Ideological Systems in the Sasanian Period and Funerary Structures

Funerary structures and remains are among the few cultural materials that indicate the extinct cultures’ viewpoint of death. Yet the nature of information drawn from these materials is indirect. However, literary sources may be complementary to archaeological data in the explorations of the subject in the case of historical cultures. Sasanian Ērānšahr is of such spatiotemporal horizons evidence for whose funerary traditions and structures are available. Therefore, examining the material culture and texts related to the subject is potential progress to Sasanian Studies that has remained more or less overlooked. This article takes on ideological reconstructions based on those sets of data. It attempts to answer whether the available evidence allows for identifying the ideological systems of the groups that constructed different burial kinds. Given the current state of knowledge, the author assumes it is problematic to distinguish between various religions, let alone different Zoroastrian sects of the era. With a descriptive-analytical method and according to the material culture and primary sources, the present research undertakes the burial typology and spatial distribution. It infers implied religious information about the data under examination. Each burial type provides certain potentialities for extracting data regarding various ideological systems behind them. Given the state of the art, identifying the structures associated with other minorities is problematic apart from the Nestorian population. Some examples of ‘portable astōdāns’ and ‘rock-cut niches’ signify the use of Zoroastrian funerary practices by non-Zoroastrians. Moreover, pits and cairns that do not accord with the conditions of urgent burial are not Zoroastrian. Traces of ideological minorities also may be sought in some examples of ‘rock-cut niche’ and ‘portable astōdān’. However, diverse kinds of astōdān signify the coping mechanism of groups residing in different areas with distinct topography and accessible resources to make Zoroastrian ossuaries. Moreover, ‘rock-cut niches’ and ‘towers of silence’ are claimed to determine the continuity, and yet transformation, of the age-old Zoroastrian tradition of entombment in the Sasanian period.