Home > Research > Archives > Herzfeld Resource Gateway > Squeeze Imaging Project > Pasargadae

Archaeological Sites: Pasargadae

Herzfeld visited Pasargadae in 1905 and conducted a survey there in 1923. He returned for an intensive excavation campaign in 1928. Pasargadae also has been explored by Iranian archaeologist Ali Sami, a British team led by David Stronach, and recently by French and Italian archaeologists. Considered the oldest Achaemenid Persian capital, Pasargadae is home to the tomb of Cyrus the Great (d. 530 BCE) and a series of palaces and gardens. These squeezes mainly are from post-Achaemenid inscriptions, Islamic gravestones around the Mausoleum of Cyrus the Great, and a thirteenth-century mihrab in the tomb's interior (see image above). The Freer and Sackler also own fragments of wall paintings discovered in one of the palaces, as well as a selection of shards from the site.