On the Zoroastrian Temple Cult of Fire

Boyce, Mary

doi:10.2307/599356

Cited by 56 publications

(10 citation statements)

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“…45 Dit zou in ieder geval de opmerkelijke plattegrond van het bouwwerk verklaren, die met niets in Hatra te vergelijken is, maar wel opvallende gelijkenis vertoont met latere Sasanidische vuurtempels. 46 Het feit dat het werd gebouwd rond 170, op het moment dat de heersers van Hatra intensievere banden aangingen van de Parthische Koning der Koningen en van hen de koningstitel ontvingen, ondersteunt de hypothese dat we hier te maken hebben met Perzische invloed. 47 Opmerkelijk is verder dat er in dit bouwwerk geen godenbeelden maar overwegend levensgrote beelden van Omdat vaak niet duidelijk is aan welke god of goden ze zijn gewijd, worden de kleine heiligdommen traditioneel aangeduid met een nummer dat overeenkomt met de volgorde waarin ze zijn gevonden.…”

Section: Het Koningshuis En De Centrale Cultusunclassified

Hatra, stad van de zonnegod - Sociale achtergronden van een heilige plaats

Dirven

2013

Tijdschrift Voor Geschiedenis

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This article examines the role of religion in the society of Hatra, a desert city in the eastern Jezirah (north Iraq). The city suddenly rose to power in the second century CE, but its flourishing was short-lived. In 240 CE the Persians conquered Hatra, and the formerly invincible city soon fell into ruins. Hatra owed its short period of prosperity to its strategic location between the two superpowers of the day: Rome and Parthia. It was by means of the rulers of Hatra that the Parthian King of Kings controlled the large desert area around Hatra, which functioned as a buffer between these two hostile empires. In their turn, Hatra’s rulers had power over the people of the desert because they succeeded in making Hatra the political, economic, and social centre of the surrounding tribes. It is argued that religion played a vital role in this process, for it was via the gods that the leaders of Hatra sanctified their rule and united the warring tribes.

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Section: Het Koningshuis En De Centrale Cultusunclassified

Hatra, stad van de zonnegod - Sociale achtergronden van een heilige plaats

Dirven

2013

Tijdschrift Voor Geschiedenis

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“…This issue has been the subject of exhaustive scholarly debates, which have failed to provide an answer to the question "were the Achaemenids Zoroastrians?" (to name the most important and recent studies: Herrenschmidt 1980;Frye 1984: 120-124;Boyce 1985;Schwartz 1985;Ahn 1992;Dandamaev/Lukonin 1994: 320-367;Wiesehöfer 1996: 94-101;Koch 2002;Kellens 2002;Stausberg 2002: 157-186;Razmjou, 2005;Jacobs, 2006). Opinions range from those who hold that "the Achaemenids were definitely not Zoroastrians" to scholars who believe that Zoroastrianism was the state religion of the Achaemenid Empire (for this last view, see recently Kreyenbroek 2006; for a brief review with references, see Stausberg 2002: 157).…”

Section: Temples In the Iranian World In The Achaemenid Periodmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ancient Iran, Temples, Fire Temples, Zoroastrianism, Architecture It has often been observed that the ancient Iranians (and Indo-Iranians) did not worship in temples but performed their rituals in the open air (Boyce 1975a andYamamoto 1979: 26;Grantovskij 1998: 115; and many others). This conclusion apparently reflects the Avesta and Rig Veda, the main sources for the Indo-Iranian religion, which do not speak of temples or cultic structures (on Indo-Iranian religion, see a recent survey with many references Gnoli 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temple Architecture in the Iranian World before the Macedonian Conquest

Shenkar

2007

Iran Cauc

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The article offers a survey of temple architecture in the Iranian world before the Macedonian conquest. Despite the observations that ancient Iranians worshipped in the open air, structures of cultic significance have been discovered in some areas of Eastern Iran. While the attribution of the earliest, second millennium temples to the Iranian tribes is still disputable, Iranians definitely had temples before the Achaemenids. The earliest temples found in the Iranian settlements are the ones from Tepe Nush-i Jan (for Western Iran) and Dahān-i Ghulāmān (for the Eastern). However, it seems that the majority of ancient Iranians, including the first Achaemenids, worshiped under the open sky. Given the nomadic background of the ancient Iranians they probably became acquainted with temple architecture once they came into close contact with the highly developed civilisations, which preceded them in some areas of what was later to become the Iranian World. In general it is impossible to speak of one “Iranian culture” or a unified “Iranian cult” in the second and first millennia BCE; instead, temple architecture demonstrates a variety of different regional traditions. More temples have been discovered in Eastern Iran than in Western. The architectural evidence from Eastern Iran in this period also suggests a complex picture of heterogeneous local cults, at least some of which made use of closed temples. Another kind of cultic structure was the open air terraces. There is also some evidence for domestic cults. Iranian cults also share a number of common, dominant features. Special significance was attributed to fire and ashes. Most temple altars (often stepped) were at the centre of the cult and rituals. Another important feature is the absence of cult statues and images. It is remarkable that most of the temples were erected on the highest point of the site or on an artificial elevated platform.

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“…Other seals show something like the crescent moon and stars (Pl. [41][42][43], or a bird (Pl. 44) on the altar, or just an empty altar (Pl.…”

Section: Vol XVII 1981 71mentioning

confidence: 99%