THE war in Iraq has halted the excavation of an ancient Persian citadel discovered by a Merseyside archaeologist.
 Dr Alan Greaves, a Liverpool University lecturer, has been forced to postpone his latest stage of exploring and excavating the site in South East Turkey. He must now wait until next year when it will be known if the region is safe to visit. The 2,500-year-old citadel was found in 2001 in the very top of a 40 metre-tall mound of earth. "The building must have had a very dominant position and was probably used for defence. "The walls are eight metres thick and the foundations have shown it was a colossal build-ing," said Dr Greaves. The discovery will help historians learn more about Persian defences. As grain storage pits were also found, it will also uncover information about diet. Just one corner of the foundations has been uncovered so far, although the entire building is thought to be 2,000 sq m in size. Carbon samples have been sent to experts at Oxford University to be dated. The archaeological team, which also includes experts from Germany and Turkey, now wants to find what is hidden lower down. "We have found all this at the top of the mound so now we want to discover what wonderful things lie underneath," added Dr Greaves. Around the time the citadel is believed to have been built, between the 6th and 4th centuries BC, the Persians conquered a number of Greek city-states along the coast of Asia Minor. They controlled their new subject-states very closely, even appointing individuals to rule them as tyrants. They made their new citizens serve in the Persian army and pay fairly steep taxes. In 499BC, one tyrant, Aristagoras, began a democratic rebellion against the Persians with the help of the Athenians. The following year, they conquered and burned one of the subject-states. The other Greek cities in Asia Minor joined the revolt but the Athenians lost interest and returned home. By 495BC, the Persians, under King Darius I, had restored control over the rebellious cities. Dr Greaves was also the field director at the excavation of the Temple of Athena at Miletos, Turkey from 1995 and 2000. From his work there he wrote Miletos: A History, published last year. The book focuses on the role of the city as a harbour the socioeconomic issues at the time. Other major projects he has worked on include the Wilderspool Roman Industrial Complex in Warrington, in 1994. | 
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