Archaeology in fashionable Iran tracks Alexander the Nice’s footprint in historic Persia as his military crossed the Euphrates, crisscrossed the plateaus, marched alongside the Royal Highway, throughout the Zagros Mountains, fought three battles at Granicus (334 BC), Issus (333 BC) and Gaugamela (331 BC) and conquered an historic land with a historical past stretching again to a time when gods walked the earth.
The ruins of Takht-e Soleyman, the place the fireplace of Adur Gushnasp was saved. ( Salar Arkan / CC BY-SA 4.0)
Azr Goshnasb Fireplace Temple At Takht-e Soleymān
When Alexander conquered Persia, the traditional ideas of Zoroastrianism, as believed by Cyrus and his descendants, disseminated by means of a strategy of Greco-Persian spiritual and cultural synthesisation. But, throughout the destruction of Persepolis, Alexander’s troops destroyed lots of the Avesta, the Zoroastrianism sacred texts. Nevertheless, a lot later underneath the Sassanid Empire (205 – 651 AD), orthodox Zoroastrianism was revived and developed to have clear distinctions from the practices specified by the Avesta.
Atashkadeh is the phrase for fire temples in Farsi, the language of Iran. Zoroastrians don’t worship hearth, however they view it as a supply of divine gentle, practiced on the Atashkadeh to honor Ahura Mazda, the All-Realizing and Omnipotent creator. The hearth temple Azr Goshnasb at Lake Oruomieh at Takht -e Soleyman turned, by customized, a spot of pilgrimage by foot for newly enthroned Sassanid Kings after their coronation and it was frequented by the warrior class, however not by the magi or the widespread folks.
Throughout the Mongol Ilkhanate (1256 – 1335) a summer season residence was constructed by the ruler Abaqa in 1271 on this web site, over the ruins of the traditional hearth temple. The identify Takht-e Soleymān or Throne of Solomon hints, that the origin of this fireplace temple is enveloped by the smoke of legends and relates that King Solomon used to imprison monsters inside a close-by 100-meter-deep crater which is named Zendan-e Soleyman “Jail of Solomon”. Solomon can also be stated to have created the flowing pond within the fortress advanced constructed on the grassy plain, surrounded by a volcanic mountain area.
Archaeologists speculate that the sacred hearth was first taken to the location within the late fourth or early fifth century and the earliest stays constructed across the ‘bottomless lake’ date to the Achaemenian Empire. The hearth temple was sacked in 623/4 by Heraclius throughout the Byzantine–Sassanian Warfare however the Iranians succeeded in saving the fireplace, which they later restored to the temple, which was shortly rebuilt.
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Dr Micki Pistorius has an Honours Diploma in Biblical Archaeology
Prime Picture : Reliefs primarily based on the Pinelli engraving (1928). It depicts a scene from the on a regular basis life and the marketing campaign of Alexander the Nice. Reliefs by the sculptor Pr. Tzanoulinos (bronze). Hellenic Warfare Museum (Athens, Greece). (CC by 2.0 / Tilemahos Efthimiadis )
By: Micki Pistorius