Red floor unearthed in Persepolis treasury

Source: IranMania

LONDON, September 21 (IranMania) - A red floor which dates back to the reign of Darius the Great was recently unearthed in the treasury of Persepolis, the Persian service of CHN reported.

Archaeologists working on Persepolis were not informed about the floor, which was discovered while gardeners worked on the green area over top of one section of the treasury.

“At present, the area of the floor measures five meters square. It is original and dates back to Darius the Great,” curator of the Persepolis site-specific museum Mohammad-Taqi Ataii said.

According to Ataii, the discovery confirms the view of German archaeologist Erich Frederich Schmidt about the dimensions of the treasury at the time of Darius I. Schmidt excavated Persepolis in the mid 1930s.

Archaeological studies show that the Achaemenid’s revenues increased during the reign of Xerxes I, son of Darius, so he expanded the treasury area, which was located on the eastern side of Persepolis and also allocated a part of the area for his harem.

“U.S. archaeologist Ernest Hertzfeld converted the women’s quarter into a site-specific museum and an office for managing the site. Consequently, the floor remained buried and now it has been dug out from under the grass,” explained Ataii, who is also an archaeologist.

Hertzfeld had previously unearthed pillars of the women’s quarters of the Xerxes Palace and established the museum in 1931.

Located near Shiraz in Fars Province, Persepolis was registered on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1979.