Ten Column Bases Discovered in Charkahb Cyrus the Great' Palace

19 May 2005

Ten column bases were discovered at the main hall of Palace of Cyrus the Great in Charkhab of Borazjan, in the southern province of Boushehr.

Charkhab site dates to some 2500 years ago and is 50 years older than the Bardak-e Siah Palace of Borazjan. Cyrus planned the structure to expand his power along the Persian Gulf coast.

The bases are comparable to those of the columns in the Pasargadae historical complex and experts are expecting to find more during the next excavation season.

According to head of the excavation team of Charkhab, Ali Akbar Sarfaraz, the bases are part of the Palace of Cyrus which was left incomplete by the death of the Great Achaemenid King.

Each base measures 60x60 centimeters and there is a 2-meter distance between each two. Of the ten bases only four are left intact and the rest are damaged due to the humidity and water caused by an irrigation system discovered along the bases.

According to Sarfaraz, to build the Charchab Palace, the ancients used rows of small stones and wooden slabs to build rails to ease the transfer of heavy rocks and large stone slabs. The method was one of the innovations of the Iranians at the time of Achaemenid dynasty for moving objects.

The unique architecture, the columned hall of the palace and the irrigation structure, the function of which is yet unknown to experts, all make the site a noteworthy one for gaining information on the history and architecture of the region.