The Monumental Altars of the Ox us Temple and It s Cults
Abstract
The monumental altars at the court of the Oxus
Temple at Takht-i Sangin (Bactria) were originally wattle and
daub. Later they were partially taken down and new stone
altars were built above them. Charring bones of small cattle
were found beneath the stone altars, on the remains of the
primary wattle and daub ones. The discoverers of the temple,
B. Litvinskiy and I. Pichikyan, thought that the primary altars
had been sacrificial ones, while the later stone ones had been
used in the Zoroastrian rite of laying out and worshipping ash
and coals of the sacred fire. The author of the present article
thinks that burning of animals, as well as places of such
burning, were impure from the Zoroastrian point of view and
incompatible with Zoroastrian rites. Thus the monumental
altars of the Oxus temple were always used for animal sacrifices
and the temple itself was not Zoroastrian.
Temple at Takht-i Sangin (Bactria) were originally wattle and
daub. Later they were partially taken down and new stone
altars were built above them. Charring bones of small cattle
were found beneath the stone altars, on the remains of the
primary wattle and daub ones. The discoverers of the temple,
B. Litvinskiy and I. Pichikyan, thought that the primary altars
had been sacrificial ones, while the later stone ones had been
used in the Zoroastrian rite of laying out and worshipping ash
and coals of the sacred fire. The author of the present article
thinks that burning of animals, as well as places of such
burning, were impure from the Zoroastrian point of view and
incompatible with Zoroastrian rites. Thus the monumental
altars of the Oxus temple were always used for animal sacrifices
and the temple itself was not Zoroastrian.
About the Author
И. Коровчинский
Московский государственный областной университет
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
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