Spring snow in Takht-e Soleyman - Beautiful Iran 7

　The beautiful crater lake in Takht-e Soleyman

Sunday morning on April 21, we left Zanjan for Takht-e Soleyman, 144 km west of Zanjan, and 400 km from Tehran.

Takht-e Soleyman, which means the Throne of Solomon, is a Word Heritage Site (listed in 2003) in West Azerbaijan province. It sits in the mountainous region 2,000-3,000 m above sea-level. Our tour bus made its engine roar to go up a steep road and then kept running on highlands. Out of the window, we saw a karst landscape. I could find no trees but slightly budding poplars in undulating meadows. Many patches of old snow still remained in ravines. Soon snowflakes began dancing in cold wind.

The mountain with the patches of remaining old snow

According to the UNESCO World Heritage Center, Takht-e Soleyman “consists of an oval platform about 350 m by 550 m rising 60 m above the surrounding valley.” Our tour group was full of elderly men and women, so the driver tried to pull over the bus near the site to take care of us. “Merci!” I said to him when I got off. It was pretty cold outside. We climbed a steep slope of flat stones some 200 m to reach the gate of a high stone wall like a fortress.

Entering inside, I was stunned at the sight of magnificent blue waters beyond. The site was a volcano in prehistory. It was the crater lake. There were some ruins standing in a line like decayed teeth on the opposite side. I walked up to the rim. The sky was getting cloudy, so the blue surface of the lake became darker. 

When we started a sightseeing tour, wind began blowing. It was threatening a rain. I later realized how temperamental the weather in high mountains was.

Our tour guide Mr. Musa explained, “The lake is some 60 m deep in the middle and 120 m at the deepest. There is a hole in the ground through which water rises to the surface by natural pressure. From here, small streams bring water to surrounding lands.” 

The portico built in the Sassanid period

We saw the buildings made of stones and bricks on the north side of the lake. A half of the portico built in the Sassanid was supported by a huge scaffold. “This is the complex of the holy sanctuary. There are the ruins of the Zoroastrian Fire Temple and the Anahita Temple,” said he.

In the recent excavations, the remains of human settlement were unearthed from the north side, which are dated back to 600B.C.-500 B.C. It is the period from the Median Empire to the Achaemenid one. The old Persians, originally nomads, settled down at oasis in the Iranian plateau to start firming. They built up the empire based on the oasis civilization. The rulers worshipped Zoroastrianism that respected only “tilling” and “grazing” in the Avesta. It means Zoroastrianism strongly supported the oasis civilization. The Sassanid Empire (224-651) took over the tradition from the Achaemenid. It is the Sassanians that occupied the platform of Takht-e Soleyman in the 5th century and built the large sanctuary there. 

We walked around the ruins, when we needed active imagination. We went to its center. Mr. Musa explained, “This is the Fire Temple called Azar Goshnasp in the old time. Azar means fire in Persian. There was a large dome covering the square hall. To the east of the Temple there is another square hall where the everlasting fire was burning.” Today there is no dome or everlasting fire.

The site of the FIre Temple of the sanctuary

He pointed out, “Azer of Azerbaijan also means fire and baijan means land. It means land of fire. Zoroastrianism originated in Azerbaijan.”His remarks stimulated my imagination. I heard there was the popular tourist spot Yanar Dag near Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. Yanar Dag means volcano in Turkish or Azerbaijani, but actually a natural gas fire continuously burning on the hillside, which may be recognized as an everlasting fire. The same fire might have been burning at the Fire Temple in Takht-e Soleyman. 

Fire and water are the important elements for Zoroastrianism. Fire can change the world. Zoroastrians worshipped fire by building up the Fire Temple. On the other hand, Water is the source of life. They enshrined the goddess Anahita to pray for everlasting sources of water.

Fire and water were also the fundamentals of all the ancient civilizations. What is more, they are still indispensable to our modern civilization, although the state of their being is more complex. We don’t simply worship fire, but nobody denies the importance of energy: oil, gas, nuke, and other renewables. We are even ready to go to war in order to secure energy. Unfortunately, water is still in the same geopolitical situation.

The massive brick vault used as a ritual place

Suddenly it began raining. We were looking for a shelter in the entrance of dark massive corridor made of bricks. I tried to advance deep, when Mr. Musa said, “This is a Zoroastrian ritual place for the dead.” I froze. He explained, “It is said that funeral ceremony was held here. The corpse was put in the dead end.” I saw a glimpse of light in that place. Perhaps there was a hole through which daylight filtered. Within a while, it cleared away outside.

The dead end of the vault

Afterwards, we walked around other parts of the ruins including the Anahita Temple. I needed more imagination to picture the past appearance in my mind. I thought the mysterious lake was a match for the residence of the goddess Anahita rather than the desolate ruins.

When we returned to the lake side, it began snowing. The wind blew stronger and stronger. Instantly it changed into a blizzard. We ran away. Looking back at the entrance of the site, I found snow smoking over the lake. I didn’t believe in my eyes.

We were stumbling down the slope of slippery flat stones and running toward the parking place in the snowstorm. When I reached our bus, I was drenched to the skin. It was so cold!