Typology of the Temples of Hellenistic Bactria and the Fire Cult

Abstract. The article is dedicated to polemics with the typology of Hellenistic Bactrian temples proposed by B. Litvinskiy and I. Pichikyan in the 1st volume of their work Ellinisticheskiy Khram Oxa v Bactrii (Hellenistic Oxus Temple in Bactria). The attribution of the Oxus temple in Takht-e Sangin to fire temples and the rest of the aforementioned sanctuaries to the type of “temples with twofold cross division” or “temples with a statue” is disputed. Instead the author of the article proposes to unite the Oxus temple and the temple of Dilberjin in one type, the definition of which as ‘fire temples’ is also doubted on the ground of analysis of similar buildings outside Bactria (the ‘ayadana’ of Susa, the Pedestal Temple of Persepolis and the early sanctuary of Kuh-e Khwaja). Regarding the latter the author agrees with the majority of modern specialists who do not consider the first two ones fire temples and doubt the architectural similarity of the third one to the temple of Takht-e Sangin. This leads to new polemics with Litvinskiy and Pichikyan who regard those sanctuaries as fire temples analogous to the Oxus temple. The two temples of Aï Khanoum are ascribed to two different types having no known analogies in Hellenistic Bactria.

Keywords: archaeology, architecture, Hellenism, Bactria, ancient Iran, temples, fire cult, Takht-e Sangin, Dilberjin, Aï Khanoum.