History of stone and construction stone extraction and consumption in Iran

It has been customary to use these stones in the first millennia of civilization in Iran, either as building stones or as decorative stones inside buildings. Remains of the use of such stones in Persepolis, Pasargad, Takht Suleiman and many Sassanid and Islamic buildings are scattered all over the land of Iran. There are ornamental objects made of all kinds of marble, marble, etc., including women’s dishes and ornaments, in the museums of Iran and other parts of the world. The decorations inside the historical buildings, which sometimes came out intact from the underground, show the use of the mentioned stones in the decorations inside the building. The exploration, extraction, transportation, cutting, cutting and consumption of decorative and facing stones, which have been carried out traditionally in Iran over time, have undergone a fundamental transformation in recent decades. The main and fundamental manifestation of this development is the use of modern methods in this mining industry, which has brought about general qualitative and quantitative changes in the production and consumption of this group of mineral deposits. Non-explosive extraction methods and extensive use of hard machines are the two recent major developments in Iran’s stone industry that have taken place in the last decade, and each in turn has been able to develop the qualitative and quantitative production and consumption of decorative and facade stones.

The father of Iran’s building stone

Qanbar Rahimi, known as the Lord of Qanbar, is considered the father of Iran’s stone industry due to his services in the discovery of mines and the extraction of mineral stones. He was born in Soh village in Isfahan province. He discovered large mines such as Abbas Abad, Nimvar volcano and Joshghan marble.

Arbab Qanbar has donated pieces of travertine and joshghan stones for the Azadi Tower, precious stone columns for the Qibla porch (a mosque in South Khorasan) and bright marble stones for the shrines of Imam Hussein (a.s.) and Hazrat Abbas (a.s.). . Currently, the statue of Arbab Qanbar is in one of the city squares of Italy (with 86 decorative and facade stone mines, Italy is considered one of the top exporters of this sector and in the past imported Iranian stone in raw form with significant added value to other parts of the world called exported stone from Italy) has been exhibited as the father of Iranian stone.

The late Qanbar Rahimi in Soltanieh – year 1368, from right to left, gentlemen: the fourth person, the late Qanbar Rahimi (Lord of Qanbar)

History of building stones and their use in buildings

The history of the use of building stone or in other words the history of stone by humans in order to build a place of residence goes back to very distant years and observing old ancient works such as Egyptian pyramids or works in Rome and Greece as well as in Iran considering the facilities The technique and technology of that era causes a lot of amazement and surprise. Historians have estimated the age of stone use by humans to be more than 12 thousand years.

Since the Paleolithic and Neolithic times, when man did not know iron, stone has been used to meet needs. In the same way that in the Stone Age, knowing the properties and characteristics of hard and brittle stones, they used silica stones to make tools. With the growth of human civilization, the way of using stone also changed, and ancient buildings with stone facades indicate these changes, which are evident in countries such as Egypt, Greece, Italy, and Iran.

The use of stone started with large blocks, and with the progress of science and technology, its weight has gradually decreased and more attention has been paid to the color, polishability, texture and strength of the stone, and now it is more than beautiful plaques with color, polish, and polish. and small diameter is used.

History of stone and building stone mines in Iran

The reserves of decorative stones in the world reach about 15 billion tons, which include granites, marbles, travertines, and marbles. According to the world ranking, Iran ranks fourth in terms of reserves of decorative stones. And due to the importance of the mining sector in the country’s economic growth, it is necessary to pay more attention to this sector and remove the obstacles facing it.

Masonry in Iran began centuries before Christ, with the provision of tools for hunting animals and basic life tools, and gradually reached the peak of prosperity and prosperity. The findings confirm that the history of this industry reaches 4500 years BC and the discovery of these vessels indicates that at that time, the cutting of various consumable and decorative items from green stone was popular in Kerman, and of course, this type of stone is still mined. will be In general, it should be said that stone carving in ancient Iran was more dedicated to the preparation of agricultural implements and tools and tools for hunting and skinning animals, and the stone implements obtained from the residential cave or Hoto cave near Behshahr, which belong to 11,000 to 8,000 years before Christ. is, it shows this issue. Stone has played a very important role in building historical monuments and ancient works. Among the most important historical buildings, we can mention the palaces of the Achaemenid period and the Hajaris of the Sassanid period. Takht Jamshid is an outstanding example of the stone-cutting industry of the Achaemenid period.

Construction stone mining industry has been established in Iran since 1331. But in practice, no action had been taken to improve the extraction method until 1998, until in 1999, the first diamond wire cutting machine was built and used by one of the companies affiliated to the Ministry of Mines and Metals.