Persian canal discovery is testament to ancient engineering skills

"In 480 B.C., King Xerxes (خشايارشا) of Persia ordered his men to build a canal a mile and a quarter long through a peninsula in northern Greece - conceivably one of the biggest engineering assignments of its time....

In the 2,500 years since, historians have debated whether the famed Canal of Xerxes was really dug all the way from coast to coast. Some have doubted its existence, pointing to a rocky plateau that they argue would have made the construction an impossible task for workers of that day.

Now, scientists from Britain and Greece have come up with what they say is conclusive evidence that the canal was indeed built. Using geological information gathered from several yards below the earth's surface, where the structure now lies buried, the scientists have drawn a map detailing the canal's dimensions and course. The findings confirm the description given in an account by the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, which some scholars have long regarded with skepticism. "

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Adamdad.