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For the Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseum (RGZM) in Mainz, the cultural heritage of Iran is particularly valuable. What might appear at first glance to be an insignificant fragment is actually of inestimable value to science for research into earlier civilisations. A prime example of this are the finds from the famous salt mine in Zanjān in Iran. Conservators from the Iranian Research Institute for Conservation have brought a few samples with them to the RGZM – the objects include metal tools but also the remains of a mine worker’s salt sack dating back 2,500 years. The really special thing about the find is that it is made of leather and is therefore organic material, which would normally have decayed long ago if the salt it contained had not preserved it for more than two thousand years. The German-Iranian research team is now tackling the task of examining, restoring and preserving the material for the long term – the cultural heritage of humankind in Iran is of inestimable value, and not only for Iran itself.