Evolution of the Zoroastrian Iconography and Temple Cults

O. BASIROV ANES 38 (2001) 160-177 Evolution of the Zoroastrian Iconography and Temple Cults Oric BASIROV 1 Ilchester Place London W14 8AA UK Fax: +44 207 602 9280 E-mail: [email protected] Abstract The Gathas of Zoroaster does not refer to any iconography or temples. Indeed, a doctrinal aversion to such rituals can be detected in his teachings. His seven abstract and amorphic Amesha Spentas, for example, are probably the first purely conceptual deities with a built-in deterrent to artistic representation. His prescribed places of daily rituals, moreover, are mountaintops and riverbanks, and not temples. Such devotional purity and simplicity is also confirmed by the lack of hardly any archaeological evidence to the contrary in the prophet's homeland in Eastern Iran. This is also the case in the pre-imperial period in Western Iran, where the centre of religion moved early in the first millennium BC. Assyrian annals and many classical writers also confirm that Medes and early Achaemenians did not have any cult statues and temples. The latter, however, soon after forming the first world empire, developed the many aspects of, by now, familiar Zoroastrian iconography. This was inspired, no doubt, by the artistic repertoire of their western subjects, such as the Babylonians, Elamites, Greeks and Egyptians. Nor could the Achaemenians refrain, towards the end of their rule, from building temples, both to house their own sacred fire, and the alien-inspired divine images. These two distinct temple cults, established around 400 BC, appear to have spread throughout the Achaemenian, and later, the Parthian Empires. Their religious significance was not challenged until the iconoclastic Sasanians (224- 637 AD) removed the divine images from their temples. However, the fire-temples and religious iconography have remained permanent features of the Zoroastrian devotional life since the Achaemenian times. EVOLUTION OF THE ZOROASTRIAN ICONOGRAPHY AND TEMPLE CULTS 161 Doctrinal and Historical Backgrounds Many scholars, probably the majority, date Zoroaster to the early second millennium BC. This would make him the earliest of the great thinkers, and the first of the great prophets. He is, therefore, credited with initiating the many basic religious principles now taken for granted. The list is truly formidable. Indeed, with him the use of the adjective “first” becomes very repetitive: the first revealed faith, the first moralist, the first eschatologist. He taught us such prominent concepts as the Heaven and Hell and the Limbo, the Final and Individual Days of Judgment, the coming of the Mes- siah, Resurrection, and such routine duties as prayers, ablution, sermons, confession of sins, seeking repentance and many other sacred rituals.1 Nonetheless, in spite of all the fundamental doctrines attributed to him, his teachings lack in some elementary and practical concepts expected from a great faith. For example, in the surviving verses of the Gathas, believed to be his personal contribution to the texts of the Avesta, there is no reference to imagery, or to any building, whether devotional or sepulchral.2 Hence, to an orthodox Mazda-worshipper, adhering strictly to the Gathas, the very concept of “iconography and temple cults” must be an anathema. The great prophet himself, after all, does not seem to have en- couraged such religious paraphernalia. This doctrinal aversion to imagery could perhaps be deduced from one of his extra ordinary innovations, the seven abstract and amorphic deities, the Amesha Spentas, bounteous immor- tals.3 They probably constitute the first purely conceptual pantheon with a built-in deterrent to artistic representation. In addition to these abstract and amorphic deities, his prescribed venues for daily rituals are natural sites, such as, mountain tops and river banks, i.e., not temples or icons. We are therefore, faced with a faith requiring devotion in its purest and sim- plest form. 1 In view of the above, it seems so irrational and unjust, indeed it defies common sense, that a man who has made such an indelible impression on our lives is now all but forgotten by his material world. The italic here, incidentally, denotes yet another first: He was the first prophet to make a distinction between the material and the spiritual world. 2 Outside the Gathas in the Yashts, a number of pre-Zoroastrian gods and Iranian heroes have been physically portrayed. Moreover, the Vendidad describes three consecutive sepulchral buildings: Katas, Daxmas, and ossuaries, housing the corpse, respectively, before, during and after the exposure. There is, however, no mention of a constructed place of worship anywhere in the Avesta. 3 Spenta Mainyu (bounteous spirit), i.e., Ahura Mazdah himself, Vohu Manah (good thoughts), Asha Vahishta [best Asha (the Cosmic Order and righteousness)], Xshathra Vairya (desirable dominion), Spenta Armaiti (bounteous devotion), Haurvatat (wholeness), and Ameretat (immortality). 162 O. BASIROV This requirement seems to have been rigorously observed, for a long time, not only in Eastern Iran, abbreviated to “the East”, which embodies the birth place of the prophet somewhere in south western Siberia, but also in Western Iran, “the West”, where the centre of the religion moved early in the first millennium BC. Lack of Clear Evidence from the Earlier Periods As late as the last decades of the Median Empire, i.e., the mid sixth century BC, archaeology is of little help in providing any direct and irrefutable evidence for even the establishment of the faith in the West. The Iranian religion as yet possessed no temples or any written liturgy.4 Its supreme “Wise Lord” and the lesser abstract deities did not lend themselves to any artistic representation. Even the anthropomorphic gods of the old faith do not appear to have inspired any religious iconography.5 None of its many rituals, such as the veneration of fire, had yet been artistically reproduced. It seems, therefore, that for many centuries after its arrival in the West, Zoro- astrianism possessed hardly any religious symbolism or imagery. Moreover, by banning burial, the faith has denied the archaeologists an indispensable tool of their profession, i.e., tombs, coffins, sarcophagi, grave goods, and of course, integral skeletal remains.6 Such dearth of archaeological evidence is corroborated by the surviving literary records: 1. There is no reference in the Gathas to any religious and funerary buildings or symbols. 2. Ancient Indian observance, so similar to Zoroastrian rituals, was also without temples. 3. In Assyrian annals, there is no record of pillage from any Median sanctuary, shrine, sepulchral monument or temple. 4. Many classical writers like Heraclitus of Ephesus, Herodotus, Cicero, and Strabo report that even the early Persians conducted their worship without images and temples. Heraclitus ridiculed men who prayed to statues, with a vigour equal to that of the Jews and Muslims.7 4 The Holy Texts were transmitted orally, and written down much later, probably not until the late Sasanian times. 5 Pre-Zoroastrian Iranians possessed, both in the East and the West, a sophisticated pantheon, with remarkable similarity to that of the Indians. Many old deities were incorporated into the new, reformed Zoroastrian faith. 6 Excarnated bones, after the exposure of the corpse, once bleached in the sun and totally desiccated, could in certain circumstances be collected and kept in small elaborate ossuaries. 7 West 1971, pp. 165-202, esp. p. 192. EVOLUTION OF THE ZOROASTRIAN ICONOGRAPHY AND TEMPLE CULTS 163 Herodotus (1.132) praised the Persians for not worshipping statues and not having any temples. Cicero (De Republica 3.9.14) states that Xerxes after the fall of Athens thought it “a sacrilege to keep the gods, who dwell in the whole universe, shut up within walls” and that “Per- sians considered representation of sacred statues in human form a wicked custom.” Available Archaeological Evidence Medes and early Achaemenians may have indeed observed their national faith in its purest form.8 The latter, however, soon after forming the first world empire in history, proved to be more pragmatic. Inspired by the artistic repertoire of their western subjects, such as the Elamites, Babylonians, Greeks and Egyptians, it didn't take the Persians very long to create the many aspects of, by now, familiar Zoroastrian iconography (see Part One). Nor could they refrain, towards the end of their rule, from committing the sacrilege of building temples, not only to house the sacred fire, but also the divine images (see Part Two). Part One: Examples of Zoroastrian Iconography The three examples of Zoroastrian iconography given below are the earliest and the most important religious symbols ever evolved in the West. The first and the third examples acquired, in addition an unprecedented and enduring political significance. 1) Xvarenah (the anthropomorphic winged disc) Figs 1-2 Avestan Xvarenah (Median *farnah, Middle Persian Fravahar, Modern Persian Forouhar), a pre-Zoroastrian divine fire and water concept, became synonymous with kings' celestial fortune, and his divine mandate to wield political authority. Indeed, an entire Yasht (Yt. 19) is dedicated to this deity, in which it is normally portrayed as a bird, particularly a falcon (e.g., Yt. 19, 34-38). By the early Achaemenian period, probably even earlier, it had acquired an icon in its well known shape. This idea was borrowed directly from the Assyrians, who had already added a human figure to the originally Egyptian winged disc. This image was depicted throughout the empire, on 8 However, the Achaemenians (and probably even the Medes) did not have any qualms about burying their dead in elaborately decorated mausoleums. 164 O. BASIROV rock reliefs, coins and seals, shown usually hovering above the monarch's head. This led some early archaeologists to interpret it as the image of Ahura Mazdah.9 At the end of the 19th century, modern Zoroastrians adopted it as the official symbol of their faith.

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