The Ossuary of the Palang Gerd Fire Temple: New Evidence of Zoroastrian Funerary Practices During the Sasanid Period in Western Iran, Kermanshah

SHOKOUH KHOSRAVI, SAJJAD ALIBAIGI, ASGHAR RASHNO RAZI UNIVERSITY, KERMANSHAH / C.H.H.T.O. OF THE KERMANSHAH PROVINCE

THE OSSUARY OF THE PALANG GERD FIRE TEMPLE: NEW EVIDENCE OF ZOROASTRIAN FUNERARY PRACTICES DURING THE SASANID PERIOD IN WESTERN IRAN, KERMANSHAH

Presented to Mehdi Rahbar

SUMMARY Different aspects and customs of deceased’s interment and burial ceremonies practices during the Sasanid period have always been a challenging issue and a major inquest. Regarding the archaeological evidence, discussing the burial ceremonies of the Iranian society during the Sasanid period and its various aspects is difficult. Our knowledge about this society is limited for stating explicit suggestions in this regard since historical texts do not provide much information and the current archaeological data are not significant. A recently discovered ossuary (astudān) in the Sasanid fire temple of Palang Gerd, located in Kermanshah province, is presented in this study, followed by some reconsiderations regarding the religious aspects for the treatment of the deceased in the Sassanid period. Keywords: Sassanid period; Zoroastrian religion; burial; ossuary; astudān; Palang Gerd.

RÉSUMÉ Les différents aspects des pratiques de l’inhumation des défunts et les cérémonies funéraires durant la période sassanide ont toujours constitués une question provocante et ont été l’objet de recherches importantes. Discuter des cérémonies funéraires et de leurs divers aspects dans la société iranienne à l’époque sassanide se révèle difficile. Notre connaissance de la société de cette époque n’est en effet pas suffisante pour proposer des explications, lorsqu’on se fonde sur les quelques textes disponibles et sur les données archéologiques limitées. Un ossuaire (astudān) récemment découvert dans le temple du feu sassanide de Palang Gerd, dans la province de Kermanshah, est présenté dans cet article, accompagné de considérations sur les aspects religieux concernant le traitement des morts à cette période. Mots clés : période sassanide ; religion zoroastrienne ; sépulture ; ossuaire ; astudān ; Palang Gerd. * * *

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INTRODUCTION Very little archaeological data and few written documents on Sasanid burials are available. These limited and scattered information have led to different interpretations about burial practices during the Sasanid period (3rd-7th c. CE).1 We are not sure if these traditions were related to Zoroas- trian doctrine, preventing to pollute the soil with corpses2 or if there was another still unknown reason. If this situation is related to Zoroastrian religious prescriptions, then to whom belonged the Sasanid Shoghab cemetery of Bushehr (figs. 1-4), the Sasanid burial in War Kabud cemetery, and those of Qaleh Kangelu in Mazandaran (Fig. 5), Babajilan in Nurabad (Luristan) and the cemetery of Top Askar Adel Khatat near Kalar in Gar- miyan town, in Kurdistan of Iraq? Did these graves belong to non-Zoro- astrian populations during the Sasanid period? If so, which burial evidence should be related with Sasanid Zoroastrians? Why the burial evidence (grave, astudān, dakhmeh) are very rare in this period? These questions illustrate the complexity of the discussions about burial practices during the Sasanid period, showing the limits of our knowledge on this period. A major part of this problem may be attributed to Zoroastrian prescriptions and people’s concepts about death during the Sasanid period. We know that other religious minorities such as Christians, Jews, Manicheans etc. were also living in that time and that they had no problem with burying their dead in graves; this can turn the scarcity of Sasanid burial evidence into an unresolved question. Zoroastrian prescriptions with regard to the avoidance of the pollution of the soil can be considered as one of the reasons of this lack of evidence. The rock cut graves in Siraf, Bishapur and the Kuh-e Rahmat Mountain are attributed to the Sasanid era3 and illustrate Zoroastrian considerations as the deceased are not buried in the soil. However, there were no such restrictions during the Parthian period (2nd c. BC-early 3rd c. CE) as demonstrated by many cemeteries of that period such as Sang-e Shir in Hamadan, Anahita temple in Kangavar, Taq-e Bustan, Germi-ye Moghan, Susa, Gelalak in Shushtar, Valiran in Damavand and others that have been discovered. In these Parthian cemeteries, the burial practices were not creating soil pollution as the bodies there were usually put in a pithos (enchytrism), a stone or a ceramic coffin, or inside a hand carved space in the rock.

1 See Trümpelmann 1984; Farjamirad 2015a; Farjamirad 2015b. 2 Daryaee 2009, p. 65 3 Ghirshman 1962, p. 166, Fig. 210; Ghirshman 1971, VII, p. 2 and Pl. 34, 1-5; Boucharlat 1991; Ja‘fari 1386/2007; Whitehouse 1974.

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Yet the question still remains open: why despite general religious similarities between the Parthian and Sasanid periods, no major Sasanid cemeteries have been identified up till now?

BURIAL CUSTOMS AND PRACTICES DURING THE SASANID PERIOD Little information about the burial practices is given in Zoroastrian scriptures such as the Vendīdād, Šāyist nē Šāyist, Mēnōg-ī Xerad, Dēnkard, Ādur Farnbay Farroxzādān and Revāyat-e Omīd Ašavahištān.4 However, these texts cannot be the only precise framework about the methods and religious practices dealing with death in the Sasanid Zoroastrianism: archaeological evidence should certainly be taken into consideration as more than just a complementary element. Leo Trümpelmann studied the funerary procedures of the Sasanid period based on the archaeological evidence and categorized them into five types.5 He mentioned the towers of silence,6 the holes dug into the hori- zontal rock surface (considered as a collective ossuary, astudān),7 the stone niches, the pithoi graves on vertical columns8 and the simple pit graves as different types of interment in this period.9 Based on the available evidence at that time, the pit graves were the less frequent burial method mentioned by Trümpelmann. Although these graves are the most usual type in any period and in any area, they are nonetheless very rare among Sasanid burial evidence in Iran and were limited to Haftvan Tepe,10 War Kabud,11 Qumis12 and Tal-e Malyan.13

4 Ṣafā-ye Eṣfahāni 1376/1997, p. 296. 5 Trümpelmann 1984. 6 Trümpelmann advocated that the ruins of Hosein Abad site and another site known as Tal-e Khandaq were in fact towers of silent. He suggested that Tal-e Khandaq had probably belonged to Kartīr (Trümpelmann 1984). However, recent studies confir- med that these constructions (Tal-e Khandaq) were a type of Sasanid defensive architecture in Fars area (Ghasemi 2012). It seems that the only identified Sasanid silent tower is in Bandiyan, Dargaz (Heydarpur & Rahbar 2009). No similar case has been found elsewhere. 7 For recent discoveries see Huff 1988; Id. 1998; Id. 2004; Ja‘fari 1386/2007. 8 For recent discoveries see Farjamirad 2015a. 9 A large number of gravestones (ex. Akbarzadeh 2002; Tafazzoli 1991; Tafazzoli & Sheikh-al-Hokamayi 1994; Naṣrollāhzādeh 2002; Naṣrollāhzādeh & Javeri 2002; Javeri 2004) or so-called Dakhmag inscription have been specifically found in Fars and are usually attributed to the early Islamic period, probably between the 7th and the 10th centuries AD (Tafazzoli 1997). Although the writing style of these inscriptions is related to the Islamic period, yet based on their content, they clearly belonged to Zoroastrians. 10 Burney 1970, pp. 169-171, figs. 7-9 and Pl. VIIc-d, VIIIb-c; 1973, p. 172, Pl.VIIId 11 Vanden Berghe 1972. 12 Stronach 1968; Hansman & Stronach 1970; Bivar 1970. 13 Balcer 1978.

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However, the recent discoveries from the Qaleh Kangelu in Savadkuh in Mazandaran,14 a grave in Babajilan at Nurabad-e Luristan,15 two cemeteries at Shoghab on the north coast of the Persian Gulf16 and Top Askar Adel Khatat in the Kurdistan of Iraq17 should be also taken into consideration here. One of the recently discovered types of burial from the Sasanid period is a tomb found during the excavations conducted by the late Masoud Azarnoush in Firuzabad, Fars, decorated with wall paintings.18

14 Soourtijee 2011. Several graves were discovered during a salvage excavation around Kangelu castle, Savadkuh, Mazandaran province. The material discovered, such as glazed vessels and signet rings with Pahlavi inscription, permitted to date them to the Sasanid period. Six rings, one green glazed vessel, a glass scent box and a silver vessel were found with the deceased in a cairn-grave (see Soourtijee 2011, fig. 5). 15 In the results of the study of the Babajilan Iron Age cemetery in Nurabad, Atā Ḥasanpur referred to the radiocarbon dating results of a bone, which belonged to Sasanid period (Ḥasanpur 2012; Hasanpur et al. 2015). 16 Rahbar 1998. Mehdi Rahbar excavations in Shoghab cemetery in Bushehr have led to the most significant discoveries related to the funeral practices during the Sassanid period (Rahbar 1998; Rahbar 2007; and Rahbar, unpublished). This cemetery is located on the northern rocky coast of the Persian Gulf. Rahbar found two types of graves, those carved into the rock and those made of slate stones (figs. 1-4). No bones were found in most of the graves, but some intact skeletons were found in some of them. Small pithoi containing bones were usually discovered beside the graves, horizontally buried at the same level of the graves. The graves were covered by slate stones which were a little wider that the graves (cf. Rahbar, unpublished). In parallel with this discovery in Shoghab, some ossuaries were found from previous excavations and surveys. In addition to torpedo-shaped jars and vessels for daily usage, the use of stone ossuaries was also common. Some small decorative objects and some copper Sasanid coins were found in some graves, even those without bones (Rahbar, unpublished). Theya Molleson mentions the stone ossuaries transferred from Liyan in Bushehr to the British Museum. They contained almost complete human bones, some of which bore traces of animal teeth (Molleson 2009). Based on their location, these ossuaries were probably found in Shoghab cemetery, 3 km. away from Liyan; later similar stone graves and ossuaries were discovered in this area (Rahbar 1998; Rahbar, unpublished). 17 Karim 2014. Top Askar Adel Khatat cemetery is the most recent discovery related to the Sasanid funerary practices (excavations by the Kurdish archaeologists of the Garmiyan Province Cultural Heritage Organization in Iraqi Kurdistan). This cemetery is located in Top Askar village, in Kalar County (shahrestān). Unfortunately, some of the graves were destroyed but the results of the excavations of several of them were quite interesting. The graves were simple pits dug in the ground and marked on the surface with small rubbles. In some graves, the deceased had been placed under a cairn burial. The bodies were in the supine position with their hands on their belly (Karim 2014). Ceramic vessels and in some cases glass and bronze wares, seals and coins were discovered inside the graves. Some deceased wore rings made of onyx and bronze or necklaces of onyx and shells. The objects had been positioned around the head, hips or ankles of the bodies (Karim 2014). Based on the ceramic vessels, glass objects, seals and especially the two silver Sasanid coins attributed to Kavad I, their dating definitely goes back to the Sasanid period. 18 Azarnoush 2007.

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The plaster ossuaries in fire temples are the most unusual and less known type among the Sasanid interment remaining; the Palang Gerd case also supports Mehdi Rahbar’s hypothesis of an astudān (though no bones have been found) for the big plaster trunks in Room E of the Bandiyan complex.19

INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE TEXTS Some researchers believe that Zoroastrians were leaving the corpse in open spaces20 in order to let the sun purify the body (khorshidnegaresh),21 yet the Zoroastrian texts suggest that exposing the body to dogs and then collecting the bones of the deceased and placing them in an ossuary used to be one of the most common methods during the Sasanid period.22 The sixth Fargard of Vendīdād, § 49-51, mentions that after the removal of the flesh, the bones should be put inside a receptacle (astudān), out of the reach of dogs, wolves and foxes, and protected from rain-water. If possible, the believers of Ahura Mazda should put them inside stone, limestone or clay box.23 Concerning the places of exposure, Vendīdād 6.45-48 only recom- mended to deposit the bodies in the highest places so that the animals and birds can feed on them. Their hair and legs were tied to prevent them from being scattered.24 In the Revāyat of Ādur Farnbay Farroxzādān, a Pahlavi text on Zoro- astrian theology attributed to the 3rd century A.D. in form of questions and answers between Zoroastrian believers and Ādur Farnbay, two questions and answers are clearly mentioned in regard to depositing the teeth in the ossuaries.25 The sixth Fargard of Vendīdād, written in the early Islamic period, but probably composed earlier, before or around 600 A.D., contains a series of prescriptions on funeral rites.26

19 Rahbar 2004, p. 10-13 ; Rahbar 2008, p. 19-20, fig. 16-25. 20 Mazdāpur 2002. 21 Mazdāpur 2011. 22 Farjamirad 2015b 23 Boyce 1975, pp. 326-327. 24 Boyce 1975, pp. 327-328. 25 Rezai Baghbidi 2005, p. 86, 88. 26 “O Maker of the material world, thou holy One! Whither shall we bring, where shall we lay the bodies of the dead, O Ahura Mazda? Ahura Mazda answered: ‘On the highest summits, where they know there are always corpse-eating dogs and corpse-eating birds, O holy Zarathushtra! O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Whither shall we bring, where shall we lay the bones of the dead, O Ahura Mazda?’ Ahura Mazda answered: ‘The worshippers of Mazda shall make a receptacle out of the reach of the dog, of the fox, and of the wolf, and wherein rain-water cannot stay.’ ”

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According to this Zoroastrian text, if the body is to be deposited in open spaces, the bones devoided of any meat and skin should be placed in an ossuary made of stone, ceramic or plaster. Even the person’s teeth lost prior to death should be placed in an ossuary.

EVIDENCE OF BURIAL DURING THE SASANID PERIOD: OSSUARIES IN FIRE TEMPLES A significant discovery related to the Sasanid burial customs comes from Room E of the Bandiyan complex in Dargaz (Fig. 6). Mehdi Rahbar discovered some plaster receptacles nearby the walls of the room (Fig. 7); he believes that this place was dedicated to the preservation of human bones.27 He named this room, which is adjacent to the fire temple, the astudān and suggested that despite the total absence of human remains retrieved during the excavations, these plaster receptacles decorated with graffiti representing a hunting scene and several animals and mythic animals were ossuaries.28 Philippe Gignoux wrote a detailed critical article about Rahbar’s interpretation of Bandiyan complex and indicated that pre- serving human remains close to a fire temple would not be allowed, thus criticizing the interpretation of Room E as an ossuary.29 He advocated that these plaster containers were probably used for storing grain and cereal. In turn, Rahbar wrote a paper in response to this criticism, using historical texts and quoting Mary Boyce statement that locating ossuaries three steps away from the fireplace was permitted.30 Following this discussion, in our view, the new discoveries from the Palang Gerd fire temple excavations are in line with the hypothesis of Rahbar, and Bandiyan Room E may well have been a place for storing human bones.

NEW ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE FROM THE PALANG GERD FIRE TEMPLE The 2012 excavations conducted in Tepe Palang Gerd in the shahre- stān (county) of Islamabad-e Gharb, Kermanshah Province, revealed an important fire temple (Figs. 8-9) and remarkable burial practice evidence related to the Sasanid period.31 This fire temple, measuring 17×17 metres by reconstruction, was probably located in the western part of a large Sasa- nid site.32 The excavated area covers almost the three-fifth of a large

27 Rahbar 2004. 28 See Rahbar 2008. 29 Gignoux 2008. 30 Rahbar 2015. 31 Khosravi & Rashno 2012; Id. 2014. 32 Khosravi 2014.

T H E O S S U A R Y O F T H E P A L A N G G E R D F I R E T E M P L E 57 building (fire temple) the western part of which was completely destroyed due to earthworks by local population (Fig. 10). The building was constructed with rubble stones immersed in mortar and plaster and consisted of four large piers (dimensions: 270×270 cm) surrounded by a corridor 2.5 meters wide equipped with two thresholds on its southern and eastern sides. Two (fire) altars have been discovered during the excavations, one at the centre of the eastern corridor, right in front of the eastern threshold, and the other one in the middle of the southern corridor (Fig. 11).33 Besides, the remnants of an invocation platform in the shape of a T with a tripod plaster base on the top of it, a square depression at the centre of the building (similar to the one at Takht-e Suleiman, Mele Hairam, Bandiyan etc.34), several stucco platforms at the foot of the piers and a number of broken stucco fragments were discovered. Based on the studies of the architectural remains, plaster finds, ceramic inscriptions and the totality of the material discovered on the site, it seems that the Palang Gerd fire temple is a construction to be dated to the last two centuries of the Sasanid period, ca. the 6th-7th century A.D.35 The excavation of the central part of the remains of the southern corridor indicated that due to the technical architectural problems and in order to prevent the destruction of the building, a brick wall, parallel to the southern wall of the building, has been constructed in the southern corridor. A plaster trunk was later added to the northern side of this brick wall (Figs. 12-15). This platform or trunk has a rectangular shape with east-west direction and is parallel to the main southern wall. It measures 250 cm in length, between 55 to 60 cm in width and 50 cm in height (Fig. 16). The mentioned structure is located on the eastern part of the southern threshold, almost at the south of the southeast pier, and at 620 cm distance from the eastern wall of the building, on the plaster floor of the fire temple. The building of this platform in front of the brick wall, which has 135 cm width, only left a distance of 55 cm to the southeast pier of the building and probably limited the circulation space. The eastern side of this trunk was also built 290 cm afar from the southern fire altar of the building. The trunk consists of a simple plaster plate (55×45 cm) on the eastern side, a long plaster plate (46×183 cm) on the northern side, a small added plaster plate (55×50 cm) with a decorative keyhole and a simple plaster plate only with a half decorative keyhole (21×29 cm) on the eastern side of the platform (Figs. 15-16). Its upper part (the cover) consists of a 250 cm

33 Khosravi & Rashno 2014. 34 See Kaim 2004. 35 According to ceramic assemblage, some ostraca, plan of building, etc.

58 SH. KHOSRAVI, S. ALIBAIGI, A. RASHNO StIr 47, 2018 long plaster plate coated with a thin layer of plaster. The upper part of this trunk is a little larger than the lower part and looks like a roof or a door for the trunk. The platform surface has been damaged due to the filling of the building. The northern plate was decorated with four circular motifs, each encompassing four palm trees almost symmetrically two by two in front of each other (Figs. 12-13, 16). The distance between these circles from west to east is 7, 3, 3 and 7 cm respectively. The eastern side of the platform has a plate 55 cm wide with a keyhole decoration, probably added later. The material, colour and decoration of the façade plaster plaques of the trunk are similar to plaques used for other plastered trunks found elsewhere in the fire temple. More importantly, the lower part of the plaques was built on the main floor of the fire temple and as the trunk was frequently recoated with plaster, it indicates that it had been constructed during the period of activity of the fire temple, probably after some reparations. The same series of four plastered floors is obvious at the centre of the fire temple and clearly shows that after the construction of the trunk the fire temple kept being used for relatively a long time as its floor was then coated at least four times (Figs. 10 and 18). In our opinion, this observation is of utmost importance regarding the relative chronology of the fire temple and the astudān. There is a considerable amount of ashes on the western side of the central part of the building onto the uppermost plaster floor, which is right beside the fire holder located on the southwestern side of the fire temple (Fig. 17). This amount of ashes indicates that the building was a fire temple until its end. The ashes on the plaster floor with their traces extended on the surface of the trunk clearly show that the it was in use when the temple was still functioning, and even after its construction the building continued its religious functions as a fire temple. On the last days of the excavation, the trunk has been examined in order to determine its content. A 30×40 cm area from the added part was cut with a stone saw (Fig. 18). Three rows of brick were found under the removed plaster layer, and some pieces of human bones and two teeth were found under these bricks (Figs. 19 and 20). The size and the deterioration of the teeth showed that one of them belonged to an adult and another one to a child. The bones inside this trunk confirm it functioned as an astudān. We took some samples from the bones for complementary and labora- tory investigations, firstly in order to ascertain the gender of the deceased based on genetic tests, secondly, to obtain the definite dating, and finally to have a partial understanding of the process the human remains went through before ending in the astudān. The paleogenetic analysis of one of the bone samples conducted by Dr. Maryam Ramezani (Genetic Laborato- ry of Dr. Akbari in Tehran) revealed that the bone belonged to a female.

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Thus it should be noted that at least one of the bones of the people buried in the Palang Gerd ossuary belonged to a woman or a girl. No burial objects or any other type of material were found in the excavated area around the ossuary. However, the discovery of similar remains in unexca- vated parts of the ossuary is very likely. We have opened only one of the four discovered trunks. One was severely broken and the others were filled up with pebbles and mud bricks.

CONCLUSION This discovery indicates the existence of secondary burial (after discar- nation) in some Iranian Sasanid fire temples as it may be in Bandiyan, probably suggesting some evolution in the Zoroastrian practices of that time. What is the nature of the evolution in the Zoroastrian religion leading to depositing human remains inside a fire temple, a holy place for Zoro- astrians? What was the social status of the person buried there? Had their bones been previously exposed to wild animals and birds, according to the common practice, and consequently are there any traces of animal teeth on them? These investigations are currently in progress and hopefully their results will give us some clues in order to clarify this matter. The common feature of Palang Gerd and Bandiyan fire temples is the use of plaster material in the construction of their ossuaries. While the ossuary of Bandiyan is decorated with mythic motifs, a unique vegetal decorative motif is used in Palang Gerd. Both Palang Gerd and Bandiyan ossuaries have similar dimensions and are located more than three steps away from the fire altar. The genetic analysis showed that at least one of the bones belonged to a woman in Palang Gerd, which makes the argument about the buried person(s) inside the fire temple even more complicated. Before the genetic result became available, it was assumed that the person(s) buried inside the fire temple was most probably a man of a high social rank, belonging to the religious or military social group. But the genetic analysis ruled out this hypothesis and we should look for another explanation now. There is no doubt, however, that the deposited bones must have belonged to a woman enjoying a very special position within the Sasanid society of her time.

Shokouh KHOSRAVI Sajjad ALIBAIGI Asghar RASHNO Department of Archaeology, Department of Archaeology, CHHTO of the Kermanshah Razi University, Razi University, Province, Kermanshah, Kermanshah, Kermanshah, Iran Iran Iran

[email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

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Acknowledgments We would like to express our gratitude to Mr Mehdi Rahbar for his valuable advice and his kind permission to use some of his unpublished data. We also thank Dr Meysam Nikzad, Behzad Ali Talesh, Shahram Aliyari, Farhad Fattahi and Nahid Saqafi Yazdi who helped us in Palang Gerd during the excavations, and Mr Naser Aminikhah for drawing a sketch of the Palang Gerd ossuary. Our gratitude goes to Dr Maryam Ramezani for examining the human remains discovered inside the Palang Gerd ossuary, as well as to Mr Mehdi Rahbar, Dr Mahdokht Farjamirad, Dr Rémy Boucharlat and Professor Dietrich Huff for reading and commenting on the earlier versions of this article, and Mahdieh Mohammadi and Dr Francois Desset for editing the English of this article.

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Ja‘fari 1386sh./2007 Ja‘fari, Moḥammad Ja‘far, “Gurhā-ye Kuh-e Raḥmat: madāreki dar zamine-ye shivehā-ye tadfin-e dowrehā-ye Hakhāmaneshi tā Sāsāni dar Fārs,” Iranian Journal of Archaeology and History, Majalleh bāstān- shenāsi va tārikh 21-22/2-1, Nos. 42-43 (1386sh./2007), pp. 60-67. Javeri 2004 Javeri, Moḥsen, “Mo‘arefi do katibe-ye nowyāfte va monhaser be-fard be khaṭṭ-e Pahlavi Sāsāni dar shahrestān-e Semirum,” in Proceedings of the First National Congress of Iranian Studies, 17-20 June 2002, Art and Archaeology, vol. I, Tehran: Bonyād-e Irānshenāsi, 1383sh/2004, pp. 177-187. Kaim 2004 Kaim, Barbara, “Ancient fire temples in the light of the discovery at Mele Hairam,” Iranica Antiqua 39 (2004), pp. 323-337. Karim 2014 Karim, Moḥammad ‘Ali, “Preliminary report on Excavations of the Cemetery of Top Askar Adel Khatat,” Subartu Journal 8 (2014), pp. 133-154 [in Kurdish]. Khosravi 1393sh./2015 Khosravi, Shokuh, “Gozāresh-e gamānezani be manẓur-e ta‘in-e ḥarim va pishnehād-e arseh-ye Tapeh-ye Palang Gerd-e shahrestān-e Eslām- ābād-e Gharb, Kermānshāh,” unpublished report, Archive of the Cultu- ral Heritage Organization of Kermanshah Province and ICAR [Iranian Centre for Archaeological Research], 1393sh./2015. Khosravi & Rashno 1391sh./2012 Khosravi, Shokuh; Asghar Rashno, “Gozāresh-e kāvesh-e ezterāri Tapeh-ye Palang Gerd-e shahrestān-e Eslāmābād-e Gharb, Kermān- shāh,” unpublished report, the Archive of the Cultural Heritage Organi- zation of the Kermanshah Province and ICAR [Iranian Centre for Archaeological Research], 1391sh./2012. ——— 1393sh./2014 Khosravi, Shokuh; Asghar Rashno “Gozāresh-e mokhtaṣari az kāvesh-e ezterāri-ye mohavvate-ye Palang Gerd-e shahrestān-e Eslāmābād-e Gharb, Kermānshāh”, in K. Rustāe’i and M. Gholāmi (eds.), Abstracts of the 12th Annual Symposium of Iranian Archaeology, 29-31 Ordibe- hesht-e 1393, Tehran: Research Center of the Iranian Cultural Heritage, 1393sh./2014, pp. 177-179. Mazdāpur 1381sh./2002 Mazdāpur, Katāyun, “Niyāyesh barā-ye dargoẕashtegān”, in K. Mazdā- pur (ed.), Sorush-e Pir-e Moghān, Yādnāmeh-ye Jamshid Sorushiyān, Tehrān: Sorayā, 1381sh./2002, pp. 366-380. ——— 1390sh./2011 Mazdāpur, Katāyun, “Dādgāh-e Cham (Mo‘arefi va naghd-e ketāb),” Iranian Journal of Archaeology and History / Majalleh bāstānshenāsi va tārikh 25/1, n° 49 (1390sh./2011), pp. 80-84. Mirfattāh 1374sh./1995 Mirfattāh, Seyyed ‘Ali Asghar, “Gurestān-e Shoghāb, ‛arżeh-dāsht dar havā-ye āzād va dafn be shiveh-ye ostukhāndān”, Āthār 25 (1374sh./ 1995), pp. 41-61.

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Molleson 2009 Molleson, Theya, “Two Sasanian Ossuaries from Bushehr, Iran. Evi- dence for Exposure of Dead,” Bioarchaeology of Near East 3 (2009), pp. 1-16. Naṣrollāhzādeh 1381sh./2002 Naṣrollāhzādeh, Sirus, “Katibeh sang-e mazār-e Tal-e Sefid”, in K. Mazdāpur (ed.), Sorush-e Pir-e Moghān, Yādnāmeh-ye Jamshid Sorushiyān, Tehran: Sorayā, 1381sh./2002, pp. 385-391. Naṣrollāhzādeh & Javeri 1381sh./2002 Naṣrollāhzādeh, Sirus; Moḥsen Javeri “Mazār neveshtehā-ye now-yāfte be khaṭṭ-e pahlavi-ye sāsāni az Cheshmehā-ye Semirum,” Nāmeh-ye Irān-e Bāstān, 2/2 (1381sh./2002), pp. 71-77. Rahbar 1377sh./1998 Rahbar, Mehdi, “Gozāresh-e kāvesh-e gurestān-e Shoghāb-e Bushehr,” unpublished report, Archive of the Cultural Heritage Organization of Bushehr Province and Iranian Centre for Archeaological Research [ICAR], 1377sh./1998. ——— 1998 Rahbar, Mehdi, “Découverte d’un monument d’époque sassanide à Bandian, Dargaz (Nord Khorassan). Fouilles 1994 et 1995”, Studia Iranica 27/2 (1998), pp. 213-250. ——— 1378sh./1999 Rahbar, Mehdi, “Mo‘arefi-ye ādoriān-e makshuf-e dowreh-ye Sāsāni dar Bandiān-e Dargaz va barresi-ye moshkelāt-e me‘māri-ye ān”, in B. Āyatollāhzādeh Shirāzi (ed.), Dovvomin kongre-ye tārikh-e me‘māri va šahrsāzi-ye Īrān / Second Congress of The History of Iranian Archi- tecture and Urbanism, Bam Citadel, Kerman-Iran, April 14- 18 1999, vol. II, Tehran: Sāzemān Mirath-e Farhāngi-e Keshvar [C.H.O.], 1378sh./1999, pp. 315-341. ——— 2004 Rahbar, Mehdi, “Le monument sassanide de Bandian, Dargaz. Un temple du feu d’après les dernières découvertes 1996-98”, Studia Iranica 33/1 (2004), pp. 7-30. ——— 2007 Rahbar, Mehdi, “A Tower of silence of the Sasanian Period at Ban- diyan. Some Observations about Dakhmas in Zoroastrian Religion,” in J. Cribb and G. Herrmann (eds.), After Alexander. Central Asia before Islam, Proceedings of The British Academy 133, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007, pp. 455-473. ——— 2008 Rahbar, Mehdi, “The Discovery of A Sasanian Period Fire Temple at Bandian, Dargaz”, in D. Kennet and P. Luft (eds.), Current Research in Sasanian Archaeology, Art And History (Proceedings of a Conference held at Durham University 2001), BAR International Series 1810, Oxford, 2008, pp. 15-40. ——— 1394sh./2015 Rahbar, Mehdi, “Ātashkadeh-ye Bandiyān-e Dargaz yek bār-e digar,” Pazhuheshhā bāstānshenāsi modares / Modarres Archaeological Research 3/5 (1394sh./2015), pp. 167-177. ——— [n.d.] Rahbar, Mehdi, “Negareshi bar bāvarhā-ye Zartoshtiyān bar pāyeh-ye kāveshhā-ye Shoghāb-e Bushehr,” unpublished paper (in Persian), n.d.

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Ṣafā-ye Eṣfahāni 1376sh./1997 Ṣafā-ye Eṣfahāni, Nozhat, Ravāyat-e Omid Ashavahishtan, Tehran: Markaz, 1376sh./1997. Simpson & Molleson 2014 Simpson, St John; Theya Molleson, “Old Bones Overturned: New Evi- dence for Funerary Practices from the Sasanian Empire,” in A. Fletcher, D. Antoine and J. H. Hill (eds), Regarding The Dead: Human Remains in The British Museum, British Museum Research Publication 197, London: 2014, pp. 77-90. Surtiji 1390sh./2011 Surtiji [Soourtijee], Sāmān, “Mo‘arefi-ye shiveh-ye tadfini az dowreh- ye sāsāni dar Qal‘eh-ye Kangelu vāghe‘ dar Savādkuh-e Māzandarān,” Motale‘āt-e Bāstānshenāsi/Journal of Archeological Studies 4 (1390sh./ 2011), pp. 77-92. Stronach 1968 Stronach, David, “Tepe Nush-i Jan and Shahr-i Komis,” Iran 6 (1968), p. 162. Tafazzoli 1991 Tafazzoli, Ahmad, “L’inscription funéraire de Kāzerun II (Parišān),” Studia Iranica 20/2 (1991), pp. 197-202. ——— 1997 Tafażżoli, Aḥmad, Tārikh-e adabiyāt-e Irān-e pish az Eslām, ed. by Zh. Amuzgar (ed.), Tehran: Āgāh, 1376sh./1997. Tafazzoli & Sheikh-al-Hokamayi 1994 Tafazzoli, Ahmad; Emad al-Din Sheikh-al-Hokamayi, “The Pahlavi funerary inscription from Mashtān (Kāzerun III),” Archäologische Mitteilungen aus Iran 27 (1994), pp. 265-267. Trümpelmann 1984 Trümpelmann, Leo, “Sasanian Graves and Burial Customs,” in R. Bou- charlat and J. F. Salles (eds.), Arabie Orientale, Mésopotamie et Iran Méridional: de l’Age du Fer au début de la période islamique, Paris : Editions Recherches sur les Civilisations, 1984, pp. 317-329. Vanden Berghe 1972 Vanden Berghe, Louis, “Recherches archéologiques dans le Luristan. Cinquième campagne 1969, Prospection dans le Pusht-i Kuh central,” Iranica Antiqua 11 (1972), pp. 1-48. Whitehouse 1972 Whitehouse, David, “Excavations at Siraf: Fifth Interim Report,” Iran 10 (1972), pp. 63-88. ——— 1974 Whitehouse, David, “Excavations at Siraf: Sixth Interim Report,” Iran 12 (1974), pp. 1-30.

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Fig. 1: Shoghab, Bushehr, rock cut tombs of the Sasanian period (after Rahbar 2007, fig. 19).

Fig. 2: Shoghab, Bushehr, details of rock Fig. 3: Shoghab, Bushehr, one of the cut tombs (© Courtesy of Mehdi Rahbar). graves (© Courtesy of Mehdi Rahbar).

Fig. 4: Shoghab, small pithoi were used as astudāns (© Courtesy of Mehdi Rahbar).

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Fig. 5: The Sasanian grave near Qaleh Kangelu, Mazan- daran (after Surtiji 2011, fig. 4).

Fig. 6: Bandiyan, plan of the temple, and Room E on the northern side of the fire temple containing the boxes interpreted as astudāns (after Rahbar 2008, fig. 2).

Fig. 7: Bandiyan, the gypsum boxes, astudāns, in room E (After Rahbar 2008, fig. 16; and Rahbar 1999, fig. 8).

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Fig. 8: The location of the Sasanian fire temples at Bandiyan and Palang Gerd, and some sites cited in the text (© Courtesy of Francois Desset).

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Fig. 10: Plan of the preserved part of the Palang Gerd fire temple and location of the astudān in the southern corridor. Note the five other trunks against the piers (Drawing by Amir Rashadi, digitizing by Sa‘id Bahramiyan and Someyeh Zeinali. © Sh. Khosravi and A. Rashno, 2012).

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Fig. 12: Palang Gerd. Closer view of the south corridor where the astudān is located (© Sh. Khosravi and A. Rashno, 2012).

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Fig. 15: Palang Gerd. Location of the astudān in southern corridor of the fire temple and situation of the fire altar (© Sh. Khosravi and A. Rashno, 2012).

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Fig. 16: Palang Gerd, astudān: a small added plaster plate with keyhole motif (view from the east) (© Sh. Khosravi and A. Rashno, 2012).

Fig. 17: Sketch of plaster astudān from Palang Gerd with circular and keyhole motifs (© Drawing by Naser Aminikhah, 2012).

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Fig. 18. Palang Gerd. Ashes in the middle of the fire temple onto the uppermost plastered floor corresponding to the last floor against the astudān (© Sh. Khosravi and A. Rashno, 2012).

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Fig. 20: Palang Gerd. The small excavated part of the astudān where the human bones were discovered (© Sh. Khosravi and A. Rashno, 2012).