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KANGAVAR
(Kengavar,
Kanga@var),
a
town
in
the
easternmost
part
of
Kermanshah
Province,
on
the
modern
road
from
Hamadan
to
Kermanshah,
identical
with
a
trace
of
the
silk
road,
located
at
the
distance
of
about
75
km
from
Hamadan
and
96
km
from
Kermanshah.
Isidorus
of
Charax
(q.v.)
in
the
first
century
CE
referred
to
it
as
Congobar
and
mentioned
a
temple
of
Ana@hita@
(Anaitis)
there
(Isidorus
of
Charax,
nos.
6,
7;
Ziegler
and
Sontheimer,
col.
327;
see
ANAÚHIÚD).
Early
Muslim
geographers
referred
to
the
site
as
a
small
place
with
a
mosque
(menbar),
and
a
columned
building
made
of
rocks
that
was
standing
on
a
platform,
and
called
it
Qasár-al-Losáus,
or
Robbers'
Castle
(EsátÂakòri,
pp.
195,
197;
Ebn
H®awqal,
p.
359,
tr.
Kramers
and
Wiet,
p.
353;
Moqaddasi,
pp.
29,
393,
401;
Ebn
Rosta,
p.
167;
Ebn
al-Faqih,
p.
267).
According
to
T®abari
(I,
p.
2649),
the
town
received
this
appellation
when,
at
the
time
of
the
Arab
conquest,
people
here
stole
the
pack
animals
of
the
Arab
army
stationed
there
on
its
way
to
Neha@vand.
Eugeàne
Flandin
and
Pascal-Xavier
Coste
(q.v.)
identified
the
ruins
on
a
hillside
at
the
eastern
edge
of
the
settlement
of
Kangavar
as
the
Temple
of
Ana@hita@
and
gave
the
first
detailed
drawings
and
plans
of
the
site
(Flandin
and
Coste,
p.
411).
Up
to
the
first
half
of
the
20th
century,
scholars
pleaded
for
an
ideal
reconstruction
of
a
columned
temple
on
the
"Greek"
ground
plan
standing
on
a
high
platform
or
terrace
with
a
monumental
staircase
on
the
south
side
of
the
terrace
(Ghirshman,
p.
24,
plate.
31).
This
temple
was
dated
to
the
2nd
or
1st
century
CE.
During
the
19th
century
and
the
beginning
of
the
20th
century,
the
ruins
were
the
object
of
vast
devastations
as
the
site
was
used
as
a
quarry
to
get
building
material
for
the
expanding
settlement
of
modern
Kangavar.
It
has
been
excavated
by
Persian
archeologists
since
1968,
who
have
tried
to
prevent
further
devastations
and
to
get
more
precise
knowledge
of
the
ruins.
So
far
a
general
plan
of
the
complex
can
be
drawn,
but
still
it
is
not
sufficient
to
learn
about
the
function
and
shape
of
the
terrace
and
the
buildings
that
stood
on
the
top
of
it
(Fig.
1;
see
Ka@mbakòæ-e
Fard,
1972,
pp.
2-12;
Azarnoush,
pp.
69-94).
The
natural
hill
of
Kangavar
is
framed
by
a
roughly
quadrilateral
massive
platform
built
of
unworked,
large
rubble
stones,
smaller
stones,
and
gypsum
mortar
(
PLATE
I,
PLATE
II).
The
platform
measures
224
m
on
the
west
side
and
209
m
on
the
south
side,
and
its
outer
walls
are
18
m
thick
(Fig.
1).
The
northeastern
corner
of
the
platform
is
not
clear;
perhaps
a
staircase
on
the
eastern
side
of
the
18
m
thick
wall
has
to
be
supposed.
In
the
middle
of
the
platform
stands
a
93
m
long
and
9.30
m
wide
central
construction
of
rubble
stone
with
mortar,
and
north
of
it
there
are
further
walls
of
so-far
unidentified
function
and
date.
Remains
of
an
Islamic
settlement
were
excavated
in
the
northern
part
of
the
platform;
some
lime
and
gypsum-kilns
in
the
southern
and
southeastern
part
destroyed
parts
of
the
stone
platform,
especially
the
southern
side
with
the
staircases.
A
Parthian
cemetery
was
excavated
in
the
hillside
east
of
the
platform,
Parthian
and
Sasanian
pottery
was
collected
on
the
platform,
and
Islamic
pottery
was
found
in
the
excavated
houses
upon
the
northern
part
of
the
platform
(Ka@mbakòæ-e
Fard,
1972).
On
the
northwestern
corner
of
the
platform
stands
a
mosque
and
an
ema@mza@da
(q.v.),
partly
constructed
in
the
Il-Khanid
and
Safavid
periods
(Azarnoush,
p.
72).
On
the
south
side
of
the
Kangavar
complex
the
platform
of
a
possible
height
of
around
20
m
is
reached
by
two
staircases,
beginning
in
about
30
m
distance
from
the
southwest
and
southeast
corner
of
the
platform
(FIGURE
1;
PLATE
II,
PLATE
III,
PLATE
IV).
The
staircases
are
4.18
m
(western)
and
4.08
to
4.15
m
(eastern)
wide,
and
the
steps
measure
12
to
15
cm
in
height
and
are
27
to
30
cm
deep
(Azarnoush,
pp.
69-94,
pl.
13).
The
cornice,
which
is
the
upper
closing
of
the
platform,
has
the
profile
of
a
cymation
and
shows
light
Hellenistic
influence
(Azarnoush,
pp.
69-94,
fig.
6,
pls.
14.1,
15.).
On
the
cornice
stood,
in
a
distance
of
about
2.90
m
from
plinth
to
plinth,
a
row
of
columns,
six
of
which
are
still
in
situ
near
the
northwestern
corner
of
the
platform.
The
column-base
is
65-66
cm
high,
the
column
shaft
234-36
cm
high,
and
the
capital
53-54
cm,
for
a
total
height
of
354
cm.
Arches,
spanning
from
capital
to
capital,
built
a
colonnade,
possibly
closed
by
a
battlement.
The
colonnade
is
reconstructed
to
a
height
of
about
8
m
(Azarnoush,
figs.
6-9
and
pls.
14.2,
16-18).
The
construction
and
position
of
the
two
staircases
are
reminiscent
of
the
Achaemnenid
staircase-ramps
of
Persepolis
and
of
Sasanian
staircases,
like
the
one
at
the
¿Ema@rat-e
Kòosrow
in
Qasár-e
ˆirin
(Kleiss).
The
construction
method
of
the
walls
of
the
platform
and
staircases
in
Kangavar
is
done
much
more
carelessly
than
that
of
Persepolis
and
is
similar
to
that
of
Qasár-e
ˆirin.
The
idea
to
construct
the
staircase-ramps
in
the
Achemenid
manner
is
doubtless
an
Iranian
inheritance,
mixed
with
a
slight
Hellenistic-Roman
influence
concerning
the
details
of
the
cornice
and
the
pseudo-Roman
colonnade.
It
is
questionable
whether
the
Temple
of
Ana@hita@,
described
by
Isidorus
of
Charax,
is
identical
with
the
ruins
of
Kangavar.
Isidorus
described
obviously
another
temple
of
the
first
century
AD,
somewhere
in
the
region
of
Congobar
(Kangavar)
or
at
the
place
of
the
later
platform,
which,
according
to
the
results
of
the
excavation,
seems
to
be
built
up
in
Sasanian
time,
perhaps
under
Kòosrow
II
Parve@z
(r.
590-628;
Azarnoush,
p.
85;
cf.
Ebn
Rosta,
p.
167;
Nozhat
al-qolub,
ed.
and
tr.
Le
Strange,
p.
108,
tr.
p.
107).
The
function
of
the
platform
of
Kangavar
is
not
clear
yet,
and
further
excavations
are
necessary
to
throw
light
on
it.
The
older
reconstructions
on
the
terrace
of
a
"Greek
Temple"
surrounded
by
columned
halls
(Ghirshman,
pl.
31),
cannot
yet
be
confirmed
as
such,
because
there
is
not
enough
archeological
evidence
for
a
temple-like
building.
The
suggestion
that
it
is
a
palace-like
building
constructed
by
Kòosrow
II
Parve@z
at
the
end
of
Sasanian
period
sounds
convincing,
concerning
the
careless
construction
of
the
platform
and
its
stone
setting,
the
mason
marks,
and
the
details
of
columns,
bases,
capitals
and
the
cornice;
but
there
are
no
traces
(ground
plan)
of
a
palace
architecture.
So
this
idea
also
remains
pure
theory,
like
other
ideas
concerning
the
function
of
the
Kangavar
complex,
for
instance
an
open-air
sanctuary
on
the
terrace
overlooking
the
plain
of
Kangavar
in
the
south
of
the
platform.
Sanctuary
terraces
have
been
used
in
nearly
all
periods
of
the
history
of
Iranian
architecture
(Kleiss,
pp.
227-68).
Until
detailed
further
excavations
are
carried
out
no
definite
judgments
may
be
declared
on
the
function
of
Kangavar
platform;
one
can
only
date
it
to
the
late
Sasanian
time.
Bibliography:
Massoud
Azarnoush,
"Excavations
at
Kangavar,"
AMI
14,
1981,
pp.
69-94,
pls.
12-19.
Eugeàne
Flandin
and
Pascal-Xavier
Coste,
Voyage
en
Perse,
Paris,
1851,
p.
411.
Roman
Ghirshman,
Iran:
Parthes
et
Sassanides,
tr.
as
Iran:
Parther
und
Sasaniden,
Munich,
1962,
p.
24,
pl.
31.
Isidorus
of
Charax,
Mansiones
parthicae,
ed.
and
tr.
with
commentary
Wilfred
H.
Schoff
as
Parthian
Stations:
An
Account
of
the
Overland
Trade
Route
between
the
Levant
and
India
in
the
First
Century,
Philadelphia,
1914,
p.
7,
no.
6.
Sayf-Alla@h
Ka@mbaKòæ-e
Fard
(Kambakhsh
Fard),
"Ka@veæ
dar
ma¿bad-e
AÚna@hita@
(Kanga@var),"
Barrasiha@-ye
ta@rikòi
3/6,
1968,
pp.
11-46.
Idem,
"Ka@veæha@-ye
¿elmi
dar
Kanga@var,
Ma¿bad-e
AÚna@hita@,"
Ba@sta@n-æena@si
wa
honar-e
Ira@n
9-10,
1972,
pp.
2-24;
French
version
as
"Fouilles
arche‚ologiques
a‚
Kangavar:
le
temple
d'Anahita,"
ibid.,
pp.
2-6.
Idem,
"Kaveæha@-ye
¿elmi
dar
Ma¿bad-e
AÚna@hita@,
Kanga@var,"
in
Goza@reæha@-ye
dovvomin
majma¿-e
sa@la@na-ye
ka@veæha@
wa
pa‘uheæha@-ye
ba@sta@n-æena@si
dar
Ira@n/Proceedings
of
the
2nd
Annual
Symposium
on
Archaeological
Research
in
Iran,
Tehran,
1974,
pp.
1-20.
Idem,
"Kangava@r
[sic.]
(Plates
VI-VII),"
Iran
11,
1973,
pp.
196-97,
pls.
VIb
and
VIla.
Wolfram
Kleiss,
"Terrassenanlagen
in
der
iranischen
Architektur,"
Archäologische
Mitteilungen
aus
Iran
und
Turan
30,
1998,
pp.
227-68.
Konrat
Ziegler
and
Walther
Sontheimer,
Der
Kleine
Pauly:
Lexikon
der
Antike,
Munich,
1979,
p.
327.
(WOLFRAM
KLEISS)
March
23,
2005 |