Tar in Ancient Persia

Human beings got to know petroleum, as an important source of energy, since ancient time, archeological documents reveal. Oil and gas were mainly used for starting fires. This energy commodity was definitely used for supplying basic needs like making food, lighting and defending against savage animals.

Tar was used in making tools, vessels, seals and pendants. As time passed this substance was used for religious, military, architectural and medical purposes too.

From a religious standpoint, fire temples had no option but to burn oil and gas in order to keep their fires alight in the face of wind and rain.

In the military domain, Persian warriors were equipped with incendiary tar and flammable pots which were used as ammunition. Oil was also used in insulation and sealing. That is why Iranian architecture has survived throughout centuries. In the medical field, oil and its derivatives like paraffin, wax and tar were widely used.

Another usage of oil products was making tar seals. There are a large number of Elamite seals which hold valuable social, political, religious, economic and cultural information; for instance, a cylindrical cup whose handle resembles an antelope.

Owing to its durability and non-degradability, tar was used in building coffins and decorating sculptures. Tar was also used in making musical instruments. Under the Achaemenid Empire, tar concrete was used for consolidating dams to become resistant.

In Masjid Soleyman, there used to be a fire temple in ancient time that kept burning thanks to gas.

Tar mines in Lorestan were used in the 3rd and 4th millennia BC. Khuzestan's tar was used during the Achaemenid reign.

Artists in ancient Susa used to blend tar with another substance to make something which resembled stone to be used in making different objects.

The tar vessels on display in the ancient Iran museum indicate that tar and materials made from it were used differently in Iran, Mesopotamia and Egypt.