A Companion to the Achaemenid Persian Empire, 2 Volume Set. Группа авторов. Читать онлайн. Newlib. NEWLIB.NET

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Achaemenids did not impose a centralized religion, as the presence of varied types of monuments illustrates. According to Herodotus I, 131–132, and Strabo XV, 3, the most ancient rituals were practiced in the open air. This statement could correspond to sacred platforms whose tradition goes back to the Bronze Age (Nad‐i Ali in Seistan) before a renewal at a more modest level during the Iron Age in the northeastern regions (Erk‐kala in Margiana, and Koktepe, Sangir‐tepe, Pachmak‐tepe, and Pshak‐tepe in Sogdiana). This architectural tradition lasted beyond the Achaemenids, as evidenced by the Hellenistic sacred platform and the stepped podiums on which stand the two main temples of Ai Khanum.

      The existence of complex altars devoted to open‐air rituals in courtyard sanctuaries like at Dahan‐i Ghulaman is however not proved to the north of the Hindukush, although such a structure is not excluded for the unexcavated sanctuary of Cheshme‐Shafa to the south of Bactra. In Chorasmia, the worship in the open air seems to have occurred in two circular sanctuaries (Kalaly‐gyr 2 and Gjaur‐kala 3). More to the east, it is not clear in what measure the Saka Haumavarga (in Ustrushana?) associated Zoroastrianism to their nomadic kurgan funeral practices.

      It is usually considered that the covered temples (intended to house cult statues) appeared rather late in the Achaemenid period, perhaps even during the Seleucid period. Recent discoveries reveal, however, that in Central Asia both open‐air and covered architectural types broadly coexisted already from the early decades of the Achaemenid rule. A covered temple at Sangir‐tepe (period III, earlier phase) seems indeed to coexist with the sacred platform in Koktepe (period III: Figure 23.2C. The temple of Sangir‐tepe was later replaced by a platform, whilst in the Surkhan‐darya other covered temples were erected during the fourth century BCE (Kuchuk‐tepe(?) and Kindyk‐tepe near Bandykhan). It is not excluded that the Oxus treasure (infra) belonged to a similar temple.

      While during the first centuries they were aniconic and addressed to the natural elements like fire and water, the Central Asian Zoroastrian cults progressed into an iconic polytheism which later differed from the proper Parthian and Sasanian aniconic cults of fire.

      The scarce traces left by the earlier rituals are usually compatible with Zoroastrian features. Some of them correspond to rituals performed during the foundation of the sanctuaries (Koktepe and Sangir‐tepe), while others evidence a worship centered on the natural elements (Sangir‐tepe and Kindyk‐tepe). The oldest iconic representations are known through the treasures of Mir‐Zakah 2, of the Oxus, and of Takht‐i Sangin. These treasures include Achaemenid, Hellenistic, and nomadic pieces of art such as statuettes, vases, bracelets, necklaces, rings, gems, votive plaques depicting Zoroastrian priests, donors, and animals dedicated to a temple and coins. The original context or dating of the Oxus treasure are the source of conflicting interpretations, but it can be considered that these objects were part of votive deposits sheltered in a monument which was replaced by the temple of Takht‐i Sangin during the Graeco‐Bactrian period.

      Under the Graeco‐Bactrian rule the Central Asian cults present a polytheist form whose divinities are iconographically Hellenized (Takht‐i Sangin, Ai Khanum), while the sanctuaries are closely connected to the Achaemenid period through the artifacts of their sacred treasures. The Oxus river divinity was worshiped in Takht‐i Sangin before the transformation of part of the temple in a “fire‐temple” of Parthian‐Sasanian tradition. The main divinity worshiped in Ai Khanum, in the temple with indented niches, at a distance of 100 km from the Oxus, seems to have been rather a Zeus‐Mithra or Zeus‐Belos (hypothesis of Frantz Grenet). The common ground is enhanced by the discovery at Ai Khanum and Takht‐i Sangin of two identical plaques illustrating Cybele associated to a ritual on a stepped altar raised on rocky ground which evokes also the traditional rituals on stepped platforms.

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