Using a revolutionary non-invasive technology known as Muon-Sieving Tomography, an international team of physicists and archaeologists has detected a complex network of subterranean chambers beneath the Tomb of Cyrus the Great in Pasargadae, Iran. The scans reveal a series of vaulted corridors and rooms that do not appear on any existing historical maps of the Achaemenid site.
Experts believe these hidden structures may have served as a secure drainage system or a symbolic 'underworld' complex designed to protect the structural integrity of the tomb against seismic activity. This discovery marks the first time that sub-atomic particle imaging has been used to map the foundations of an Iranian World Heritage site, opening a new chapter in the study of early Persian engineering.