Italy
Vito Messina
ELECTRUM, Volume 22, 2015, pp. 143 - 154
https://doi.org/10.4467/20800909EL.15.007.3945Between 2008 and 2010, the Iranian-Italian Joint Expedition in Kūzestān conducted research in the area of the modern city of Īda under the co-direction of the authors of this paper. The aim of the expedition was to acquire new data on the Parthian rock reliefs recognised up to now at Kong-e Azdar, Kong-e Yār ‘Alīvand and Kong-e Kamālvand by applying the most up-to-date technologies, namely the GPS survey and laser scanning. Indeed, despite the several studies conducted on these works, several aspects, such as the chronology of the represented scenes, their evolution and carving techniques, still need to be clarified.
A preliminary elaboration of the data acquired at Kong-e Yār ‘Alīvand allowed us to create a digital 3D model of the sculpted surface consisting of 2,467,745 points. The surface analysis conducted on this digital support revealed traces of an inscription on the upper part of the sculpted scene, which has been deeply eroded and was never reported in previous surveys, and still undetected iconographic details, which shed new light on the sculpted scene, usually interpreted as an investiture.