Achaemenid Monument Waiting for Excavations

News Category: Achaemenian Dynasty (550 to 333 BCE)

Iranian-French joint archaeological expedition is determined to carry out excavations in the No. 34 area of the Bolaghi Gorge, which is part of an important Achaemenid historical hill. It is supposed that the hill was a valuable monument during the Achaemenid era.

Bolaghi Gorge is an area near Pasargadae Archaeological Complex bearing invaluable historical objects which will be flooded by the inauguration of Sivand dam. The visit of Cultural Commission of Iran’s parliament from Bolaghi Gorge resulted in the postponement of the inundation of the Sivand Dam for six months, which provided an opportunity for the archaeologists to carry out further excavations in the site.

“This historical hill is located near the Imperial Road and most probably belongs to a valuable monument. Since it is supposed that Bolaghi Gorge was used as a hunting ground during the Achaemenid era, what we know as the Imperial Road today is actually the Walls of the King Pardis which separate the hunting ground from the Pardis region. Thus this year’s excavations rejected the theory of the Imperial Road,” said Mohammad Atayi, an archaeologist who, alongside French and German teams, has carried out a lot of the excavations in the Bolaghi Gorge area.

“During the excavations in the No. 85 area, the remains of a pillar belonging to the Achaemenid era was discovered, which was an approval of the existence of an Achaemenid palace in the Bolaghi Gorge region. Unfortunately, constructions built on the Achaemenid palace during the Sassanid era destroyed the remains of the palace. However, the existence of the palace inside the Bolaghi Gorge is a proof of the existence of a hunting ground in the region,” added Atayi.

According to Atayi, there might still be some valuable monuments left from the Achaemenid era in the Pardis region, and for this reason No. 34 area, which is located inside the Pardis, should be excavated.

The previous geophysics researches indicate that the No. 34 area belongs to a giant monument dating back to the Achaemenid era. Moreover, the existence of the clays on the surface is another proof to this claim. Remy Boucharlat, head of the French excavation team in Bolaghi Gorge, believes that the Imperial Road was the route of an irrigation canal, but Atayi denies this theory. According to him, five holes have been made in the Imperial Road by the archeologists, but no evidence of plaster or such materials has been found so far; while if the path had been used as an irrigation canal, such evidence should have been found.

“If the excavations in the No. 34 area lead to the discovery of a valuable monument belonging to the Achaemenid era, then we can claim for sure that the Imperial Road was the Paradise Wall,” explained Atayi.

Discovering a valuable monument in the No. 34 area of the Bolaghi Gorge will make the dam authorities to reduce the water level of the reservoir which is intended to reach as high as one meter from the No. 34 area.

Sivand Dam has been built in the Bolaghi Gorge, which is known to have been the location of the ancient Imperial Road, and is one of the historical sites of the Pasargadae. With inundation of the dam, 130 historical sites unearthed so far in the Bolaghi Gorge will drown. At the present, with the cooperation of the Sivand Dam authorities and the Bolaghi Gorge salvation team, some joint teams from Iran and foreign countries are busy with archaeological excavations in the site to save the main parts of the Bolaghi Gorge before its flooding.