Largest Container of Ancient Iran Found in Bolaghi Gorge

30 April 2005

Archaeologists working in Bolaghi Gorge have discovered a clay container, weighing 120 kilograms, which they believe is the largest container of all times of Ancient Persia.

Bolaghi Gorge is located near the world heritage site of Pasargadae and is believed to have been the location of the King Road, the most important ancient road of Persia. It will be going under water when the newly constructed dam of Sivand is flooded by next year, and therefore, archaeologists from Iran and some foreign countries including France, Germany, and Poland are right now busy with some salvation projects there.

The new jug which dates to the late Achaemenid period or the beginning of the Sasanid times has been discovered where is believed to have been a storehouse, explained Ali Asadi, the Iranian head of the joint team of Iranian and Polish experts working on the site.

The container weighs 120 kilograms, is 1.4 meter high and 1.23 meter wide in its body and some parts of it are still buried underneath the earth.

Other large containers which are just a few centimeters smaller than the newly discovered one have previously been found in Estakhr and Persepolis ancient sites.

According to Asadi, the new jug is almost intact and just a small part of its body is damaged. The size of the container suggests that most probably it was used for storage purposes. It is to be transferred to Pasargadae Museum to be emptied and studied after it is completely unearthed.