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CAIS
NEWS © Latest
Archaeological and Cultural News of Iran and the Iranian World
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Third Season of Archaeological Excavation in Sasanian Kanglou Fortress Underway
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04 July 2008 |
LONDON, (CAIS) -- Archaeologists have begun their third season of archaeological research at Kanglou fortress located in the province of Mazandaran, north of Iran.
Previous excavations had yielded a Sasanian necropolis and a fortress, which some experts believe was built in honour of the Mithra or deity of water, Anahita.
The walls of the graves were made of stone and covered with mud, which were not common in Zoroastrian, the dominant religion of the Sasanian dynasty (224-651 CE).
The cemetery's burial method, however, possibly sheds new light that either not all the Zoroastrians at that time disposed their dead using the Tower of Silence, or the province had not yet accepted Zoroastrian as their religion.
Archaeologists back in 2006 discovered a number of artefacts including a number of rings. The gem of one of the rings has an engraving of an ibex, which symbolises beneficial nature in Mithraism. Another ring has an inscription bearing the Sasanian Pahlavi word “farakhi” or “farahi”.
Covering
an area of 50 square meters, Kangelu has been constructed in three stories with
stones and saruj (a mixture of mortar of cement and gypsum). The ruins also indicate
that it had arches, transept-like extensions, and a tower protecting it against
landslides.
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Portions of this news have been excerpted from Press TV and the Persian service of CHN and translated and modified by CAIS. [*]
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"History is the Light on the Path to Future" |
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Encyclopaedia Iranica
The British Institute of Persian Studies "Persepolis Reconstructed"
The British Museum
The Royal Asiatic Society
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