Achaemenid Dam Near Pasargadae Excavated

An Iranian-French archaeological team excavated an Achaemenid era dam located in Fars Province, 30 kilometers northeast of Pasargadae, in February and March 2008

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LONDON, (CAIS) -- An Iranian-French archaeological team has excavated an Achaemenid dam located in Fars Province, 30 kilometres northeast of Pasargadae.

It was the first time the dam had been excavated, Hamidreza Karami, an archaeologist based at Pasargadae, told the Tehran Times in an interview at the site on April 01.

There are two ancient dams in the Hana Pass (Tang-e Hanā) which were built approximately 2500 years ago in the beginning of the Achaemenid dynastic era (550-330 BCE).

The Iranian-French archaeological team excavated Dam number 1 in February and March 2008 but did not excavate Dam number 2.

Karami said the dams appear to have been built for some industrial purpose, perhaps to power mills, since there were no agricultural activities in the area in ancient times which would have required irrigation.

They may have also been used to prevent floods of the Sivand River, which is also called the Polvar River, he added.

The water channels of Dam 2 are lower than those of Dam 1, and the reservoir formed by Dam 2 was bigger than the one formed by Dam 1, Karami explained.

The French members of the team that worked on the dam were also part of the Iranian-French archaeological team that excavated an Achaemenid dynastic era palace in the Bolaghi Valley which experts believe was built by Darius the Great.

The Bolaghi Valley, which begins about four kilometres from Pasargadae, is home to over 130 important archaeological sites. Most of these sites have already been submerged by the reservoir of the Sivand Dam and the remaining sites are threatened. Although, the Achaemenid palace is located on a higher ground and will not be submerged but its ground as the result of nearby lake will turn to reed-bed.

Extracted From/Source: Tehran times [*]

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