TEHRAN – The millennia-old Tall-e Takht Fort, located in the UNESCO-designated Pasargadae, has undergone some rehabilitation works, the director of the World Heritage site has said. 

The project aims at strengthening brick structures using cob material, eliminating weed vegetation, eradicating signs of animal presence and nesting as well as constructing emergency water disposal channels, Afshin Ebrahimi stated on Wednesday.

Located on the northern part of Pasargadae on a high natural hill at a height of approximately 50 meters, Tall-e Takht was established by Cyrus the Great as a ceremonial site, but Darius the Great converted it into a fortress.

Some important historical evidence and clues have been uncovered on the eastern side of Tall-e Takht during several seasons of excavation, he said. 

The excavations were conducted by the British Institute of Persian Studies in a season led by Professor David Stronach during 1961-1963, by Professor Pierfrancesco Callieri of the University of Bologna, and by Alireza Askari in an Italian-Iranian joint project in 2007, the official added. 

“However, the relics and discoveries have not yet been subject to a special protection program,” he added. 

Under the influence of weather and environmental factors, these remnants of brick architectures have suffered a lot of erosion over the years, he noted.

One of the main reasons for not paying attention to these abandoned structures was the inadequate access route and the difficulty in transporting materials, he explained. 

Archaeologists have dated the architectural structures of Tal Takht from the Achaemenid era (c. 550 – 330 BC) to the Islamic era.

An Achaemenid era settlement of commoners located below the fortress has never been excavated.

Situated about 50km north of Persepolis, another World Heritage site nearby, Pasargadae was the capital of the Achaemenid Empire under Cyrus the Great who reigned mighty Persian Empire from 559 to 530 BC.

Cyrus declared the world’s first charter of human rights, also known as the Cyrus Cylinder. The empire he established stretched from the Balkans to the Indus Valley to its greatest extent, spanning 5.5 million square kilometers.

ABU/AFM