Glass is one of the oldest materials which have been used in human history. Till nowadays, glass has not lost its attraction. The macroscopically character of this object make it usable for many different applications. Whether its transparency or its opacity, this object is the most fascinating material. Indeed, the history of glass making goes back to the 3th Millennium BC in Near East and Levant, but the early supported documentation with regard to the fabrication of this material goes back to the 2th Millennium BC. The glass wires from Chogha Zanbil are the unique and most considerable objects from Elamite period (2th Millennium BC). Chogha Zanbil glass wires are also known as the first evidence for glass-making in the second millennium BC in Iran and are of particular importance due to their material characteristics, manufacturing technique, their form and style. In this research, two pieces of glass wares belonging to the 2nd millennium BC from Chogha Zanbil, in the Abadan Museum, were subjected to chemical and structural investigations. The main question discussed in this paper is to determine the chemical composition as well as crystalline phase constituents of these materials, technological features and determining the firing temperature of these glass objects. QPXRD method was used to identify the crystalline structure of these materials. The microstructure and texture of the objects were studied and analyzed using ESEM-EDX method. Firing temperature of these wires was investigated by means of simultaneous thermal analysis (STA) method in order to estimate the manufacturing temperature. Mineralogical chemical studies indicate that these objects are in fact high-temperature ceramics, which have a glassy fabric. It occurs when the heating temperature passed the transition state. Glass transition relates to the transition from the solid state to the liquid state (or the reverse one). It is basically a kinetical phenomenon. It denotes to the so-called "structural relaxation". If the structural relaxation has time enough to happen during the statement time, the material behaves as a liquid. If the structural relaxation cannot occur during experience time, then the material behaves as a rigid -or semi rigid- solid. The external and internal layer of glasses seems to be a crystalline part with the effect of both sintering and partial smelting. The manufacturing temperature of these materials has reached about 1000-1100 ºC, and it has led to the glazing effects of glass on their surface.

Cultural heritage sites are threatened from a variety of natural and anthropogenic factors. Innovative and cost effective tools are needed to protect them via systematic monitoring of landscapes and cultural heritage sites. In this study, the overall risk in the Naqsh-e Rostam area, as a case study, was assessed in a multidisciplinary approach, based on the remote sensing techniques and Geographical Information System (GIS) analysis. Naqsh-e-Rostam is known as an ancient periphery which is located in northwest of Persepolis in Fars (nowadays Shiraz), Iran. The oldest relief at Naqsh-e-Rostam is severely damaged and dates back to 1,200 B.C., while there is a rock relief thought to be Elamite, originally. Four tombs belonging to Achaemenid kings are carved out of the rock face and seven oversized rock reliefs at Naqsh-e-Rostam depict the monarchs of the Sassanid period. In Sasanian epoch, Naqsh-e-Rostam site was very important due to its religious and national role, where Ernst Emil Herzfeld and Heidemarie Koch estimated its ancientness about 4,000 B.C. This historical site, which is one of the most unique ancient monuments in Iran, is suffering from some problems such as erosion and deep cracks, due to mainly the climatic and geological characteristics of the region. Currently, several damages threaten this site, which are also remarkable on the high reliefs and on the ground, vicinity of the reliefs. These monuments are located in orographic mountains which expose overall to interaction with their surrounded environment. Therefore, existing deterioration as well as erosion process is mainly due to the climatic conditions and geo-environmental factors that cause such challenges. The aim of this study was to analyze the unexpected appearance of a deep fracture with unknown reasons in this site during the recent years and to find the basic phenomenon for the appearance and development of these fractures. First, several natural and anthropogenic hazards were mapped using different remote sensing data and methodologies. All data were gathered from satellite images and products. Then, the results from each hazard were imported into a GIS environment in order to examine the overall risk assessment based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) methodology. The results showed that the methodology applied was effective enough in the understanding of the current conservation circumstances of the monuments in relation to their environment, as well as in the prediction of the future development of the present hazards. Transverse and main cracking are dominant damages that will result erosion in whole of these works. The focal pressure sources, which produced once drainage and haulage of water stream along the crack systems in the rock surfaces, was studied with Aerial Photography and Satellite Imagery, and analyzed with respect to GIS system. Finally, the gullies effect was identified in the back of the rocks.

The study of cultural heritage artifacts and the research of a protection and restoration intervention create with - and are often limited to - a complete characterization of their surface. This is not only factual for museum objects, but also for archaeological artifacts, because the object as it was discovered may contain precious unknown information that could be lost by too much aggressive interposition. Clayey tablets and metallic pins from the protohistoric site of Tappeh Sofalin have been studied by means of mineralogical and chemical characterizations. The main part of the research is done in order to get representative interpretation concerning the relationship between these two tools, as the first technological features in writing in this period. Muli-analytical methods were applied for these devotions. ICP-MS carried out in order to have the chemical compositions of trace elements and ESEM was applied for discriminating the distribution of the elements on the surface of the pin and the tablets. The elemental distributions getting a modeling of clustering with respect to the similarities between the elements concentrated on the surface of the pin as well as on the tablets. The clustering of the chemical, mineralogical results from this site is supported by means of surface characterization via AFM microscopy that dedicated information on the use of the pin as equipment appreciated for engraving the surface of tablets. The surface feature of the objects was observed and controlled by the use of AFM. This microscope enables the study of the electrically conductive or insulating specimen without precise coating or preparation; the AFM involves of a microscale cantilever with a sharp angle (probe) at its end which is used to scan the specimen surface. Thanks to very sensitive displacement controls of the specimen and of the tip by piezoelectric tubes, the equipment allows a measurement of the surface topography with a precision of less than one nanometer in height and a few nanometers in lateral position. The AFM is the only method among these that provides the ability to quantify the majority of material types and also the roughness of a surface characteristic and unrivaled three-dimensional spatial resolution. The AFM offers total 3D surface measurement by imaging topography (height), where they can be investigated to determine areal surface roughness parameters; for example statistics on the domain and grain size or their hardness. Comparison of tools for surface characterization can provide the information about materials properties beyond topography. For instance, AFMs can measure a mechanical (e.g., elastic modulus), and functional properties (e.g., piezoelectric response). The surface roughness of archaeological clay based materials altered due to different environmental parameters, but the effect of graving in nanoscale on their surface can be investigated by atomic force microscopy in order to identify the traces of elements which were remained as the residue during the manufacturing process. On the other hand, this investigations help to trace the effects of the originality on the surface of an objects. Quantitative values of the roughness, the lateral correlation length, and the roughness exponent are extracted from the measurement. The results suggest some residual signs of originalities from the clay tablets during the manufacturing processes.

During the Islamic periods, the containers characterized by narrow or pear-shaped glass-body with a round bottom and long drainage pipe or tube were known, but rarely have been studied. There are three different hypotheses for applications of such containers. A cupping glass(Shakh-i hajamat) for phlebotomize in medicine, “Alembic” for chemical or alchemical experiments, or containers for pharmaceuticals and the production of cosmetics and perfumes which has been used for making the materials and transfer them through tubes, or perfume containers as particular container for cosmetics. It seems that if the container is placed from the opening on a surface, then its pipe is wholly bent in the opposite direction of the body. Where it is taller than the body, it could be used or applied as a cupping glass for phlebotomize in medicine or as a container for materials in medications, cosmetics and perfumery. If the pipe is entirely straight and perpendicular to the body or slightly curved, it could be used for all three applications mentioned above. In Islamic periods, the Arabic word of KIMIA (elixir) was synonymous with alchemy and chemistry in the viewpoint of technology and therefore, includes a variety of processes, including distillation of herbs and medicinal oils, perfumes and rosewater, and fragrant oils and other substances. Some of tools and equipment used for alchemy have been made of glass like the distiller. There have been many pacts for using these kinds of container in the Islamic literature written by Abu Musa Jaber Ibn Hayyan (Around 721 to 815 AD) and Abū Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariyyā al-Rāzī (865 to 923 AD) who were known as the greatest scientists in the history of chemistry and chemical technology in the Islamic world. Their scientific and practical works have had a great impact on the scientists and researchers of the next generations, both Muslims and Europeans. Many methods, such as distillation and all kinds of basic related tools, such as Cucurbit (qar’a) and Alembic (al-inbīq) have been attributed to Jabir Ibn Hayyan. However, al-Razi in his book, Kitab al-asrar or Secret of alchemy, among the tools and devices for chemical processing (Tadbir) and distillation (Taqtir), has mentioned to them and studied the Cucurbit and Alembic with an outlet pipe, a distilled liquid container, recipient (qabila) and a blind Alembic (without an outlet pipe) (anbiq al'aemaa). As a matter of fact, the chemical composition of materials inside such containers discovered in Iran has not yet been studied, while it is a critical issue for the characterization and application of these containers. For the first time, one of such containers with a long and straight tube which was kept in the Glassware and Ceramic Museum of Iran has been analyzed and processed by the Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) technique. The analysis of chemical compounds detected in this container revealed that it had been exposed to essential, and natural oils for a long time. The GC-MS analysis of the washing solution led to the identification of 22 substances, where the main identified compounds were: thymol, carvacrol, p-cymene and γ-terpinene, fatty acids (palmitic acid and stearic acid), and a significant number of substances of the waxes groups. Thymol and carvacrol are the main substances of natural essential oils of Thyme, Savory and Marjoram. Also, the findings of this research have proved the contact of the above-mentioned container with natural essential oils, especially thyme. The ingredients found in this container could be recognizable in many distillates. So, it can suggest that the container has been used as an Alembic for distillation and extraction of vegetable and volatile oil substances in pharmacy, cosmetics and perfumes. More analysis in the future on the contaminated materials within such containers can give more clues and advantages for clarifying the more possible application of these containers.

During an archaeological survey in the area known as Halil River cultural district, a large number of metallic slag and crucibles were found which have been scattered as residues over the surface of the site, called Chayiro II. The study on the melting slags and crucibles help to know about the metallurgical processes and the presence of copper as the main metals in this region. 10 samples have been selected for mineralogical investigations for identifying the crystalline phases, X-ray fluorescence analysis for better clustering the chemical composition as well as microscopical investigations. Copper droplets in the microscopic textures of the slags indicate the extraction of copper at this time in this region. Copper droplets have been dispersed as the crystalline form and are useful as a factor to estimate the melting temperature. The parts of the melting copper droplets found in this range also show copper casting. The igneous minerals found in the texture of crucibles show the use of an igneous source for their production as the main metallurgical vessels for purification as well as casting. Copper oxide minerals are mainly consisted of cuprite (Cu2O) and delafossite (CuFeO2) in the investigated samples. The existence of oxide minerals as melt residues indicates the melting of copper oxide in the region. Indeed, the accumulated of residues of oxide compounds are mainly the remains of an incomplete process of extraction or casting, which results in the formation of oxide copper at the last casting stage. It seems that copper oxide components are used for the production of matte or copper ingots. Based on the investigations, Kahiro II can be introduced as one of the focal points about the further consideration in this region. Copper oxides are the one of the oldest copper components that used for metal casting and extraction, via direct reduction.
 

Over a hundred pieces of luster tiles were excavated in Qal’eh Dokhtar, Kerman. This article discusses the characteristic features of the luster tiles of Qal’eh Dokhtar, and the origins and sources of raw materials of these tiles. The tiles were classified in four groups: “octagonal star tiles”, “crucifix tiles”, “square tiles” and “rectangle tiles”. Then, the relative dating was done based on an inscription on a tile that reads: in 661 AH/1263 CE. The inscriptions of the luster tiles of Qal’eh Dokhtar also showed that they include poems. Eleven tiles have been chosen for chemical and microscopic analysis by Micro-PIXE, and SEM-EDX. The results indicated that there are different elements in the luster and paste of the samples of Qal’eh Dokhtar and other regions of Iran. Magnesium is the element of which was detected only in the samples of Qal’eh Dokhtar at high weight percentages and likely its mines exist in Ashin Valley around Jiroft.