Cultural heritage exerts at the Achaemenid Palace of Persepolis were outraged to see stains of fake blood used for special effects by a group of film makers shooting a feature-length movie at this ancient palace complex on the walls and floor of a palace denoted to the Persian king Xerxes I (reigned 485-465 BC).

Last week, Persepolis security guards arrested a film crewmember for trying to steal heads of two Achaemenid bas-reliefs, completely removing head of the bas-relief of an Achaemenid soldier and destroying the other one to a large extent. Following this incident, the provincial Cultural Heritage Police Department confiscated all their filming equipments and asked the filming crew and casts to immediately evacuate Persepolis.

“After the group left Persepolis, one of the security guards took experts to the filming scene where fake blood were poured on the wall and floor by the group, ignoring warnings by the guards,” said Afshin Yazdani, an archeologist at Persepolis. He further added that artificial gunshots used by the filming crew while making the film caused panic among the people visiting Persepolis that day.


A team of experts is now cautiously removing the paints from the walls using special detergents. According to these experts, chemical substances used for making this type of fake blood are absolutely detrimental to ancient monuments. On the other hand, removing the blood from the surface of the walls and floor of the palace is a very difficult task and could seriously harm the palace.

Meanwhile, officials of the Cultural Heritage and Tourism Department of Fars province have filed a lawsuit against the vandals and are determined to pursue the case through legal means.

Why the film crews were given enough time to cause such massive destruction to Persepolis, the symbol of Persian glory during the Achaemenid Empire (550 BC–330 BC), is not clear but is partly the result of lack of security at this Achaemenid palace. This is while experts had previously warned that the number of security guards at Persepolis is by no means sufficient, but no action was taken to increase the number of guards at this ancient site which is one of the most visited historic sites of Iran with an average number of 1200 daily visitors.

More than 16 centuries ago in 334 BC, Alexander of Macedon savagely burnt down Persepolis. Since then, this Achaemenid palace complex has seen much harm due to irresponsible behavior, whether on the part of individuals or responsible organizations.