22/05/2026

LYFE FRIDAY | MAY 22, 2026

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Golestan Palace is known for blending 19th-century Persian arts and architecture with European styles and motifs.

A visitor walks through the damaged interiors of the historic Golestan Palace in Tehran.

Experts are willing to restore the palace, but fear the war might reignite at any time.

War threatens Iran’s heritage

A S fears of renewed conflict hang over Iran, conservationists are shoring up battered historic sites and taking stock of the damage caused by the war with the US and Israel, though experts warn some repairs could take years. At Golestan Palace, a defining cultural landmark in central Tehran, shattered mirrors, broken doors and debris from ornate ceilings now lie scattered across parts of the site after shockwaves from strikes on the capital following the outbreak of war on Feb 28. The former royal residence known for its sprawling gardens, pools and royal halls has been listed as a Unesco World Heritage site since 2013. The fragile truce in place since April 8 has allowed experts to begin gauging the scale of the damage, though the complex remains closed to the public. “The damage has been assessed at several levels but a more detailed specialised evaluation is still underway,” Ali Omid Ali, a restoration specialist and Golestan Palace technical engineering department head, told AFP. For now, he said, teams are focused on stabilising damaged structures and preventing further collapse before broader repair work can begin. “We need a more stable situation to start the restoration process,” he said. Initial estimates suggest work at the site could cost around US$1.7 million (RM6.7 million), though the

exhibited a plaster blocking wall of King Tutankhamun’s tomb in Luxor and unveiled two restored ancient tombs on the West Bank of the city that date back to the New Kingdom and contain scenes of daily life and funerary rituals. Abdelghaffar Wagdy, Luxor Antiquities director-general, said the wall is a unique artifact that has never been replicated in Egypt or anywhere else in the world because almost all Pharaonic tombs were looted. “Therefore, it is a one-of-a-kind artifact – the only one currently on display more than 100 years after the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb. It is the only surviving artifact of Tutankhamun that the world had never seen before. Recently, an Egyptian team reconstructed it,” he said at an exhibition in Luxor. The original plaster blocking wall of the tomb of Tutankhamun is figure could rise following a full assessment, he added, noting repairs could take “two or more years”. The palace known for blending 19th-century Persian arts and architecture with European styles and motifs is among at least five Unesco-listed sites damaged during the conflict. “50% to 60% of its doors and windows are broken,” Jabbar Avaj, Golestan Palace museums director, told the official Irna news agency. The palace’s famed Mirror Hall – known for shimmering mosaics covering its ceilings and walls – and the Marble Throne, a ceremonial platform supported by statues representing mythical and royal symbols, were “seriously damaged”, he said. ‘Shadow of war lingers’ Other affected Unesco-listed sites include Chehel Sotoun Palace and the Masjed-e Jame mosque in Isfahan as well as the prehistoric sites of the Khorramabad Valley. o Conservationists take stock of damage to valued cultural, historical landmarks

Iran’s Golestan Palace is sometimes likened to France’s Versailles. – PICS FROM AFP

restoration,” Fartousi said. While the ceasefire since April 8 has largely halted fighting in major urban centres housing cultural sites, sporadic clashes have occurred in coastal areas and Gulf waters and talks have so far failed to produce a lasting settlement.

the sprawling Saadabad Palace complex in northern Tehran, a former royal residence set within a vast park and home to several museums. “The shadow of war still lingers over Iran’s sky and in this situation, we cannot plan very well for

Beyond the listed sites, the war affected at least 140 culturally and historically significant locations across Iran, according to Hassan Fartousi, head of Iran’s National Commission for Unesco. Among them are Tehran’s Marble Palace, the Teymourtash house and

Egypt exhibits Tutankhamun tomb artefact EGYPTIAN authorities recently considered among the

most prominent elements associated with the sealing of the tomb discovered in 1922 by the British archaeologist Howard Carter, said the Egyptian Tourism and Antiquities Ministry. The wall, displayed to the public for the first time at the Luxor Museum, was used to secure the entrances of the burial chamber and bore official stamps reflecting funerary rituals and the administrative authority associated with the king’s burial, said the ministry. The wall bears seals belonging to Tutankhamun as well as those of the necropolis guards charged with keeping the tombs safe and protecting them from theft, Wagdy said. The West Bank of the River Nile at Luxor is home to the Valley of the Kings, where pharaohs and nobles of the New Kingdom were buried in tombs carved into the rock. Among the many New Kingdom

A boy takes a picture inside the Luxor Museum. – PICS FROM REUTERS

those of Rabuya and his son Samut from the 18th Dynasty, the first of the New Kingdom dynasties. Rabuya and Samut served as door keepers of the deity Amun, the ministry said. – Reuters

pharaohs was Tutankhamun – popularly known as King Tut – whose 14th-century BC tomb and its full contents were unearthed in 1922. The tombs that were opened are buried there

The first plaster wall of the entrance to Tutankhamun’s tomb.