Iran-Australia archeological discovery

Iranian and Australian archeologists under a joint team have succeeded in discovering some new archeological evidence dating back to the Achaemenid dynastic era (550-330 BC) which is believed to have belonged to one of the 30 seats constructed on the path connecting Persepolis (Achaemenid summer palace in Fars province) to Susa (Achaemenid winter capital in Khuzestan province) during their recent excavations in Nourabad Mamasani, Fars province.

This new discovery has encouraged archeologists to conduct more archeological excavations on the ancient path of Persepolis to Susa in an attempt to find other governmental seats.

'According to the inscriptions which have remained from the Achaemenid dynastic era, 30 governmental seats were established during this period, one of which was identified recently by archeologists- in Mamasani,' explained Alireza Asgari, director of the Iranian-Australian joint team.

Last week, the team of archeologists succeeded in unearthing four columns in Sarvan village which are similar to those discovered previously in the Sad Sotoon (100-columned) Palace in Persepolis. Archeologists believe that the newly found structure in Sarvan village had two other columns which have not yet been found.

Pointing to the fact that three great civilizations of Elamite, Achaemenid, and Sassanid have their origins in Khuzestan province, Asgari further added: 'At its apogee, the Achaemenid Empire was stretched from India in the east to Egypt in the west and some great philosophers such as Socrates and Plato lived in the realm of the Achaemenids. What we can say for sure is that considering the vast extent of the Achaemenid Empire, there must be much more archeological structures belonging to this period of history which have not been identified yet.'

In order to find the hidden evidence, the Iranian-Australian archeology team has started its archeological excavations in a large scale in the vicinity of Persepolis, hoping to identify more Achaemenid governmental seats. Archeologists are also hoping that new findings would increase the number of tourists to the area.