Arutz Sheva

Iranians have turned a huge excavation site in the city of Shush, site of "Susa," the ancient city of Shushan -- center of the events in the Purim story -- into a garbage dump.

Culture heritage backers put a stop to construction of a hotel on the site, according to the Tehran News, which added that residents of the Shush municipality are now filling the huge, gaping 300-foot by 300-foot hole with rubbish.

Iranian archaeologists have estimated that Susa is one of the oldest known settlements in the world. The Book of Esther (known as the Megillah of Esther -ed.), which is recited on Purim names the city - then known as Shushan - as the capital of the huge empire ruled at the time by King Achashveros.

The site has been a frequent target of vandals, who last year smashed the column bases of an ancient palace located at Susa. A planned four-story high school adjacent to the palace was scrapped because of protests to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that it would spoil the view of the ancient building.

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Vandals have stolen several artifacts and one archaeologist blamed the thefts on anti-Iranians, possible Arab settlers.

Iran is Persian, and although it is a Muslim country, it is culturally and politically not Arabic, and is not a member of the Arab League.

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