Archaeologists have discovered a 2,500-year-old post office from the Persian civilization during excavations at the Oluz Höyük settlement mound in the village of Toklucak in Turkey’s Black Sea province of Amasya.

Professor Şevket Dönmez, who is an academic at Istanbul University’s Archaeology Department and who leads the excavations said their excavations in the past four years focused on the Persian period layer of the mound. “A monumental road leading to a sanctuary and a linked hall with pillars have been discovered in the excavations,” Professor Dönmez said, noting that from a design perspective, the road marks the first time such a detailed design from the Iron Age Anatolia was unearthed.

Dönmez noted that the architecture centered on a fire temple, which means that the Persians replaced the religion of their predecessors, —the Greeks-. Zoroastrianism, one of the world’s oldest extant religions, is believed to have originated from the prophet Zoroaster in what is now present-day Iran. The discovery of a temple for fire worship suggests the religion was present in Anatolia, as well.

The “pillared hall” became the center of this year’s excavations, as archaeologists believe the structure, located just a meter away from the fire temple, served as a post office for the Persians.

https://www.dailysabah.com/history/2019/08/24/2500-year-old-persian-post-office-found-in-turkeys-amasya