Lost Iranian City May Have Been Found

From CAIS: February 24, 2008 LONDON, (CAIS) -- A team of Iranian and Australian archaeologists working in Sorvan near Nurabad Mamasani in Fars Province believe that they may have discovered the lost Achaemenid city of Lidoma, which has been named in a collection of ancient tablets previously unearthed at Persepolis. Recent digs have exposed the ruins of an enormous building construction at the site which was discovered during excavations carried out last year. The structure covers an area of 1500 square meters and its original height has been estimated as being 14 meters on the basis of the width of the column bases unearthed at the site. The remains of stairs, halls and the column bases of the structure have been revealed during this second season of excavation, which was concluded last week. The team has also exposed the original stone surface of the Achaemenid site and numerous marble artefacts. The ruins also include a 30-meter long hallway with a stone flagged floor. It is believed that it was originally an iwan (ayvan). The walls of the iwan have been constructed from stairs of crenulated stones. The column bases and stairs of crenulated walls are very similar to those belonging to the ‘Hall of One Hundred Columns’ (Sad-Sotun) at Persepolis. “The construction of what must have been a financially highly expensive structure seems to be impossible without economic aid from the government of the time. Thus, there is evidence that this maybe the site of the city of Lidoma, which has been listed in ancient tablets previously discovered in Persepolis,” Iranian team director Alireza Asgari told the Persian Service of CHN on Sunday. The newly found structure provides evidence that matches information inscribed about the city of Lidoma on the Persepolis tablets, he added.