Monday, April 7, 2014

Adur Farnbag Fire Temple & Greater Khorasan (600 BC)

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“The Farnbag fire was at first in Khwārezm, until in the 6th century BC…..Like Soghdiana, Khwarzem was an expansion of the BMAC culture during the Bronze Age which later fused with Indo-Iranians during their migrations around 1000 BC. Early Iron Age states arose from this cultural exchange. …..During the final Saka phase, there were about 400 settlements in Khwarzem. Ruled by the native Afighid Dynasty. It was at this point that Khwarzem entered the historical record with the Acheminide expansion (see also: Kyuzeli-gyr).”

“During the Parthian period 248 BCE to 224 CE the three great fires of Zoroastrianism, Adur Farnbag, Adur Gushnasp and Adur Burzen Mihr, were installed…..Most of the fire-temples were destroyed through successive conquests of Iran by Arabs, Turks and Mongols.”…..http://www3.sympatico.ca/zoroastrian/fire-temple.html

The Great Fire Temple @ Balkh was known as 'Sams-i-Bala', 'Elevated Candle’…..Elevated/raised/divine is Old Persian 'Bala/Bhala’ and 'Sham/Sams’ is Old Persian candle/light/SunGod..

“The Farnbag, Gushnasp, and Burzen-Mihr fires were connected, respectively, with the priests, the warriors, and the farmers. The Farnbag fire was at first in Khwārezm, until in the 6th century BC, according to tradition, King Vishtāspa (c. 660-583 B.C.) … Zoroaster’s protector, transported it to Kabulistan …. then Khosrau II (Chosroes II)… the last great king of the Sasanian Empire, reigning from 590 to 628… …. transported it to the ancient sanctuary of Kariyan in Fars….”…..http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/201998/Farnbag-fire

“The first traces of civilisation in the Pamirs go back more than 20,000 years. Some 50 human settlements from the Stone Age have been found in the Eastern Pamir. Cave paintings from this period can be seen near the village of Djarty-Gumbez, 40km South of Murghab, just off the main road to Khorog……A ritual fire-worshipping site can be found at Lake Yashilkul on the estuary of the Major Marjanai river near the village of Bulumkul. Another fire temple can be seen in the village of Bogiv, 9km from the regional centre, Khorog. “

“ĀDUR FARNBĀG, an Ātaš Bahrām ….(ĀTAŠ: fire )…(Bahrām is the great warrior god of Zoroastrianism)….a Zoroastrian sacred fire of the highest grade, held to be one of the three great fires of ancient Iran…….The Middle Iranian name Farnbāg, means “Having a share (bāg) through Fortune.” Old Persian farnah- is a dialect form of Avestan (xvarənah-, Pahlavi xwarrah (a “learned” word) meaning “fortune, glory,….It was probably first in the Sasanian epoch that Persian priests declared Ādur Farnbāg to be the fire of the priestly estate (see Ādur Burzēn-Mihr); and in the Pahlavi books it is regularly placed first among the three great fires.”….http://www.iranicaonline.org

“In the Sasanian period Ādur Farnbāg was established in Pārs…… A legend existed, however, to the effect that it had been brought to Pārs from Chorasmia…….in the remotest past Jam (Yima) installed the fire on Xwarrahomand (“Fortune-possessing”) Mountain….. they (took) it from Chorasmia, and installed it on Mt. Rōšn in the region of K . . . , where even now it remains” (Bd. 18.11)….http://www.iranicaonline.org

“Chorasmia (Old Persian Uvârazmiya) was a satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire. Chorasmia had become part of the Achaemenid Empire before 522, and it seems to have been ruled by the satrap of Parthia. By the time of Darius III, it had become an independent kingdom. Its king, Pharasmanes concluded a peace treat with Alexander the Great in the Winter of 328/327. Chorasmia approximately corresponds to the modern-day region of Khwarezm…..Khwarezm has been known also as Chorasmia, Khwarezmia, Khwarizm, Khwarazm, Khorezm, Khoresm, Khorasam, Harezm, Horezm, and Chorezm……In Avestan the name is Xvairizem, in Old Persian Huwarazmish, in Modern Persian خوارزم (Khwārazm), in Arabic خوارزم Khwārizm, in Old Chinese *qʰaljɯʔmriɡ(呼似密), modern Chinese Huālázǐmó (花剌子模), in Kazakh Хорезм, in Uzbek Xorazm, in Turkmen Horezm, in Turkish Harezm, in Greek Χορασμία and Χορασίμα, by Herodotus……C.E. Bosworth however, believes the Persian name to be made up of (خور) meaning "the sun" and (زم) meaning "Earth", designating "the land from which the sun rises", although the same etymology is also given for Khurasan.”

“Michael Witzel, a researcher in early Indo-European history, believes that Airyanem Vaejah was located in what is now Afghanistan, the northern areas of which were a part of ancient Khwarezm and Greater Khorasan. Others, however, disagree. University of Hawaii historian Elton L. Daniel believes Khwarezm to be the "most likely locale" corresponding to the original home of the Avestan people, and Dehkhoda calls Khwarezm ("the cradle of the Aryan tribe”)…..http://historum.com/blogs/killcarneyklansman/431-amazons-warrior-women-steppes-alans.html

“Khwarezm has been known also as Chorasmia, Khwarezmia, Khwarizm, Khwarazm, Khorezm, Khoresm, Khorasam, Harezm, Horezm, and Chorezm…….In Avestan the name is Xvairizem, in Old Persian Huwarazmish, in Modern Persian خوارزم (Khwārazm), in Arabic خوارزم Khwārizm, in Old Chinese *qʰaljɯʔmriɡ(呼似密), modern Chinese Huālázǐmó (花剌子模), in Kazakh Хорезм, in Uzbek Xorazm, in Turkmen Horezm, in Turkish Harezm, in Greek Χορασμία and Χορασίμα, by Herodotus.

“The priests of these respective "Royal Fires”….. "The fire which is Farnbag has made its place among the priests; ... the fire which is Gūshnasp has made its place among the warriors; ... the fire which is Būrzīn-Mitrō has made its place among agriculturists" (Denkard, 6.293). These divisions, from an archaeological point of view, are most revealing, since from at least the 1st century BCE onwards, society was divided into four, not three, feudal estates.”

Espakhoo Fire Temple is one of the oldest structures in Iran's North Khorasan province.

“The Farnbag fire (translated as 'the fire Glory-Given' by Darmesteter) was considered the most venerated of the three…… In the early 20th century, A. V. Jackson identified the remains at Takht-i-Suleiman, midway between Urumieh and Hamadan, as the temple of Adur Gushnasp. The location of the Mithra fire, i.e. that of Burzen-Mihr, Jackson "identified with reasonable certainty" at being near the village of Mihr half-way between Miandasht and Sabzevar on the Khorasan road to Nishapur (Jackson, 1921:82). The Indian (lesser) Bundahishn records the Farnbag fire having been "on the glory-having mountain which is in Khwarezm" but later moved "upon the shining mountain in the district of Kavul just as it there even now remains" (IBd 17.6). That the temple once stood in Khwarezm is also supported by the Greater (Iranian) Bundahishn and by the texts of Zadsparam (11.9). However, according to the Greater Bundahishn, it was moved "upon the shining mountain of Kavarvand in the Kar district" (the rest of the passage is identical to the Indian edition). Darmesteter identified this "celebrated for its sacred fire which has been transported there from Khvarazm as reported by Masudi" (Jackson, 1921:89). If this identification is correct, the temple of the Farnbag fire then lay 10 miles southwest of Juwun, midway between Jahrom and Lar. (28°1′N 53°1′E)”

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