The Anahita Temple (
Persian: پرستشگاه آناهیتا) is the name of one of two archaeological sites in
Iran popularly thought to have been attributed to the ancient Iranian deity
Anahita. The larger and more widely known of the two is located at
Kangāvar in
Kermanshah Province. The other is located at
Bishapur.
The remains at
Kangavar display
Persian architectural designs. The
plinth's enormous dimensions for example, which measure just over 200m on a side, and its megalithic foundations, which echo
Achaemenid stone platforms, "constitute Persian elements".[1] This is thought to be corroborated by the "two lateral stairways that ascend the massive stone platform recalling Achaemenid traditions", particularly that of the
Apadana Palace at Persepolis.[2]
Another Iranian construction is the Khurra mausoleum in
Markazi Province.
Dispute on identity
Dispute exists among scholars on the correct identity of the main structure at the site.[3] The Encyclopædia Iranica in this regard concludes:
"Until detailed further excavations are carried out, no definite judgments may be declared on the function of Kangava platform"[4]
Excavation first began in 1968, by which time the "large structure with its great
Ionic columns set on a high stone platform"[5] had been associated with a comment by
Isidore of Charax, that refers to a "temple of Artemis" (Parthian Stations 6). References to Artemis in Iran are generally interpreted to be references to
Anahita, and thus Isidore's "temple of Artemis" came to be understood as a reference to a temple of Anahita.
Consequently, it has been commonly believed that the site was a "columnar temple dedicated to
Anahit."[6]Karim Pirnia, one of the proponents of this theory, believes that the construction belongs to the
Parthian style, which underwent renovations in the
Sassanid period.[7]Warwick Ball considers the structure "one of the greatest works of Parthian architecture" which has an "eastern Roman Temple form", with the architectural emphasis being on the
temenos.[8] As with
Arthur Upham Pope (1965, 1971), Ball (2001) also agrees that the temple architecturally "recalls Achaemenid traditions".[9] These and a number of other scholars continue to examine the site as being possibly attributed to the deity
Anahita.[10]
In 1981, a report[11] by an excavator of the site,
Massoud Azarnoush however contended that the construction "did not have the necessary characteristics that could identify it as a temple".[12]Ali Akbar Sarfaraz, former head of the archaeology team of the
Tehran University, shares this opinion.[13] The popular theory held by this group is that the ruin is of a "late Sasanian palace."[14]
Finally, a third group contends that the site was originally constructed in the
Achaemenid period, and underwent several phases of construction. Of this group, one can mention archeologist
Seifollah Kambakhshfard.[15][16][17]
Dispute on date of construction
Originally, 200 BCE was proposed as the date of the site's construction. "Under the
Parthians any observable western influence can just as well be a survival from the Hellenistic period, which is why the monument at Kangāvar was once acceptably dated as early Parthian while recent investigations proved it to be late
Sasanian."[18]
In this regard, Warwick Ball however states:
"Earlier studies favored a Seleucid date, with some suggesting an Achaemenid date for the platform. A date in the Parthian period has since been more generally favoured on stylistic grounds, but recent excavations found evidence for major Sassanian construction. However the colonnaded
temenos is different in almost every respect to Sassanian architecture. Probably, the
temple underwent numerous major reconstruction periods, with perhaps a 2nd-century AD date for the colonnaded temenos, and major Sassanian reconstruction of the sanctuary building inside."[19]
Anahita Temple at Bishapur
The
Temple of Anahita, Istakhr at
Bishapur, "was probably built by Roman prisoners, is well masoned of ashlar blocked walls, and with trapezoid shaped doorways."[20]
^Ball, Warwick. Rome in the East: The Transformation of an Empire London, New York, Routledge, 2000,
ISBN978-0-415-11376-2, p.330-331
^Abdi, Kamyar (2001). "Review: The Art and Archaeology of Ancient Persia: New Light on the Parthian and Sasanian Empires". Journal of Near Eastern Studies. 60 (3): 206–208.
doi:
10.1086/468928. p. 206-207
^Kawami, T. (1987).
"Architecture: Seleucid". Encyclopædia Iranical. Vol. 2. New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul. pp. 326–327. p. 326.
^Arthur Pope, Persian architecture; The triumph of form and color, George Braziller, New York, 1965, p.46
^Karim Pirnia, سبک شناسی معماری ایران (A study into the classification of styles in Iranian architecture), 2004, Me'mar publications,
ISBN964-96113-2-0, p.105
Fard, S. K. "The Anahita Temple Kangavar. Archeological Excabvations and Surveys: The reconstruction and architectural restoration of the Nahid temple and Tagh-e Gera" 1996. Tehran
For a detailed list of other scholars, refer to the references given in: Ball, Warwick. Rome in the East: The Transformation of an Empire London, New York, Routledge, 2000,
ISBN978-0-415-11376-2
^Azarnoush, Masoud (1981). "Excavations at Kangavar". Archäologische Mitteilungen aus Iran. NF Berlin:14: 69–94.
^Kleiss, Wolfram (2005).
"Kangavar". Encyclopædia Iranica. Costa Mesa: Mazda.