By the will Ahura Mazdā Death, monumentality, and memory in the Achaemenid necropolis of Naqš-e Rostam
The aim of this paper is to comprehend the political, religious and symbolical role of the Achaemenid tombs (6th century BCE – 4th century BCE) at the Naqš-e Rostam necropolis. The existence of these mausolea points to the fact that Achaemenid leaders decided not to follow a “zoroastrian orthodoxy”...
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| Format: | article |
| Status: | Published version |
| Publication Date: | 2022 |
| Country: | Brasil |
| Institution: | Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UNIRIO) |
| Repository: | Revista M (Rio de Janeiro) |
| Language: | Portuguese |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:ojs.seer.unirio.br:article/11214 |
| Online Access: | https://seer.unirio.br/revistam/article/view/11214 |
| Access Level: | Open access |
| Keyword: | Tecnologia de Memória Monumentalização Império Aquemênida Naqš-e Rostam Zoroastrismo |
| Summary: | The aim of this paper is to comprehend the political, religious and symbolical role of the Achaemenid tombs (6th century BCE – 4th century BCE) at the Naqš-e Rostam necropolis. The existence of these mausolea points to the fact that Achaemenid leaders decided not to follow a “zoroastrian orthodoxy” (the religion that, most likely, was professed by the Persians during this period), which demanded a funerary rite based on the excarnation of the corpse and did not foresee cremation, burial or even the construction of tombs. Thus, it is possible to argue that the tombs of Naqš-e Rostam were projected as political and propagandistic monuments and did not possessed a purely spiritual role. The analysis of this necropolis will consider the concept of technology of memory in the Iranian historical context, as proposed by Matthew Canepa; and the non-essentialist approach to Zoroastrianism, as argued by Philip Kreyenbroek. Through this investigation, it is concluded that, among the Achaemenids, the monumentalisation of death intended to create an atemporal memory of Persia authority. |
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