The Bam Cultural Landscape of Iran was inscribed both on the World Heritage List and on the List of World Heritage in Danger, announced Francesco Bandarin, director of the World Heritage Center (WHC) of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), on Friday.

The nomination of the Bam Cultural Landscape, which was approved in Suzhou at the 28th session of the World Heritage Committee, was received in May after the city was seriously damaged in an earthquake last December.

Situated in the desert on the southern edge of the Iranian high plateau, Bam developed as a crossroads of trade in silk and cotton. Its origins can be traced to the Achaemenid period (6th-4th century BC) and it reached its heyday from the 7th to 11th centuries. Arg-e Bam grew into an oasis created mainly thanks to an underground water management system, which has continued its function till the present time.

The site's main ancient remains are within a fortified citadel area which contains 38 watchtowers, Governmental Quarters, and the historic town and its 8th or 9th century mosque, one of the oldest in Iran. This is the most representative example of a fortified medieval town built in vernacular technique using mud layers.
 
(Xinhua News Agency July 3, 2004)