Iran’s dam will sink tomb of Cyrus the Great

Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Aug. 31 – Iran is building a dam which once completed will destroy the 2,500-year-old historic ruins of tomb of the first Achaemenian king of ancient Persia. Iran Focus

Tehran, Iran, Aug. 31 – Iran is building a dam which once completed will destroy the 2,500-year-old historic ruins of tomb of the first Achaemenian king of ancient Persia.

The Sayvand Dam being constructed in the central Fars province will inevitably cause river waters to submerge Persepolis, the capital of ancient Persia, and Pasargard, the site of the mausoleum of the first Persian conqueror Cyrus the Great.

The dam which is near completion is some eight kilometres from Pasargard and 50 kilometres from Persepolis, according to an official in Iran’s Cultural Heritage Organisation.

The dam is to start operation in early 2006.

Water built up from the dam would destroy the historic sites which contain magnificent artefacts about ancient Iran’s heritage and have buried underground much of Persian civilisations’ hidden secrets.

Cyrus the Great, believed to have been the first king to have introduced a universal declaration of human rights, lived from 580-529 BC.