The Saltmen of Zanjan are remarkably preserved ancient miners discovered in the Chehrabad salt mine in northwestern Iran, dating from around 400 BCE to 400 CE. Naturally mummified by the salt-rich environment after deadly mine collapses, their hair, beards, clothing, and even skin were astonishingly preserved for over two millennia. These discoveries offer a rare and intimate glimpse into the lives of working men from the Achaemenid and Sasanian periods, revealing details about ancient labor, di

How 800 million pounds of Himalayan salt are mined each year