Благоверие

[Farroukh]

The Altar of Yazat Apam-Napat in Ancient Baku

by D. A. Akhoundov

In 1964, the archaeologists O. Ismizadeh and G. Jiddee discovered and measured a well-preserved fire altar ([1], pp. 185, 187) in front of the Maiden Tower, 50 metres to the west, at a depth of four meters from the actual surface of the earth. Unfortunately, the altar lacked an upper stone bowl, which used to be filled with 'perpetually' burning mineral oil

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A reconstruction draft revealed the actual appearance of the ancient fire altar that blazed in some religious building. Fortunately, a part of that building - an ancient tower temple later called 'the Maiden Tower' - has been extent ([2], p. 21).

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It is worth noting that the photographs, the measures, and the description of the discovered altar, which was later destroyed, has remained till now due to the self-sacrificing persistence of the archaeologists.

The altar had an octahedral three-stage base; every stage was 22-25 cm high; there was an octahedral 110 cm high and 45 cm wide pillar in the middle. A stone bowl was placed on it. It was supported by a small round spherical hollow at the top of the pillar. The overall height of the altar was approximately 225-235 cm. There was no hole inside the pillar for providing gas, nor was there one in the bowl; this means that the burning material in the bowl was mineral oil. The traces left by fire and mineral oil were visible on the upper part of the pillar. Undoubtedly the altar was constructed according to a common priestly canon in Absheron; being the most ancient type of the religious constructions, it was widely known in the Middle East. The altar was probably constructed several centuries before Common Era. Built on the Absheron peninsula among the 'perpetual' gas and oil fires, the studied tall fire altar was later on transported to Medea and the Sassanidic Iran, where according to the relief of the rock tomb of Qyzqapan ([4], p. 23, img. 20) and to the images on most of the coins ([5], pp. 222-232), it underwent some changes, being transformed into rather short fire altars of a size below an average human's. The compositional structure of the altars remained the same, apparently following the canonical requirements, in accordance with which the Absheronian fire altars were constructed (img. 2).

By the rules of ancient religions, people thought of the world as of a multi-stage structure. Based on this concept, they would build their religious and memorial structures. A human thought that the world is like a grove of academe and life that grew on a multi-stage mountain (the symbol of the earth), underneath which there was an underworld. The grove of life itself was an earthly sphere, over which there was a paradisiacal sphere ([6], pp. 1, 4, 16). The structure of the reconstructed altar followed the above stated canons: three-stage base is a symbol of the mountain, the shank of the altar is a also grove-of-life-themed, and the fire from the bowl is a paradisiacal sphere of Arta, which is an embodiment of Ahura-Mazda on the earth.

Bibliography

1. Ismizadeh, O. S., Jiddee, G. A., 'The Headstones Discovered in the Courtyard of a Religious Structure near the Maiden Tower'. MCAz, v.2, Elm, 1976. (russ.)
2. Akhoundov, D. A., 'The Particular Features of the Architectural Development of Ancient Azerbaijan'. An essay of a doctoral thesis. Moscow, 1980. (russ.)
3. Akhoundov D. A., 'The Origins, the Purposes, and the Dating of the Tower Temple in Baku (Qyz Qalasy)'. A textbook issued by the Azerbaijan Pedagogical Institute, serial x, №1, Baku, 1974. (russ.)
4. Husseinov M., Bretanitzky L., Salamzadeh A., 'History of Architecture in Azerbaijan'. Moscow, GIZ lit. of constructing, architecture, and building materials, 1963. (russ.)
5. Loukonin V. G., 'The Sassanid-Iranian Culture'. Moscow, Nauka publ., 1969. (russ.)
6. Akhoundov D. A., Akhoundov M. D., 'Religious Symbolism and the Conceptions of the World Represented on the Temples and the Steles of Caucasian Albania'. The 4th International Symposium for Georgian Art. Tbilisi, 1983. (russ.)