Dakhma & astodan

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This study has analyzed the terms dakhma and astodān on the basis of both literary and archeological evidence, concluding that they represented twoA Clarification of the Terms Dakhma and Astodān 51 Journal of persianate studies 14 (2021) 31–56 distinct structures—despite the prevailing perspective in contemporary (and even pre-modern) scholarship that conflates them. As such, the dakhma is a general term for burial sites, while terms such as astodān, ašwar (aspānūr), tanbarīg (tabangōg), and gūr indicated distinct elements that may each have been a part of the larger dakhma. Specifically, the astodān was a hollowed stone pit into which the remaining bones of the deceased would be transferred after the corpse had decomposed in a stone grave (the dakhma) and the latter was then re-used for another body. Based on the extant writtern sources, it appears that the construction of dakhmas was considered a charitable act. Stone ledges that include the words dakhma or astodān served most likely as a symbolic memorial to the deceased; the presence of hollowed stone pits (astodān) indicated the existence of a nearby dakhma. Furthermore, two other structures that formed a part of the dakhma require further study: the sang-āb (stone mortars) and stone grooves that appear to have been associated with burial rituals in ancient Iran. Two points require further investigation. First, can we apply this terminology to the rectangular hollow-formed tombs from the Achæmenid era at Naqsh-e Rostam or the tomb of Cyrus in Pasargadæ? This article has proposed that a dakhma contains several components, including a stone coffin (see Figure 22), a hollow pit or astodān (see Figure 23), memorial stone ledges, ritual stone mortars or sang-ābs (see Figures 24 and 25), and even stone grooves. Hence, a royal burial site, such as that of Naqsh-e Rostam, must have contained all of these elements; we will examine further dakhmas of the Achæmenid tombs of Persepolis in a future study. Finally, one can infer the ritual significance of the stone mortars from their abundance in ancient sites outside of Fars Province and across Iran—likely, as we have suggested, for the ceremonies such as the āb-zohr ritual. These mortars and the stone grooves are introduced for the first time in this study and we hope to draw more scholarly attention to these interesting elements from others in the field.

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