Ka'ba-ye Zartosht
| Ka'ba-ye Zartosht | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Former names | Bon-Khanak (Sassanian era) |
| Alternative names |
Kornaykhaneh Naggarekhaneh |
| General information | |
| Type | Tower, stone chamber |
| Location | Marvdasht, Iran |
| Construction started | First half of sixth century B.C., Achaemenid era |
| Owner | Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization of Iran |
| Website | |
| http://www.persepolis.ir/ | |
Kornaykhaneh
Ka'ba-ye Zartosht is the name of a stone quadrangular and stepped structure in the Naqsh-e Rustam compound beside Zangiabad village in Marvdasht county in Fars, Iran. The Naqsh-e Rustam compound incorporates memorials of the Elamites, the Achaemenids and the Sassanians in itself in addition to the mentioned structure.
The distance of Ka'ba-ye Zartosht from the mountain is 46 metres (151 ft) and is situated exactly opposite Darius II's mausoleum and is rectangular and has only one entrance door. The material of the structure is white limestone; it is about 12 metres (39 ft) high that becomes 14.12 metres (46.3 ft) including the triple stairs; and the side of each base of its is about 7.30 metres (24.0 ft) long. Its entrance door leads to the chamber inside by a thirty-stair stony stairway. The stone pieces are rectangular and are put on each other without using mortar, with the sizes of the stones varying from 0.48 by 2.10 by 2.90 metres (1 ft 7 in by 6 ft 11 in by 9 ft 6 in) to 0.56 by 1.08 by 1.10 metres (1 ft 10 in by 3 ft 7 in by 3 ft 7 in); and they are connected to each other by dovetail joints. The structure is built in the Achaemenid era and there is no information of the name of the structure in that era; but it was called Bon-Khanak in the Sassanian era; and the local name of the structure was Kornaykhaneh or Naggarekhaneh; and the phrase Ka'ba-ye Zartosht has been used for the structure in the contemporary era and since the fourteenth century.
Various views and interpretations have been proposed about the application of the chamber; and none of them could be accepted with certainty; as some consider the tower a fire temple and a fireplace and believe that the structure has been the site of igniting the holy fire and a place for worshiping; while another group refutes it being a fireplace and consider it the mausoleum of one of the Achaemenid shahs or grandees due to its similarity to the Tomb of Cyrus and some mausoleums of Lycia and Caria; and some other Iran studiers believe the stony chamber to be a structure for keeping documents and holy books; but the chamber of Ka'ba-ye Zartosht is too small for keeping religious books and royal documents. Also, other theories like a temple for the goddess Anahita or a solar calendar have been mentioned, but been less noticed.
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Wikipedia