objects in the national museum because the national museum is a showcase of Iranian identity and culture”.
Iran’s cultural and historical diversity is unparalleled
“Iran’s cultural and historic diversity is unparalleled,” said Kim Zistler, charge d’affaires of the Swiss embassy in Iran. Many countries may have a long history, but they do not have this cultural diversity.
Kim Zistler added: “Iran and Switzerland are members of the UNESCO Convention, and both countries insist on the need to preserve historical monuments; based on this, the two countries can cooperate well in this field.”
He said: “The location of various exhibitions can play an important role in the economic turnover and the introduction of museums, and I hope that the establishment of an exhibition of Qalaychi bricks in the Buchan Museum of Glory will make this museum more successful.”
Return of 18 collection of stolen historical relics to Iran
Alireza Delkhosh, Director General of Diplomacy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said at the opening ceremony of the Qalaychi Brick Exhibition in Buchan: “With the efforts made so far, 18 stolen historic relics have been returned to the country.
Delkhosh added: “some countries try to make history or falsify history to bolden their identity, but Iran is one of the 5 most civilized countries in the world with countless historic relics to prove it.” He added: “This Ministry has taken measure to identify the relics in other countries that have been stolen from our country, for the sake of preserving the status of Iranian civilization in the world”.
He continued: “The stolen relics belong to Iran and its people, and we will do our best to bring back this cultural wealth.” According to the adoption of the UN resolution regarding return of cultural property,” according to the adoption of the UN resolution on the return of the cultural property, any purchase and sale of cultural property of countries is a crime; therefore, each country’s historical monuments are returned to them.
Hassan Zirak Music Festival to be included in Buchan Cultural Calendar
Anwar Habibzadeh, the representative of the Buchan people in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, also stated in this ceremony: “Buchan is the third most populated city of West Azerbaijan, where the history of human settlement dates back to 3000 years, and there are many historic relics in this city.”
Habibzadeh added: “The exhibition of Qalaychi bricks gives the message that the culture and art of any country is its greatest asset, and remains even after many years, like the Qalaychi bricks that show the culture and civilization of the Medes after 3000 years.”
He continued his speech by stating that for development of Buchanan tourism, it is necessary to plan to introduce the historic relics of this city. For this purpose the Buchanan ancient museum must become operational in the shortest possible time, the museum of glory should be expanded and Hassan Zirak museum festival should be included in the calendar.”
Qalaychi bricks are full of legendary stories
Qutbuddin Sadeghi, a university professor, also pointed out that shape, imagination, and narration are the three essential features of Qalaychi bricks. These are the narrations that open the path of civilization and bring knowledge to human beings, adding: “The identity of a nation depends on its history of the day, history of the past and its legends, and among these legends are the link between the past and present, and are of great value. The history of Iran is full of myths and legends.”
He continued: “The reason for the importance of myths is that discovering their code will tell us what our past was, where we came from and where we will go, and knowing them shows the future path of a nation.”
Document for Buchanan becoming the adopted sister of Swiss cities to be signed
Haj Babakhan Eskandari, the governor of Buchan, another speaker at the opening ceremony, said: “The painting on Qalaychi bricks shows the spiritual glory of the people of that time, and we must preserve this historical heritage and pass it on to the future.” Eskandari added: “It is necessary to set up an archeological museum in Buchanan, and it is the wish of the people of this city that Buchanan document of adoption be signed with one of the Swiss cities.”
Mir Hesami, the mayor of Buchan, also said at the meeting: “Countries around the world spend much money to introduce their culture, but today the 2800-year-old Mani civilization has made Buchan and Iran known again in the world, and this is the cultural richness of Iran.”
The exhibition of returned bricks of Qalaychi, in which 51 pieces of 2800-year-old bricks of Qalaychi Buchan hill are exhibited, is open for one month. Furthermore, the exhibition of Qalaychi bricks will be held in Urmia Archaeological Museum for a month after Buchan, and lovers can visit it every day.
