Saed News: Naser al-Din Shah was astonished upon seeing the discovered fossil of an extinct creature during his trip to Paris.
According to the history section of Saed News, quoting Faradeed, Naser al-Din Shah’s second trip to Europe began in Farvardin 1257 in the Persian calendar. He first traveled to Russia, then visited Hungary, Germany, France, and Austria.
Naser al-Din Shah was deeply committed to writing daily diaries, and he continued this practice during his long journeys. He referred to his notes as "newspapers." These diaries provide fascinating and readable details about the daily activities and events involving the Shah and his courtiers.
In this account, we read about his visit to Paris and one of the museums in the city, where the discovery of the fossil of an extinct animal particularly astonished him:
"We went to the old palace here, where ancient relics were displayed, and the museum was quite impressive. In the lower floor of the building, there were ancient weapons from the Roman Empire, such as large swords, spears meant for piercing shields, and bows and arrows with wheel mechanisms. These bows and arrows were very strange and were used in place of cannons in the past... Thick arrows with thick heads... they would hit their target with great speed and precision.
Later, I went up to the upper floors where they displayed old objects that were either dug up or discovered from very ancient times, before and after the flood of Noah, when humans had not yet discovered iron... Axes, hatchets, arrows, and everything that needed to be made of iron was made of stone. They had displayed stone tools of every kind—small, large—as well as ancient vessels, very old coins, and other items that are hard to describe.
I saw the head and antlers of a very strange deer that no longer exists anywhere on earth, and it is now certain that such a deer was from before the flood. The head and bones of this large deer were remarkable, with two strange antlers. The middle part of the antlers had a thick section like a basket, where four people could sit. From the center, tall spikes grew out. If this deer were alive, it would not be able to pass through any large gate with these two antlers—it was truly extraordinary. In short, there were many such marvels..."
