Adur Burzen-Mihr (
Middle Iranian
The Iranian languages, also called the Iranic languages, are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family that are spoken natively by the Iranian peoples, predominantly in the Iranian Plateau.
The Iranian language ...
) or Azar Barzin () was an ''
Atash Behram
An Atash Behram (Fire of Victory) is the highest grade of fire that can be placed in a Zoroastrian fire temple as an eternal flame. The other two lower graded fires are Atash Adaran and below Adaran is the Atash Dadgah; these three grades signif ...
'' (a
Zoroastrian
Zoroastrianism ( ), also called Mazdayasnā () or Beh-dīn (), is an Iranian religion centred on the Avesta and the teachings of Zarathushtra Spitama, who is more commonly referred to by the Greek translation, Zoroaster ( ). Among the wo ...
fire temple of the highest grade) located in
Parthia
Parthia ( ''Parθava''; ''Parθaw''; ''Pahlaw'') is a historical region located in northeastern Greater Iran. It was conquered and subjugated by the empire of the Medes during the 7th century BC, was incorporated into the subsequent Achaemeni ...
. In the
Sasanian
The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranians"), was an Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, the length of the Sasanian dynasty's reign ...
period, it was one of the three
Great Fires and was associated with the farmer class; the other two were
Adur Farnbag in
Persis
Persis (, ''Persís;'' Old Persian: 𐎱𐎠𐎼𐎿, ''Parsa''), also called Persia proper, is a historic region in southwestern Iran, roughly corresponding with Fars province. The Persian ethnic group are thought to have initially migrated ...
which was associated with the priest class, and
Adur Gushnasp in
Media
Media may refer to:
Communication
* Means of communication, tools and channels used to deliver information or data
** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising
** Interactive media, media that is inter ...
, which was associated with the warrior class. Its establishment can be dated to the late 5th or early 4th century BC. ''Adur'' means "
Holy Fire", and ''Burzēn-Mihr'' is a
Parthian given name which literally means "Exalted is
Mihr" and is probably the name of the temple's founder.
This Fire is described in ''
Bundahishn
The ''Bundahishn'' (Middle Persian: , "Primal Creation") is an encyclopedic collection of beliefs about Zoroastrian cosmology written in the Book Pahlavi script. The original name of the work is not known. It is one of the most important extant ...
''. Its location is given as
Mount Rēvand (in Avestan: ''Raēvant''), probably a spur of the
Nishapur mountains in the district formerly known as
Rēvand in
Khurasan
KhorasanDabeersiaghi, Commentary on Safarnâma-e Nâsir Khusraw, 6th Ed. Tehran, Zavvâr: 1375 (Solar Hijri Calendar) 235–236 (; , ) is a historical eastern region in the Iranian Plateau in West Asia, West and Central Asia that encompasses wes ...
. An element of the name is preserved in the name of the nearby village
Borzinan may. Another identification is Mount Mehr, five miles from the village
Mehr on the
Shahrud–Sabzevar Highway.
Some identify it with the Fire of
Asaak.
The Fire is mentioned several times in ''
Shahnameh
The ''Shahnameh'' (, ), also transliterated ''Shahnama'', is a long epic poem written by the Persian literature, Persian poet Ferdowsi between and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Greater Iran. Consisting of some 50,000 distichs or couple ...
'' as Mehr-Barzīn (), Mehr (), and Barzīn (), and is used also as a
simile
A simile () is a type of figure of speech that directly ''compares'' two things. Similes are often contrasted with metaphors, where similes necessarily compare two things using words such as "like", "as", while metaphors often create an implicit c ...
for fiery fierceness.
The Fire is thought to have been a major center of pilgrimage, even after the
Arsacids' fall. In the Sasanian period, although its name was always placed third in texts and the fire was associated with the lowliest class of the society, (farmers; the other two being warriors and priests), it still maintained its importance. Its history in the Islamic period is not known.
See also
*
Cypress of Kashmar
*
Atashgah Castle
References
*M. Boyce, “ĀDUR BURZĒN-MIHR,” Encyclopædia Iranica, I/5, pp. 472–473; an updated version is available online a
Welcome to Encyclopaedia Iranica(accessed on 28 February 2014).
{{Fire temples in Iran
Fire temples in Iran
Parthia
Lost buildings and structures
Religion in the Sasanian Empire
Sasanian architecture