Excavation along the Persepolis canals outlet

Persepolis annual rainfalls, sometimes had caused storing huge quantity of water in underground waterways and eventually damaging the waterways and palaces. The main aim of the excavation along the Persepolis canals outlet, (started from April 30, 2012 and continued for 112 days until August 20, 2012) was to open an urgent way ,among the mass of deposited soils of Persepolis previous excavations in south of the terrace, to led the stored water of annual rainfall in the underground canals, out of the Platform For the purpose of Excavation, a north - south trench (Started from outlet of the canals to the south where the soils of previous excavation was finished) with about 100 meters and with 4 meters width was designed. It was necessary to finish the operation in just one season of work, before that the annual rainfall of the region get started. With achieving to the main aim of the excavation in the end also a series of interesting findings, including new details on the Persepolis terrace wall and some waterways in the trench was detected. Starting from the north of the trench, with the removal of the upper layers of debris in the surrounding of the outlet, some new details of the terrace wall identified. The main discovery was to see the unfinished carving of the mountain rocks beyond of the terrace wall in both sides of the outlet. Here to guide the water stream of the canals, a path carved in the natural rock, which extends approximately 9 meters to the south was created. It was also detected that the south east corner of the terrace wall is finished exactly above the outlet. Further to the south in continuation of the rock carved path, a waterway with width between 60 to 75 cm and built by large and medium uncarved stones was uncovered. The waterway stretched 23 to the south where with getting close to the western bulk of the trench, its continuing was not clear. Although it seemed further evidence indicating waterways continue towards the southwest, however, there was also the possibility that original canal was not no longer stretches at all. At a distance of approximately 35 to 40 meters south of the outlet, evidence of two separate waterway (waterways 2 and 3 on the map), made up of large (waterway 2) and small stones (waterway 3) were identified .while unlike the first waterway (No.1), direction of these waterways was from East to West, stretches of both of them to the east have finalized or destroyed at once in the trench area. With continuing exploring, remains of another waterway (No. 4) was revealed in the southern half of the trench at a distance of 55 meters from the walls of the terrace. Identified approximately with southeast to northwest direction, recent waterway was made and partly covered with big carved block stones. Though, given the relatively similar levels of identified waterways with other Achaemenid structures in south area of the terrace and also due to the other discovered evidence, they can be dated to the Achaemenid era, it is difficult to understand their function and organization in south area of the terrace. Generally, discovered waterways can be considered as a part of Achaemenid structures system surrounding the Persepolis Platform. Nonetheless, it’s possible to say that Revealed evidence including direction of discovered canals and specially cut off waterways of No 2 and 3, perhaps indicating existence of a pond in south area of the terrace.