According to IBNA correspondent, the commemoration ceremony of Professor Sadeq (Shapur) Malek Shahmirzadi, the prominent Iranian archaeologist, was held on Wednesday, October 14, 2015, at the National Museum of Iran in collaboration with the Archaeological Research Institute of Iran’s Cultural Heritage Organization.
In this event, Seyyed Mohammad Beheshti (Chairman of the Cultural Heritage Research Institute), Mohammad Hassan Semsar (Lecturer of Art History at Tehran University), Elizabeth Carter (Professor of Archaeology from Canada) and some other lecturers delivered their speech.
At the beginning, Malek Shahmirzadi stated: “This is a session of archaeology and history. Please let me choose my own example from this field to tell you about. We Iranians have a written document that is 2500 years old which is recognized by UNESCO as a world record, and that is the inscription of the Achaemenid King Darius at Behistun. The document begins with three words; great is God, Ahura Mazda. Why is God great? Because he has granted me this land, the people and joy and bestowed on me whatever is good.”
He further continued: “At the end, Darius asks God for three things. He appeals to God to keep this land and people safe from three plagues of war, drought and lies.”
“It was late September when Pope Francis, the leader of the Catholics of the world, delivered a speech in the United Nations, addressing the representatives of 190 countries present and said ‘avoid war’. This is while Darius had prayed for the same thing for us 2500 years ago. In his speech, Pope spoke of drought and the threat of greenhouse gases and urged politicians not to tell lies,” the archaeology scholar added.