Ka'ba-i Zartosht
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Ka'ba The Kaaba (), also spelled Kaba, Kabah or Kabah, sometimes referred to as al-Kaba al-Musharrafa (), is a stone building at the center of Islam's most important mosque and holiest site, the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is consi ...
-ye Zartosht (), also called the Kaaba or Cube of
Zoroaster Zarathushtra Spitama, more commonly known as Zoroaster or Zarathustra, was an Iranian peoples, Iranian religious reformer who challenged the tenets of the contemporary Ancient Iranian religion, becoming the spiritual founder of Zoroastrianism ...
, is a rectangular stepped stone structure in the
Naqsh-e Rustam Naqsh-e Rostam (; , ) is an ancient archeological site and necropolis located about 13 km northwest of Persepolis, in Fars province, Iran. A collection of ancient Iranian rock reliefs are cut into the face of the mountain and the mountain ...
compound beside Zangiabad village in
Marvdasht Marvdasht () is a city in the Central District (Marvdasht County), Central District of Marvdasht County, Fars province, Fars province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. Etymology Some historians hold that Marv ...
county in Fars, Iran. The Naqsh-e Rustam compound also incorporates memorials of the
Elam Elam () was an ancient civilization centered in the far west and southwest of Iran, stretching from the lowlands of what is now Khuzestan and Ilam Province as well as a small part of modern-day southern Iraq. The modern name ''Elam'' stems fr ...
ites, the
Achaemenids The Achaemenid dynasty ( ; ; ; ) was a royal house that ruled the Achaemenid Empire, which eventually stretched from Egypt and Thrace in the west to Central Asia and the Indus Valley in the east. Origins The history of the Achaemenid dy ...
and the
Sasanians 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 ...
. Architecturally, it is one of several Kaabas. The Ka'ba-ye Zartosht is from the mountain, situated exactly opposite
Darius II Darius II ( ; ), also known by his given name Ochus ( ), was King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire from 423 BC to 405 or 404 BC. Following the death of Artaxerxes I, in 424 BC or 423 BC, there was a struggle for power between his sons. The vic ...
's mausoleum. It is rectangular and has only one entrance door. The material of the structure is white
limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
. It is about high, or if including the triple stairs, and each side of its base is about long. Its entrance door leads to the chamber inside via a thirty-stair stone stairway. The stone pieces are rectangular and are simply placed on top of each other, without the use of mortar; the sizes of the stones varies from to , and they are connected to each other by
dovetail joint A dovetail joint or simply dovetail is a joinery technique most commonly used in woodworking joinery (carpentry), including furniture, cabinets, log buildings, and traditional timber framing. Noted for its resistance to being pulled apart, a ...
s.


Etymology

The structure was built in the Achaemenid era and there is no information of the name of the structure in that era. It was called ''Bon-Khanak'' in the Sassanian era; the local name of the structure was ''Naggarekhaneh'' (''naggar'' "keep/hold" + ''-e'' "of" + ''khaneh'' "house"). The phrase ''Ka'ba-ye Zartosht'' has been used for the structure from the fourteenth century into the contemporary era. Various views and interpretations have been proposed for the purpose of the chamber, but none of them can be accepted with certainty. Some consider the tower a fire temple and a fireplace, and believe that it was used for igniting and worshiping the holy fire. Another theory is that it is the mausoleum of one of the Achaemenid
shah Shāh (; ) is a royal title meaning "king" in the Persian language.Yarshater, Ehsa, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII, no. 1 (1989) Though chiefly associated with the monarchs of Iran, it was also used to refer to the leaders of numerous Per ...
s or grandees, due to its similarity to the
Tomb of Cyrus The tomb of Cyrus the Great is located in Pasargadae, which was the first capital city of his Achaemenid Empire and is now an archaeological site in the Fars Province of Iran. Prior to being identified with Cyrus the Great by the British diplom ...
and some mausoleums of
Lycia Lycia (; Lycian: 𐊗𐊕𐊐𐊎𐊆𐊖 ''Trm̃mis''; , ; ) was a historical region in Anatolia from 15–14th centuries BC (as Lukka) to 546 BC. It bordered the Mediterranean Sea in what is today the provinces of Antalya and Muğ ...
and
Caria Caria (; from Greek language, Greek: Καρία, ''Karia''; ) was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid-Ionia (Mycale) south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Carians were described by Herodotus as being Anatolian main ...
. Other Iranian scholars believe the stone chamber to be a structure for the safekeeping of royal documents and holy or religious books, but the chamber of Ka'ba-ye Zartosht is too small for this purpose. Other less noticed theories, such as its being a temple for the goddess
Anahita Anahita is the Old Persian form of the name of an Iranian goddess and appears in complete and earlier form as ('), the Avestan name of an Indo-Iranian cosmological figure venerated as the divinity of "the Waters" ( Aban) and hence associat ...
or a
solar calendar A solar calendar is a calendar whose dates indicates the season or almost equivalently the apparent position of the Sun relative to the stars. The Gregorian calendar, widely accepted as a standard in the world, is an example of a solar calendar ...
, have also been mentioned. In the Sassanian era, three inscriptions were written in the three languages
Sassanian The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranian peoples, Iranians"), was an List of monarchs of Iran, Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, th ...
Middle Persian Middle Persian, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg ( Inscriptional Pahlavi script: , Manichaean script: , Avestan script: ) in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasania ...
, Arsacid Middle Persian and
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
on the northern, southern and eastern walls of the tower. One of them belongs to
Shapur I Shapur I (also spelled Shabuhr I; ) was the second Sasanian Empire, Sasanian King of Kings of Iran. The precise dating of his reign is disputed, but it is generally agreed that he ruled from 240 to 270, with his father Ardashir I as co-regent u ...
the Sassanian, and another to the priest
Kartir Kartir (also spelled Karder, Karter and Kerdir; Middle Persian: 𐭪𐭫𐭲𐭩𐭫 ''Kardīr'') was a powerful and influential Zoroastrian priest during the reigns of four Sasanian kings in the 3rd century. His name is cited in the inscriptions ...
. According to Walter Henning, "These inscriptions are the most important historical documents from the Sassanian era." The Ka'ba-ye Zartosht is a beautiful structure: its proportions, lines and external beauty are based on well-executed architectural principles. Currently, the structure is part of the Naqsh-e Rustam compound and owned by the Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization of Iran.


Name

Alireza Shapur Shahbazi believes that the phrase ''Ka'ba-ye Zartosht'' is relatively new and inaccurate, originating around the fourteenth century. When the structure was discovered by the Europeans, its local name was ''Karnaykhaneh'' or ''Naggarekhaneh''; the Europeans considered it a special site for worshiping fire, since the inside of the structure was blackened by smoke, and because they mistook the Zoroastrians for fire-worshipers, they attributed the place to them and named it the Zoroastrians' fire temple. As the shape of the structure was cuboid and the black stones that were placed on the white background of its walls resembled the
Black Stone The Black Stone () is a rock set into the eastern corner of the Kaaba, the ancient building in the center of the Masjid al-Haram, Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is revered by Muslims as an Islamic relic which, according to Muslim tradi ...
, the
Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
'
Kaaba The Kaaba (), also spelled Kaba, Kabah or Kabah, sometimes referred to as al-Kaba al-Musharrafa (), is a stone building at the center of Islam's most important mosque and Holiest sites in Islam, holiest site, the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Sa ...
, it became famous as ''Ka'ba-ye Zartosht'', the ''Kaaba of Zoroaster''. The ''
Encyclopedia Iranica An encyclopedia is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge, either general or special, in a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles or entries that are arranged alphabetically by artic ...
'' explains about the name of the structure: "Ka'ba-ye Zartosht has probably acquired its name in the fourteenth century, the time that the ruined ancient sites in the whole
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
were attributed to characters in the ''
Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...
'' or ''
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 ...
''. This does not mean that the place has been
Zoroaster Zarathushtra Spitama, more commonly known as Zoroaster or Zarathustra, was an Iranian peoples, Iranian religious reformer who challenged the tenets of the contemporary Ancient Iranian religion, becoming the spiritual founder of Zoroastrianism ...
's mausoleum and there is also no report of the
pilgrim The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often vocalize it as ...
s' travels there for
pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...
." Due to the discovery of
Kartir Kartir (also spelled Karder, Karter and Kerdir; Middle Persian: 𐭪𐭫𐭲𐭩𐭫 ''Kardīr'') was a powerful and influential Zoroastrian priest during the reigns of four Sasanian kings in the 3rd century. His name is cited in the inscriptions ...
's
inscription Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...
on its walls, it is revealed that the name of the structure 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 ...
era was ''Bon Khaanak,'' meaning the ''Cold Foundation'', as the inscription reads: "This Cold Foundation will belong to you. Act as the best way you see suitable that will delight our gods and purpose (implying
Shapur I Shapur I (also spelled Shabuhr I; ) was the second Sasanian Empire, Sasanian King of Kings of Iran. The precise dating of his reign is disputed, but it is generally agreed that he ruled from 240 to 270, with his father Ardashir I as co-regent u ...
)." There is no knowledge of the name of the structure in any earlier periods. Ibn al-Balkhi has mentioned the name of the area of
Naqsh-e Rustam Naqsh-e Rostam (; , ) is an ancient archeological site and necropolis located about 13 km northwest of Persepolis, in Fars province, Iran. A collection of ancient Iranian rock reliefs are cut into the face of the mountain and the mountain ...
and its mountain as ''Kuhnebesht'', and has considered that the reason behind its naming was that the book ''
Avesta The Avesta (, Book Pahlavi: (), Persian language, Persian: ()) is the text corpus of Zoroastrian literature, religious literature of Zoroastrianism. All its texts are composed in the Avestan language and written in the Avestan alphabet. Mod ...
'' was held there. The word ''Dezhnebesht'' or ''Dezhkatibehs'' might have also been used for the Ka'ba-ye Zartosht.


Attributes

Ka'ba-ye Zartosht is
cuboid In geometry, a cuboid is a hexahedron with quadrilateral faces, meaning it is a polyhedron with six Face (geometry), faces; it has eight Vertex (geometry), vertices and twelve Edge (geometry), edges. A ''rectangular cuboid'' (sometimes also calle ...
in shape, and has only one entrance door, which leads inside its chamber by means of a stone stairway. There are four blind windows on each of its sides. The stone used is white marbly
limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
, and there are dentate shelves of black stone on its walls. The limestone blocks were brought from Mount Sivand, where they were quarried in a place called Na'l Shekan ("horseshoe breaker"), to
Naqsh-e Rustam Naqsh-e Rostam (; , ) is an ancient archeological site and necropolis located about 13 km northwest of Persepolis, in Fars province, Iran. A collection of ancient Iranian rock reliefs are cut into the face of the mountain and the mountain ...
to build the Ka'ba. These blocks were chiselled into large, mostly rectangular pieces and are put in place atop each other without using mortar; in some places, such as the rooftop, the stones are connected to each other by
dovetail joint A dovetail joint or simply dovetail is a joinery technique most commonly used in woodworking joinery (carpentry), including furniture, cabinets, log buildings, and traditional timber framing. Noted for its resistance to being pulled apart, a ...
s. The size of the stones varies from to ; however in the west wall, there is a flat stone that is long. Four large rectangular pieces of stone form the ceiling/roof, placed along an east–west axis. Each of those stones are long, connected to each other by dovetail joints, and the chipping method used to form them has given the roof the shape of a short pyramid. The
anathyrosis Anathyrosis is the technical word for the ancient method of dressing the joints of stone blocks in dry stone construction, i. e., masonry without mortar, which was then commonly used. Because the stone blocks are set in immediate contact with each ...
style is used here in placing the stones atop each other, but no accurate order is retained in the 'ranking' of the stones. In some places, 20 rows, and in others 22 rows of stones are placed, and this continues to the ceiling. Wherever the original builders discovered any flaw in the main stone, the flawed area was removed and filled in with delicate joints, some of which still remain. To prevent the finished building from becoming too simple or monochrome, its creators added two architectural diversities: firstly, forming double-edged shelves from one or two flat plates of grey-black stone and placing them on the walls; secondly, carving small rectangular pits into the upper and middle sections of the outer walls that give a more delicate appearance to the tower's faces. The black stones were probably brought from Mount Mehr in
Persepolis Persepolis (; ; ) was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire (). It is situated in the plains of Marvdasht, encircled by the southern Zagros mountains, Fars province of Iran. It is one of the key Iranian cultural heritage sites and ...
, and installed on the walls in three rows: * High on the walls just below the ceiling, a small rectangular shelf in the northern side, and two similar shelves on each of the other sides * below the ceiling, two large square shelves on three sides and one small rectangular shelf on the northern side * below the ceiling, two medium-sized rectangular shelves on three sides and one large rectangular on the northern side


Stairway

A thirty-stair stairway (each stair is long, wide and high) is placed in the middle of the northern wall, reaching the threshold of the entrance doorway. Thus, the intention was for the Ka'ba to look like a three-floor tower that has seven doors or hatches on each floor; but only one hatch has been made into a true door, while the others are left as holeless blind windows. The structure stands on a three-tiered platform. The first tier is above the ground, and the tower is high including the triple tiers or stairs of its platform. The base is square-shaped, with each side approximately long. The ceiling of the structure is smooth and flat on the inside, but its roof has a bilateral slope that begins from the line in the middle of the rooftop on the outside, creating the pyramid-like appearance previously mentioned. The doorway is high and wide and at one point had a very heavy two-panel door which is now missing. There are carved-out notches for the upper and lower heels of each door panel in the stone frame which are visible to modern observers. Some have assumed that the door would have been made of wood, but a stone door, very similar to the remains of the one found in Ka'ba-ye Zartosht, exists in Solomon's Prison in
Pasargadae Pasargadae (; ) was the capital of the Achaemenid Empire under Cyrus the Great (559–530 BC), located just north of the town of Madar-e-Soleyman and about to the northeast of the city of Shiraz. It is one of Iran's UNESCO World Heritage Site ...
, which indicates that both doors were made of stone. The doorway leads to a single interior room. This space is quadrangular, has an area of , and is high, with the thickness of its walls being between .


History

The Ka'ba-ye Zartosht is undoubtedly from the
Achaemenid The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire, also known as the Persian Empire or First Persian Empire (; , , ), was an Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. Based in modern-day Iran, it was the large ...
era. Much of the available evidence shows that it was built in the early Achaemenid era; the most important evidence for this dating is as follows: * Using black stone on a white background is one of the features of Pasargadian architecture. * The
dovetail joint A dovetail joint or simply dovetail is a joinery technique most commonly used in woodworking joinery (carpentry), including furniture, cabinets, log buildings, and traditional timber framing. Noted for its resistance to being pulled apart, a ...
s are found mostly in the periods of
Darius I Darius I ( ; – 486 BCE), commonly known as Darius the Great, was the third King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 522 BCE until his death in 486 BCE. He ruled the empire at its territorial peak, when it included much of West A ...
and
Xerxes I Xerxes I ( – August 465 BC), commonly known as Xerxes the Great, was a List of monarchs of Persia, Persian ruler who served as the fourth King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 486 BC until his assassination in 465 BC. He was ...
, and the way the stones are aligned is similar to the primary structures of
Persepolis Persepolis (; ; ) was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire (). It is situated in the plains of Marvdasht, encircled by the southern Zagros mountains, Fars province of Iran. It is one of the key Iranian cultural heritage sites and ...
. * The doorway and door of the structure is similar to those of the Achaemenid
shah Shāh (; ) is a royal title meaning "king" in the Persian language.Yarshater, Ehsa, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII, no. 1 (1989) Though chiefly associated with the monarchs of Iran, it was also used to refer to the leaders of numerous Per ...
s' mausoleums, all of which have used the design of Darius I's mausoleum. * The masonry, which lacks mortar or ordering, resembles the first parts of the platform of Persepolis that were constructed in Darius I's period. Especially, the
inscription Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...
on the lower part of the southern wall of Persepolis is almost the same size as the stones forming the ceiling of Ka'ba-ye Zartosht.
Carsten Niebuhr Carsten Niebuhr, or Karsten Niebuhr (17 March 1733 Cuxhaven, Lüdingworth – 26 April 1815 Meldorf, Dithmarschen), was a German mathematician, Cartography, cartographer, and Geographical exploration, explorer in the service of Denmark-Norway. He ...
, who had visited the structure in 1765, writes: "Opposite the mountain that has the mausoleums and
petroglyph A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...
s of
Rostam use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = Kabulistan , death_cause = With the conspiracy of his half-brother Shaghad, he fell into a we ...
's braveries, a small structure is built of white stone that is covered by only two pieces of large stones." Jane Dieulafoy, who visited
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
in 1881, also reports in her
travel journal The genre of travel literature or travelogue encompasses outdoor literature, guide books, nature writing, and travel memoirs. History Early examples of travel literature include the ''Periplus of the Erythraean Sea'' (generally considered a 1s ...
: "...and then we saw a quadrilateral structure that was placed opposite the walls of the cliff. Each of its surfaces was like those of the ruined structure that we had seen in the Palvar desert..." The first illustrations of the structure were made in the seventeenth century by European tourists like Jean Chardin,
Engelbert Kaempfer Engelbert Kaempfer (16 September 16512 November 1716) was a German natural history, naturalist, physician, exploration, explorer, and writer known for his tour of Russia, Iran, Persia, India, Southeast Asia, and Japan between 1683 and 1693. He ...
and
Cornelis de Bruijn Cornelis de Bruijn or Cornelius de Bruyn (; 16521726/7), also formerly known in English by his French name Corneille Le Brun, was a Dutch artist and traveler. He made two large tours and published illustrated books with his observations of peop ...
in their travel books; but the first scientific description and excavation reports of the structure were done by Erich Friedrich Schmidt that had pictures and illustrated blueprints. The
Naqsh-e Rustam Naqsh-e Rostam (; , ) is an ancient archeological site and necropolis located about 13 km northwest of Persepolis, in Fars province, Iran. A collection of ancient Iranian rock reliefs are cut into the face of the mountain and the mountain ...
compound was first investigated and probed along with the Ka'ba-ye Zartosht structure by Ernst Herzfeld in 1923. Additionally, the compound was probed by the
Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago The Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures, West Asia & North Africa (ISAC), formerly known as the Oriental Institute, is the University of Chicago's interdisciplinary research center for ancient Near Eastern studies and archaeology museum. ...
under the leadership of Erich Schmidt in several seasons between 1936 and 1939, finding important works like the
Middle Persian Middle Persian, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg ( Inscriptional Pahlavi script: , Manichaean script: , Avestan script: ) in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasania ...
version of ''the Great Inscription of
Shapur I Shapur I (also spelled Shabuhr I; ) was the second Sasanian Empire, Sasanian King of Kings of Iran. The precise dating of his reign is disputed, but it is generally agreed that he ruled from 240 to 270, with his father Ardashir I as co-regent u ...
'', which was written on the wall of the structure.


Purpose

The purpose or usage of the Ka'ba-ye Zartosht structure has always been controversial between
archaeologists Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...
and researchers and various views and interpretations have been stated about its application; but what makes its interpretation even more difficult, is the existence of a similar structure in
Pasargadae Pasargadae (; ) was the capital of the Achaemenid Empire under Cyrus the Great (559–530 BC), located just north of the town of Madar-e-Soleyman and about to the northeast of the city of Shiraz. It is one of Iran's UNESCO World Heritage Site ...
, which makes one evaluate every probability with its circumstances too and consider a similar interpretation for both. Some archaeologists have believed the structure to be a mausoleum; and some others like
Roman Ghirshman Roman Ghirshman (, ''Roman Mikhailovich Girshman''; October 3, 1895 – 5 September 1979) was a Ukrainian-born French archeologist who specialized in ancient Persia. Ghirshman spent nearly thirty years excavating ancient Persian archeologic ...
and Schmidt have said that Ka'ba-ye Zartosht was a fire temple in which the holy fire was placed and it was used during religious ceremonies. Another group including Henry Rawlinson and Walter Henning believe that the structure was the treasury and the place for keeping religious documents and
Avesta The Avesta (, Book Pahlavi: (), Persian language, Persian: ()) is the text corpus of Zoroastrian literature, religious literature of Zoroastrianism. All its texts are composed in the Avestan language and written in the Avestan alphabet. Mod ...
. A small group believes the structure to be the temple of
Anahita Anahita is the Old Persian form of the name of an Iranian goddess and appears in complete and earlier form as ('), the Avestan name of an Indo-Iranian cosmological figure venerated as the divinity of "the Waters" ( Aban) and hence associat ...
and believes that the goddess's statue was kept in Ka'ba-ye Zartosht. Heleen Sancisi Weerdenburg believes the building to be a structure constructed by
Darius I Darius I ( ; – 486 BCE), commonly known as Darius the Great, was the third King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 522 BCE until his death in 486 BCE. He ruled the empire at its territorial peak, when it included much of West A ...
for
coronation A coronation ceremony marks the formal investiture of a monarch with regal power using a crown. In addition to the crowning, this ceremony may include the presentation of other items of regalia, and other rituals such as the taking of special v ...
; and Shapur Shahbazi believes that Ka'ba-ye Zartosht was an
Achaemenid The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire, also known as the Persian Empire or First Persian Empire (; , , ), was an Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. Based in modern-day Iran, it was the large ...
mausoleum that was used as a site for the treasury of religious documents 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 ...
era. Erich Friedrich Schmidt says about the importance of the structure:
The outstanding effort that was necessary for creating this architectural masterpiece, was only used for building a single and dark chamber. Besides, the fact that they did or could close the only entrance door of a structure with a heavy and two-panel door, makes it clear that its content should be kept safe from robbery and pollution.


Fireplace

Engelbert Kaempfer Engelbert Kaempfer (16 September 16512 November 1716) was a German natural history, naturalist, physician, exploration, explorer, and writer known for his tour of Russia, Iran, Persia, India, Southeast Asia, and Japan between 1683 and 1693. He ...
first proposed the assumption of being a fire temple or fireplace; and following him, James Justinian Morier and Robert Ker Porter supported the view in the early nineteenth century. The southwestern corner of the chamber is blackened by smoke; and has caused the assumption that the holy fire was glowing in there. In the following years,
Ferdinand Justi Ferdinand Justi (2 June 1837 in Marburg, Germany – 17 February 1907 in Marburg) was a German linguist and Orientalist. He finished his studies of linguistics at the University of Marburg and the University of Göttingen. In 1861 he lived in Ma ...
, Ghirshman, Schmidt and some others supported the hypothesis of Ka'ba-ye Zartosht being a fireplace. One of the reasons of this group is that
Darius I Darius I ( ; – 486 BCE), commonly known as Darius the Great, was the third King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 522 BCE until his death in 486 BCE. He ruled the empire at its territorial peak, when it included much of West A ...
says in the
Behistun Inscription The Behistun Inscription (also Bisotun, Bisitun or Bisutun; , Old Persian: Bagastana, meaning "the place of god") is a multilingual Achaemenid royal inscriptions, Achaemenid royal inscription and large rock relief on a cliff at Mount Behistun i ...
(First column, 63): "...I rebuilt the temples that
Gaumata Bardiya or Smerdis ( ; ; possibly died 522 BCE), also named as Tanyoxarces (; ) by Ctesias, was a son of Cyrus the Great and the younger brother of Cambyses II, both Persian kings. There are sharply divided views on his life. Bardiya either ...
had destroyed. I returned the pastures, flocks, slaves and houses that Gaumata had taken to the people..." Thus, there were some "temples" in the periods of Cyrus II and
Cambyses II Cambyses II () was the second King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning 530 to 522 BCE. He was the son of and successor to Cyrus the Great (); his mother was Cassandane. His relatively brief reign was marked by his conquests in North Afric ...
that Gaumata destroyed and Darius rebuilt them the same way; and since "Solomon's Prison" in
Pasargadae Pasargadae (; ) was the capital of the Achaemenid Empire under Cyrus the Great (559–530 BC), located just north of the town of Madar-e-Soleyman and about to the northeast of the city of Shiraz. It is one of Iran's UNESCO World Heritage Site ...
is belonging to the first
Achaemenid The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire, also known as the Persian Empire or First Persian Empire (; , , ), was an Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. Based in modern-day Iran, it was the large ...
era and destroyed, and its exact copy was built in
Naqsh-e Rustam Naqsh-e Rostam (; , ) is an ancient archeological site and necropolis located about 13 km northwest of Persepolis, in Fars province, Iran. A collection of ancient Iranian rock reliefs are cut into the face of the mountain and the mountain ...
in Darius's period, it should be concluded that those two structures are the mentioned temples in the Behistun Inscription; and since any temple in
Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
during Darius's period could not be anything other than the holy fire, those were all fireplaces; besides, Ka'ba-ye Zartosht has been conserved well even after the Achaemenid era and was not surrounded by soil and stones; and in the beginning of 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 ...
era,
Shapur I Shapur I (also spelled Shabuhr I; ) was the second Sasanian Empire, Sasanian King of Kings of Iran. The precise dating of his reign is disputed, but it is generally agreed that he ruled from 240 to 270, with his father Ardashir I as co-regent u ...
composed the most important document of the Sasanian history on it and
Kartir Kartir (also spelled Karder, Karter and Kerdir; Middle Persian: 𐭪𐭫𐭲𐭩𐭫 ''Kardīr'') was a powerful and influential Zoroastrian priest during the reigns of four Sasanian kings in the 3rd century. His name is cited in the inscriptions ...
wrote a religious document on it. These show that the structure was religiously important. On the other hand, a structure is drawn on the coins of some
Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
kings like those of Otophradates I that is a fireplace and the royal fire was kept above or inside it; and since the structure has a two-stair platform and its two doors are like Ka'ba-ye Zartosht and the center of the Persian kingdom was also in the city of
Istakhr Istakhr (Middle Persian romanized: ''Stakhr'', ) was an ancient city in Fars province, north of Persepolis in southwestern Iran. It flourished as the capital of the Persian '' Frataraka'' governors and Kings of Persis from the third century BC t ...
, it is the very Ka'ba-ye Zartosht that is drawn on their coins; and on the ceiling of this structure are put three fireboxes and the Persian king is standing in a praying posture in front of it. However, these reasons can not be true, for "Ayadana" only means "worshiping place" and a worshiping place is not necessarily a temple; and on the other hand, if you want to say that the people worshiped in this place, it is not true, for the Ka'ba is so small that the compound within can not fit more than two persons. Furthermore, according to
Herodotus Herodotus (; BC) was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus (now Bodrum, Turkey), under Persian control in the 5th century BC, and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria, Italy. He wrote the '' Histori ...
(section "On the Customs of the Persians"), the Persians, even in his time, had no temples or statues of gods. Jacques Duchesne-Guillemin in '' Iranica'' identifies the ayadana as podiums. Additionally, in Achaemenid seals and on their mausoleums, it is seen that the fireboxes containing the royal fire were placed in the free space; and the royal fire was taken before the king in a portable firebox. A remarkable point that Herzfeld, Sami and
Mary Boyce Nora Elisabeth Mary Boyce (2 August 1920 – 4 April 2006) was a British scholar of Iranian languages and an authority on Zoroastrianism. She was Professor of Iranian Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) of the Un ...
have made is that it seems improbable to have spent all that price and effort to keep the fire in a dark and holeless room that needed the door open for the fire to ignite. Because fire requires
oxygen Oxygen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group (periodic table), group in the periodic table, a highly reactivity (chemistry), reactive nonmetal (chemistry), non ...
and the inside of the Ka'ba is built in a way that even an
oil lamp An oil lamp is a lamp used to produce light continuously for a period of time using an oil-based fuel source. The use of oil lamps began thousands of years ago and continues to this day, although their use is less common in modern times. The ...
can not glow more than a few hours when the door and the large stone entrance are sealed. The chamber does not have an exit way for smoke while its entrance door has always been sealed. The structure on the coins of Persian kings can not be Ka'ba-ye Zartosht; for the mentioned picture on the coins was not higher than , had a two-stair platform and no stairway is seen below its doorway; its entrance door is much larger relative to the structure than that of Ka'ba-ye Zartosht; its ceiling has no steepness, enough to be put three fireboxes on; there is no distance between its doorway and the ceiling; it has no crowns or portals; and the dents showing the heads of its arrows are not more than six. These features generally contradict with those of Ka'ba-ye Zartosht.


Mausoleum

Most of the researchers assume the tower as the mausoleum of one of the
Achaemenid The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire, also known as the Persian Empire or First Persian Empire (; , , ), was an Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. Based in modern-day Iran, it was the large ...
shah Shāh (; ) is a royal title meaning "king" in the Persian language.Yarshater, Ehsa, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII, no. 1 (1989) Though chiefly associated with the monarchs of Iran, it was also used to refer to the leaders of numerous Per ...
s. Since it is very similar to the
Tomb of Cyrus The tomb of Cyrus the Great is located in Pasargadae, which was the first capital city of his Achaemenid Empire and is now an archaeological site in the Fars Province of Iran. Prior to being identified with Cyrus the Great by the British diplom ...
and some of the mausoleums of
Lycia Lycia (; Lycian: 𐊗𐊕𐊐𐊎𐊆𐊖 ''Trm̃mis''; , ; ) was a historical region in Anatolia from 15–14th centuries BC (as Lukka) to 546 BC. It bordered the Mediterranean Sea in what is today the provinces of Antalya and Muğ ...
and
Caria Caria (; from Greek language, Greek: Καρία, ''Karia''; ) was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid-Ionia (Mycale) south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Carians were described by Herodotus as being Anatolian main ...
in shape, solidness of architecture and having a small room with a very heavy door, it is considered a mausoleum. Welfram Klyse and
David Stronach David Brian Stronach (10 June 1931 – 27 June 2020) was a Scottish archaeologist of ancient Iran and Iraq who became an expert on the city of Pasargadae and an emeritus professor at the University of California, Berkeley. Born in June 1931, S ...
believe that the Achaemenid structures in
Pasargadae Pasargadae (; ) was the capital of the Achaemenid Empire under Cyrus the Great (559–530 BC), located just north of the town of Madar-e-Soleyman and about to the northeast of the city of Shiraz. It is one of Iran's UNESCO World Heritage Site ...
and
Naqsh-e Rustam Naqsh-e Rostam (; , ) is an ancient archeological site and necropolis located about 13 km northwest of Persepolis, in Fars province, Iran. A collection of ancient Iranian rock reliefs are cut into the face of the mountain and the mountain ...
might have been influenced by Urartian art in the tower-like temples of Urartu. Aristobulus, one of the retainers of
Alexander III of Macedon Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to the throne in 336 BC at the age of 20 ...
, mentions the structure known as "Solomon's Prison" as "the tower-like mausoleum" while describing Pasargadae; and if the mentioned structure is presumed the mausoleum of one of the Achaemenid shahs, due to its similarity to the structure Ka'ba-ye Zartosht, and as Franz Heinrich Weißbach and Alexander Demandt have explained, the structure should inevitably be considered belonging to another one of the Achaemenid shahs. Besides that, Ka'ba-ye Zartosht is a near to the mausoleums that were built at the same time; and all of them were later separated from the other parts of Naqsh-e Rustam by a chain of fortifications, indicating that they were all originally the same type and had similar applications. In other words, all of them, including they very Ka'ba-ye Zartosht, were mausoleums of Achaemenid grandees. Some other reasons can be stated for Ka'ba-ye Zartosht being a mausoleum; one is the triad and heptad units that are seen in the Achaemenid mausoleums. For example, the three-tomb chambers of the mausoleums connect them to making Ka'ba-ye Zartosht three-floor and its platform having three stairs; and the seven hatches of each floor of the structure remarks the Seven Persian Noblemen on the mausoleums and the Tomb of Cyrus having seven floors. However the probations done do not confirm the idea and the writings carved on the walls of Ka'ba-ye Zartosht have no indication to the existence of a mausoleum or tomb either.


Treasury

The idea of the structure being a treasury was first stated by Rawlinson in 1871. Rawlinson's reasons were the accurate architecture and the proper size of the chamber, its sole door being heavy and solid and that it was difficult to reach inside the structure. Walter Henning presented the theory with newer reasons. One of his reasons is about the inscriptions carved on the rim of the chamber; there is a large inscription by
Shapur I Shapur I (also spelled Shabuhr I; ) was the second Sasanian Empire, Sasanian King of Kings of Iran. The precise dating of his reign is disputed, but it is generally agreed that he ruled from 240 to 270, with his father Ardashir I as co-regent u ...
on the walls of Ka'ba-ye Zartosht; and below that inscription, there is a writing by
Kartir Kartir (also spelled Karder, Karter and Kerdir; Middle Persian: 𐭪𐭫𐭲𐭩𐭫 ''Kardīr'') was a powerful and influential Zoroastrian priest during the reigns of four Sasanian kings in the 3rd century. His name is cited in the inscriptions ...
that states in its second line: "This "bon khanak" will be yours; do with it as you believe is better for the gods and us." Some historians conclude that it means the place was used for keeping religious bills, flags and documents. While describing landmarks in
Istakhr Istakhr (Middle Persian romanized: ''Stakhr'', ) was an ancient city in Fars province, north of Persepolis in southwestern Iran. It flourished as the capital of the Persian '' Frataraka'' governors and Kings of Persis from the third century BC t ...
, Ibn-al Balkhi mentioned the site with the title "Kuh-Nefesht" or "Kuh-Nebesht" and said that the
Avesta The Avesta (, Book Pahlavi: (), Persian language, Persian: ()) is the text corpus of Zoroastrian literature, religious literature of Zoroastrianism. All its texts are composed in the Avestan language and written in the Avestan alphabet. Mod ...
was kept there. Henning believed that Ibn-al Balkhi meant the very Ka'ba-ye Zartosht. However, there is to date no scholarly consensus. Some argue that the chamber of Ka'ba-ye Zartosht is too small to keep the Avesta and other religious books and royal flags; a wider and larger site was necessary for such an intention. In addition, some point out the relatively remote location of the structure suggests another use, as the various palaces of the
Achaemenid The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire, also known as the Persian Empire or First Persian Empire (; , , ), was an Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. Based in modern-day Iran, it was the large ...
shahanshahs as well as other official and governmental buildings would be better suited for keeping the Avesta and royal flags.


Side view

In the recent years, Reza Moradi Ghiasabadi has presented a new interpretation of the structure by doing
field research Field research, field studies, or fieldwork is the collection of raw data outside a laboratory, library, or workplace setting. The approaches and methods used in field research vary across disciplines. For example, biologists who conduct fi ...
and considers it an
observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysics, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. Th ...
and a
solar calendar A solar calendar is a calendar whose dates indicates the season or almost equivalently the apparent position of the Sun relative to the stars. The Gregorian calendar, widely accepted as a standard in the world, is an example of a solar calendar ...
and believes that the blind windows, the stairs opposite the entrance door and the construct have been a
timer A timer or countdown timer is a type of clock that starts from a specified time duration and stops upon reaching 00:00. It can also usually be stopped manually before the whole duration has elapsed. An example of a simple timer is an hourglass ...
or a solar index for measuring the rotation of the sun and subsequently keeping the record of the year and counting the years and extracting calendars and detecting the first days of each solar month and summer and winter
solstice A solstice is the time when the Sun reaches its most northerly or southerly sun path, excursion relative to the celestial equator on the celestial sphere. Two solstices occur annually, around 20–22 June and 20–22 December. In many countries ...
s and spring and fall
equinox A solar equinox is a moment in time when the Sun appears directly above the equator, rather than to its north or south. On the day of the equinox, the Sun appears to rise directly east and set directly west. This occurs twice each year, arou ...
es. He concludes that the beginning of each solar month could be detected by observing the shadows formed on the blind windows. However, this theory can not be completely true; and one of the reasons that can be stated to refute the theory is that the direction of the geographic North of each region could be different from the direction of the
magnetic North The north magnetic pole, also known as the magnetic north pole, is a point on the surface of Earth's Northern Hemisphere at which the planet's magnetic field points vertically downward (in other words, if a magnetic compass needle is allowed t ...
. The
orbital inclination Orbital inclination measures the tilt of an object's orbit around a celestial body. It is expressed as the angle between a reference plane and the orbital plane or axis of direction of the orbiting object. For a satellite orbiting the Earth ...
of the magnetic North from the geographic North is about 2.5 degrees in the
Naqsh-e Rustam Naqsh-e Rostam (; , ) is an ancient archeological site and necropolis located about 13 km northwest of Persepolis, in Fars province, Iran. A collection of ancient Iranian rock reliefs are cut into the face of the mountain and the mountain ...
compound; and the magnetic orbital inclination of the structure is 18 degrees to the West relative to the magnetic North based on Schmidt's calculations. Therefore, the inclination of the structure relative to the geographic North will be about 15.5 degrees; meanwhile Ghiasabadi has considered the 18 degrees as the inclination of the structure from the geographic North.


Inscriptions by Shapur I and Kartir

On 1 June 1936, following the probations by the digging department of The
University of Chicago Oriental Institute The Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures, West Asia & North Africa (ISAC), formerly known as the Oriental Institute, is the University of Chicago's interdisciplinary research center for ancient Near Eastern studies and archaeology museum. ...
, some inscriptions were found on the Ka'ba-ye Zartosht structure that belonged to
Shapur I Shapur I (also spelled Shabuhr I; ) was the second Sasanian Empire, Sasanian King of Kings of Iran. The precise dating of his reign is disputed, but it is generally agreed that he ruled from 240 to 270, with his father Ardashir I as co-regent u ...
and the priest
Kartir Kartir (also spelled Karder, Karter and Kerdir; Middle Persian: 𐭪𐭫𐭲𐭩𐭫 ''Kardīr'') was a powerful and influential Zoroastrian priest during the reigns of four Sasanian kings in the 3rd century. His name is cited in the inscriptions ...
; Shapur's Inscription is written in the three languages
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
(70 lines), Arsacid
Middle Persian Middle Persian, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg ( Inscriptional Pahlavi script: , Manichaean script: , Avestan script: ) in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasania ...
(30 lines) and
Sassanian The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranian peoples, Iranians"), was an List of monarchs of Iran, Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, th ...
Middle Persian (35 lines) on three sides of the structure; and Kartir's Inscription, which is in 19 lines in Sassanian Middle Persian language, is below Shapur's. In Shapur's Inscription, which should be considered the "Revolution Resolution" of the Sassanian dynasty, he first introduces himself and mentions the regions he ruled and then describes the Persian-Roman Wars and indicates the defeat and death of Marcus Antonius Gordianus, after whom the
Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...
forces proclaimed Marcus Julius Philippus the emperor; and the latter paid Shapur a compensation equal to half a million
gold dinar The gold dinar () is an Islamic medieval gold coin first issued in AH 77 (696–697 CE) by Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. The weight of the dinar is 1 mithqal (). The word ''dinar'' comes from the Latin word denarius, which was ...
s for reprieve and returned to his homeland. Following that, Shapur has described his battle with the Romans along with an elaborate list of the Roman states from which he had gathered the forces. The battle, which was for
Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...
, was the largest defeat that the Sassanians inflicted upon the Romans. Shapur then adds that "I apprehended
Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war. He ...
Valerian myself, by my own hands." and mentions the names of the lands that he conquered in that battle. He then appreciates the power of God for giving him the power for victory and launches a lot of fire temples for his satisfaction to remark the names of the people who were involved in establishing the Sassanian government in front of the fire and finally advises the successors to strive for divine work and charity affairs. The inscription is historically considered very interesting and one of first class proofs of the Sassanian era; and one of the most important documents of the period for the limits and spans of the Sassanian
Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
borders. In addition, the inscription is the last time that the Greek
alphabet An alphabet is a standard set of letter (alphabet), letters written to represent particular sounds in a spoken language. Specifically, letters largely correspond to phonemes as the smallest sound segments that can distinguish one word from a ...
and language is used in Persian inscriptions. Kartir's Inscription, which is situated below the Sassanian Middle Persian inscription of Shapur's, is written during Bahram II's reign and around 280 A.D. He first introduces himself and then mentions his ranks and titles during the periods of the previous kings and says that he had the Herbad title during Shapur I's period and was appointed as "the grand master of all priests by
Shahanshah Shāh (; ) is a royal title meaning "king" in the Persian language.Yarshater, Ehsa, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII, no. 1 (1989) Though chiefly associated with the List of monarchs of Iran, monarchs of Iran, it was also used to refer to the ...
Shapur I" and had the honor of receiving a hat and a belt by the shahanshah in
Hormizd I Hormizd-Ardashir, better known by his dynastic name of Hormizd I (also spelled Hormozd I or Ohrmazd I; ), was the third Sasanian King of Kings (''shahanshah'') of Iran, who ruled from May 270 to June 271. He was the third-born son of Shapur I (), ...
's period and has achieved an increasing power and acquired the nickname "The Priest of
Ahura Mazda Ahura Mazda (; ; or , ),The former is the New Persian rendering of the Avestan form, while the latter derives from Middle Persian. also known as Horomazes (),, is the only creator deity and Sky deity, god of the sky in the ancient Iranian ...
, the god of gods". Then, Kartir mentions his religious activities like fighting other religions such as Christianity,
Manichaeism Manichaeism (; in ; ) is an endangered former major world religion currently only practiced in China around Cao'an,R. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff ''Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times''. SUNY Press, 1998 p. 37 found ...
,
Mandaeism Mandaeism (Mandaic language, Classical Mandaic: ),https://qadaha.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/nhura-dictionary-mandaic-english-mandaic.pdf sometimes also known as Nasoraeanism or Sabianism, is a Gnosticism, Gnostic, Monotheism, ...
, Judaism,
Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
and
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 ...
heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy. Heresy in Heresy in Christian ...
and remarks founding fire temples and allocation of donations for them. He also talks about correcting the priests that were, in his opinion, perverted and mentions the list of the states that were conquered by Persia during Shapur I's period and eventually the inscription ends with a prayer.


See also

* Shapur I's inscription at the Ka'ba-ye Zartosht *
Kaaba The Kaaba (), also spelled Kaba, Kabah or Kabah, sometimes referred to as al-Kaba al-Musharrafa (), is a stone building at the center of Islam's most important mosque and Holiest sites in Islam, holiest site, the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Sa ...
* Kaaba of Najran


Notes


Bibliography

* * * * * * *


External links

* A guided tour of ''Ka'ba-ye Zartosht''
YouTube
(1 min 34 sec). {{DEFAULTSORT:Ka'ba-Ye Zartosht Buildings and structures completed in the 1st millennium BC Marvdasht complex Achaemenid architecture Naqsh-e Rustam Achaemenid Empire Buildings and structures in Fars province Sasanian inscriptions Middle Persian Parthian language Religion in the Sasanian Empire Cuboids Buildings and structures on the Iran National Heritage List