Achaemenid palace discovered in Shamkir

By Azernews

By Laman  Ismayilova

A joint Azerbaijani-German archeological expedition still continues excavations near Shamkir’s Garajamirli village, at the site of an ancient town believed to have been founded 2,500 years ago.

The expedition has revealed that there are huge ancient palaces with large columns and long corridors. Archeologists believe that a place in this ancient town, which existed between 550 B.C. and 330 B.C., is comparable to those in the ancient Persian cities of Pasargadae and Persepolis of the Achaemenid Empire, the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences announced.

This ancient town discovered near Shamkir’s Garajamirli village is believed to have once functioned as an administrative center for the Achaemenid Empire to control the entire South Caucasus. 

The area of the palace is 20ha large. For now, only the entrance and a small part of this palace have been excavated. The palace is believed to have been built 2,480 years ago. 

Head of the Expedition, Ilyas Babayev said a total of 28 column roots have been unearthed at the site so far. 

“There seem to be more than a hundred column roots here. The palace has an entrance, which is 8 meters in width and 25 meters in length. Right behind the entrance is an audience hall 675 square meters large, surrounded by corridors and large halls. The items discovered here are few in numbers but mostly elite. The most fascinating thing is that cuneiform inscriptions have been found here,” he said. 

Apart from a German archeologist, the expedition also includes a Japanese master Masumi Uehara from Ankara University.  

Earlier, the archaeologists found new cultural monuments during an archaeological expedition to Azerbaijan's ancient city of Gabala, which was the capital of Caucasian Albania many centuries ago.