Western Dais Discovered at Susa’s Apadana Palace

LONDON, March 01, 2006(CAIS) -- Another dais was discovered on the western side of the Apadana Palace in Susa by chance during operations to install electrical power lines, the Persian service of CHN reported on Wednesday. Apadana had been excavated by a team of French archaeologists shortly before the 1979 revolution and many priceless artifacts discovered by the team were taken to the Louvre.
Archaeologists originally believed that the palace only had a dais in its eastern section until the new discovery. The western dais covers an area of 380 square meters. Susa was the capital of ancient Elam and also contains palaces of the Achaemenid emperors such as Darius the Great and Artaxerxes I. Apadana was Darius the Great' audience hall. The name was also given to a similar hall built by Darius at Persepolis.
“Archaeologists will begin restoration of the palace wall and other discoveries after the excavations are completed. But we need the assistance of provincial and cultural heritage officials for this,” said Mir Abedin Kaboli, the director of the archaeological team working at Apadana. “We plan to establish a museum in the area between the wall and Imam Khomeini Street in Shush (Susa), but it will be impossible before restoration of the wall,” he added.