Zoroastrian funerary inscription from late Sasanian era discovered in southern Iran

Zoroastrian funerary inscription from late Sasanian era discovered in southern Iran

TEHRAN - A newly discovered funerary inscription dating to the late Sasanian period and associated with a Zoroastrian burial has been found in a carved frame north of the ancient city of Estakhr in Marvdasht plain of Fars province, southern Iran.

The inscription is written in Pahlavi script and is believed to be associated with one of the burials of Zoroastrian followers during the late Sasanian period, Jamaran.ir quoted archaeologist Abolhassan Atabaki as saying on Thursday.

The archaeologist explained that with the expansion of Zoroastrianism in the post-Achaemenid period and later during the Sasanian era, burial practices underwent fundamental changes. Many burials in the ground were abandoned and funerary practices were transferred to elevated and mountainous areas, a shift he attributed primarily to Zoroastrian beliefs concerning bodily resurrection and life after death.

According to Atabaki, Zoroastrians regarded the world beneath the ground as dark, stagnant and associated with evil. They therefore avoided burying the dead directly in the soil.

The corpse was also considered capable of contaminating sacred elements such as earth, vegetation and water. At the same time, Zoroastrians believed that the soul of the deceased should ascend toward the rays of the sun.

For this reason, the body was placed in elevated structures known as “sun towers” before the final funerary stage, where rituals including “khorshid-negahreshni” were performed and the bones were purified. After birds of prey and other scavenging animals removed the flesh, the cleaned bones were transferred to places among rocks and cliffs, Atabaki said.

In that regard, Najmeh Ebrahimi, a history expert, said the Sasanian period saw a variety of burial practices, depending on the social status and financial means of individuals.

These included rock-cut graves, stone cairns, grave towers, trough-shaped graves, jar burials, small “dakhmaks” and ossuaries. Such funerary structures are referred to as “dakhmak” in many Sasanian inscriptions.

Ebrahimi highlighted the archaeological importance of the Marvdasht plain, saying that the area contains the largest known concentration of Sasanian inscriptions, with more than 50 inscriptions discovered and reread to date.

The plain also ranks first in terms of Sasanian funerary inscriptions, she added.

The inscription is believed to provide further evidence for the funerary practices and religious beliefs of Zoroastrian communities in the Marvdasht region during the final centuries of the Sasanian period.

AM

source: tehrantimes.com