Zoroastrian News – اخبار زرتشتیان

The Kaaba of Zarathustra in Naghshe Rostam is a structure remaining from the historic Achamenian era, with a cubic shape, 12m height with side walls of 7.30 m height. In that this ancient reminiscence, like other historic structures of Iran, is an archeological master piece there is no doubt, but the question is about its true application, a question that most scholars and easternologists have not been able to find a uniform answer, and this subject is worth more research and investigation.
Some time back in No. 10 copy of the Parsian periodical, an article was printed about the Kaaba of Zarathustra and the theories about its application. This article became an incentive for me to go beyond the existing theories that introduce this structure as a place for keeping the pure fire, or a fire temple, or a place for making mummies of the bodies of the kings, or a place for preserving the Avesta book and the royal banners!! And . . . all of which have been laid aside due to various reasons, and this time let us look at this structure from the religious angle.

As you know, from 1320 onwards (1941) due to difficulties and restrictions in the Iranian society, burying in the ground, instead of putting the dead bodies in the tower of silence (dakhma) (which in my opinion is a very good custom compared to burying in the ground), was found easier for the Zoroastrians. The giving of the dead to nature was completely abolished and gradually the beliefs that existed in connection with the ancient system of burying are being forgotten?!
According to the Zoroastrian religion the soul of the dead will stay next to the body for 3 days, and after the 3rd night and on the dawn of the fourth day will separate from its body, and will be called to judgement, on the judgement bridge (chinavad) and there it will be known whether he is among the sinful or among the freed souls. In these three days after death, in order to help the soul not to be scared of the dark and death, the family would take the following steps, (which of course is seen more or less in other religions and beliefs of the world), at the foot of the hill on which the dakhma was built. A two story building would be built which usually had a distance of about 200 m from the dakhma, which was used for the ceremonies for the dead and also for the ceremony of the fire burners. The fire burners who were usually two, were responsible for keeping the fire burning from night to morning, for three nights after the death of the person, in a special room which was called ‘the tower of lantern’ and the passage from this room would face the dakhma and was specifically meant for this purpose. A small window-shaped hole was opened in the wall of the dakhma, in a way that the passage was exactly continuation of the window of the room in which the fire was burning at the foot of the hill and the flames of the fire were seen in it, and the light that the fire created would lighten inside the dakhma and by lightening the atmosphere inside the dakhma, they would take away the fear of loneliness, darkness and death from the soul of the dead. Together with this process, the family of the dead would perform the special prayers (doroon, sedoosh, shabgir) and would pray to God to forgive the soul of their dead member.
When we come to know about such beautiful and philosophic customs and then go to Naghsh rostam and Pasargad, and even Soosa, we can easily make out the purpose of building this two story structure (Kaaba Zarathustra) which has only one room on the second story. This is a place where the ceremony of burning fire for three consecutive nights after death was performed and also for ceremonies pertaining to the burial of the Achamenian kings.
There is a similar structure in Pasargad facing the tomb of Kourosh the Great, which most probably was meant for the same ceremonies. Grishman believes these three structures in Pasargad, Naghshe Rostam and Soosa (belonging to Ardeshir the 2nd) were only for keeping fire, while these three structures should be the place for burning fire for the first 3 nights of the death of the Achamenian family members and also the ceremonies after burial of the dead. The direction in which the passages are built in these three structures and facing the entrance to the dakhma of the Achamenian kings are evidence for this fact.
Upto day, in some parts of Lorestan and Chahar Mahal Bakhtiari provinces people burn fire at nights, on the graves of their dead. In my childhood, when my father’s uncle was being buried in the Tava” village (one of the districts of Chahar Mahal Bakhtiari province) I saw such a ceremony. And, their beliefs in this respect are the same as the beliefs of the Zoroastrians. A large afringan (the fire hearth) can be seen in the middle of the Zoroastrian graveyard (Ghasr firoozeh) I believe that if we gain more knowledge about the thoughts and the customs of our ancestors, which are rooted in their religious knowledge and their deep love for life and fellow human beings, and try more to understand their spiritual philosophies and gain self-confidence by this knowledge, we will no more need to refer to foreign researchers to gain knowledge about our own history.
Under the Grace of Ahura Mazda

References:
1 ‘Deen nameh’ (Khorsheed Negareshni) by Rashid Shahmardan – published by Zoroastrian Youth Organization of Bombay in 1330 (1951)
2 The Burial Ceremonies of Zoroastrians – Dastoor Ardeshir Azargoshasb, Tehran 1348 (1969)
3 Burial systems in ancient Iran – Fereidoon Shirmard Farahmand, Fravahar publication 1377 (1998)
4 Cham Dakhma (tower of silence) – Nasim Alipour, Samira Publishers 1384 (2005)

Translation by Rowshan Lohrasbpour