N EWS F OCUS PROFILE: SEYYED MOHAMMED BEHESHTI A: This started 4 years ago, and now we have cooperation with many nations. We are quite Bringing Cultural Heritage aware that Iran is an important place archae- ologically. Therefore it is our duty to provide Out of the Shadows facilities and possibilities for such work. We have to become part of the larger interna- In a few short years, this unorthodox official has transformed the Iranian Cultural tional system of archaeology; otherwise we Heritage Organization and is turning Iran into a destination of choice for archaeologists will be left behind. So it is good to have this cooperation, but we have our own terms and In a nation where somber, turbaned clerics ICHO, which oversees archaeology and had standards. If there is to be scientific cooper- dominate politics, Seyyed Mohammed Be- long been a backwater in the Ministry of Cul- ation, it should be real cooperation. That heshti stands out. Shortly after he took over ture and Islamic Guidance. He has won means 50-50. as head of the Iranian Cultural Heritage Or- greater government funding, instituted an im- ganization (ICHO), a colleague complained pressive news service and Web site, and that he didn’t go to the mosque for public championed the return of foreign archaeolo- prayers. “But if I did, my toupee would fall gists. “He is a breath of fresh air, and the rea- off,” he replied. Beheshti’s striking reddish- son we’ve been able to do anything is because blonde mop is only the superficial manifes- of that man,” says University of Chicago ar- tation of his nonconformist approach. chaeologist Abbas Alizadeh. Son of a senior parliamentarian and friend Beheshti recently spoke with Science on of Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, the grounds of the shah’s former Niavaran Beheshti is a leading reformist. As head of Palace in northern Tehran. the Film and Serials Group in the 1990s, he won acclaim for his bold support for the blos- Q: What challenges does archaeology soming Iranian film industry, considered to- face here? day as a star of international cinema. Since A: We have to deal with more than 200,000 CREDIT: A. LAWLER 1997, he has brought his skills to bear on archaeological sites around Iran. Because of development projects threatening so many ed looting in places such as purchased by the Louvre bears of these sites, we don’t Jiroft. “They are getting a lot all the stylistic hallmarks of a even get to choose our of money in this market and Jiroft piece. He says he has no projects. We have to forcing villagers to do the il- proof, just a strong suspicion come up with a strate- licit excavations,” he says. that it is part of the cache gy to save them. Fresh air. Seyyed Mohammed Beheshti is a “We are trying to control this coming recently out of the The other problem leading light in the push to bring back foreign new wave of looting through Jiroft graves. is that we don’t have researchers. various means: army, laws, But his accusation meets many international whatever we can.” with a hot denial from Annie connections, and our Q: But are there enough trained Iranian The Iranian government re- Caubet, head curator of the current knowledge in archaeologists for this to work? cently announced the creation Louvre’s Department of Ori- archaeology is limit- A: We do have some knowledge foreign del- of a special brigade called ental Antiquities. In a 17 Sep- ed. But we’ve started egations don’t, because this is our land. A Guardians of Cultural Heritage tember letter to Perrot, she to change this in the foreigner might try to understand mud-brick to fight illegal digs and antiq- said she was “dismayed by the past 4 years, and structures, but we are still living in mud- uities trafficking. Those who accusation” and insisted that things are getting bet- brick structures. Our knowledge could be try to smuggle such material prior to the 2002 purchase, ter. We need scientific very constructive and informative for for- out of the country could face “this work was owned by a knowledge and time eign archaeologists. There is the chance for between 5 and 20 years in jail private collection which has to do more than just learning on both sides. or even capital punishment. been in Europe since the end salvage archaeology. The underlying cause of of the 1960s.” We also have to Q: Are there conservative factions here the trade, Beheshti and other An official with the Paris change the image of who oppose the return of foreigners? Iranian officials maintain, is law firm the Bureau of Interna- cultural heritage. It A: Nobody in the country has any prob- the hunger abroad for antiqui- tional Legal Services, which is has been in the shad- lem with people coming here for scientif- ties. Recent purchases by the representing the Iranian gov- ows; it is time to put ic purposes. Louvre are underscoring that ernment, told Science that Iran it in the sun. Once it tension between Western cu- intends to begin legal action was perhaps the 15th Q: Could that change? rators and collectors and Iran- soon to recover what Iranian or 20th important is- A: I am worried about what’s happening in ian and foreign archaeologists. officials say is the country’s sue in the country. America. I’m worried that 11 September Jean Perrot, a distinguished property. Archaeologists such Now it is perhaps could happen again. But on the eve of the French archaeologist who as Perrot say they hope that among the first three. American attack on Iraq, we had U.S. archae- headed Susa excavations be- the controversy will not inter- ologists working very close to the Iraqi border. fore the revolution, com- fere with their efforts to return Q: Why are you plained at the August meeting to work in the country. pressing for foreign Q: Has the budget for archaeological in Tehran that a stone bowl –ANDREW LAWLER archaeologists to work here increased substantially? return? A: We now spend $1.3 million a year on www.sciencemag.org SCIENCE VOL 302 7 NOVEMBER 2003 975 N EWS F OCUS archaeology. Compared to 10 years ago, it Q:Won’t archaeologists object? reality actual looting is much less. People has increased 70-fold. It is still not A: At the start they were very unhappy—as are simply talking about it more. enough, but it is much better than it was. I would be any archaeologist anywhere—but In Jiroft, there are many efforts going at think it will increase much more in the we pushed them to this. We convinced them the local and national levels to stop illicit next 5 years, as the image of cultural her- this is not a bad thing. In fact, it is a good excavations, paving the way for us to ex- itage changes, as people come closer to development, since it allows us to bring cul- pand our scientific activities there. What understanding the importance and value of tural heritage out of the shadows. And it also happened in Jiroft (see p. 974) has become our work. doubles and triples protection of sites, since an example for what other regions do not locals see them as valuable, and they are want to have happen. We are working with Q: Does Iran have plans to reconstruct made part of the team protecting them. Interpol and are pursuing legal claims in ancient sites for tourism purposes? foreign countries. If we can stop the A: We are very strict about our methods. Of Q: How are you coping with looters? hunger for artifacts internationally, per- course there are sites tourists want to go to, A: The army and the police all contribute, haps we can stop the illicit excavations. so we need services there to forge a new but the most important factor is the attitude What we need is international awareness. quality of tourism. We will do this, but we of the people. If you compare coverage in We expect those in Western countries to won’t reconstruct. And we will invite the mass media to 10 years ago, there is per- speak out against this trade. This material tourists to visit sites under archaeological haps 10 times as much coverage about loot- belongs to humanity, not just Iran. excavation or restoration. ing of archaeological sites, but perhaps in –ANDREW LAWLER DEBATE REOPENED In the 1980s, Guillermo Algaze, an an- thropologist at the University of California, Uruk: Spreading Fashion San Diego, first put forward the idea that Uruk organized colonies and established an Or Empire? informal empire to ensure a steady flow of goods. Research in the past decade shows Current theory holds that Uruk peddled its wares by imperial domination. New access that in some areas, such as today’s Syria, to Iran is painting a more complex picture Urukian control took the form of trading quarters in existing towns. In others, such as TEHRAN—The Bronze Age the plain of Susa east of Uruk, that control Tabriz Middle East may not have Caspian Sea was more forceful. “I argue they took Su- had international retail gi- siana lock, stock, and barrel,” dominating the ants like Ikea, but for a local peoples, says Algaze. That influence, he while it did have some- Tehran maintains, was felt far to the east, in trading thing similar. Around 5000 IRAN outposts such as Sialk and Godine in the cen- years ago, large numbers Sialk tral highlands, which some scholars believe of people in a vast area Arisman were staffed by merchants from Susa.