TEHRAN – Iranian archaeologists have discovered a number of “important” bas-relief carvings in mountainous areas near the UNESCO-registered Persepolis, the director of the World Heritage site has said.

“With the efforts of our country’s archaeologists, several important inscriptions were discovered on Mount Rahmat near Persepolis,” CHTN quoted Hamid Fadaei as saying on Tuesday.

The text of one of those inscriptions reveals that it was caved in the fourth year of the reign of [Achaemenid king] Yazdegerd in memory of a special person. And that relief is classified as burial inscriptions, the official explained.

Fadaei stated the newly-found inscriptions are classified as the most authentic historical documents.

“The center for inscriptions research in Persepolis has been activated to read [and decipher] the inscriptions.” The official, however, did not provide further details about the inscriptions.

The royal city of Persepolis ranks among the archaeological sites which have no equivalent, considering its unique architecture, urban planning, construction technology, and art. Persepolis, also known as Takht-e Jamshid, whose magnificent ruins rest at the foot of Kuh-e Rahmat (Mountain of Mercy) is situated 60 kilometers northeast of the city of Shiraz in Fars province.

The city was burnt by Alexander the Great in 330 BC apparently as revenge to the Persians because it seems the Persian King Xerxes had burnt the Greek City of Athens around 150 years earlier. The city’s immense terrace was begun about 518 BC by Darius the Great, the Achaemenid Empire’s king. On this terrace, successive kings erected a series of architecturally stunning palatial buildings, among them the massive Apadana palace and the Throne Hall (“Hundred-Column Hall”).

This 13-ha ensemble of majestic approaches, monumental stairways, throne rooms (Apadana), reception rooms, and dependencies is classified among the world’s greatest archaeological sites. Persepolis was the seat of the government of the Achaemenid Empire, though it was designed primarily to be a showplace and spectacular center for the receptions and festivals of the kings and their empire.

AFM