Zoroastrian News - اخبار زرتشتیان

A team of renovation experts was able to finally remove stains of fake blood left by a film crew on the walls and floors of the Hadish Palace of King Xerxes at the Achaemenid Palace of Persepolis.
Tehran, 3 January 2007 (CHN Foreign Desk) — After several days of intensive renovation works to remove stains of fake blood left recently on the walls and floors of the Hadish Palace of King Xerxes I (reigned 485-465) at Persepolis Palace Complex by a film crew, a team of renovation experts from Parse-Pasargadae Research center was finally able to successfully wipe off the paint.

Experts had earlier said that chemical substances used to make the red liquid were extremely hard to be cleaned up. However, making use of several chemical solutions, renovation experts completely removed the stains.

Two weeks ago, Persepolis security guards arrested member of the film crew making a feature-length movie at this Achaemenid Palace Complex for allegedly trying to steal two bas-reliefs on the walls of a palace denoted to King Artaxerxes (465-425 BC), grandson of Darius the Great. The person was able to completely remove bas-relief of head of an Achaemenid soldier and cause much harm to another one depicting a gift bearer before being arrested. The filming team had also poured a red liquid representing blood on the wall and floor of the Hadish Palace, ignoring previous warnings by the guards.

Following this incident, the prime suspect was taken into police custody and the team’s filming equipments were confiscated by Fars Police Department. This is while cultural heritage experts had repeatedly asked the Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization to stop issuing permits for filming at Persepolis to prevent such destructions. The Cultural Heritage and Tourism Department of Fars is now planning to take legal action against the film crew for the damages caused to the seat of the glorious Achaemenid Empire (550 BC–330 BC).