Ka'ba-ye Zartosht (), also called the Cube of Zoroaster, is a rectangular stepped stone structure in the Naqsh-e Rustam compound beside Zangiabad village in Marvdasht county in Fars, Iran. The Naqsh-e Rustam compound also incorporates memorials of the Elamites, the Achaemenids and the Sasanians.
The Ka'ba-ye Zartosht is from the mountain, situated exactly opposite Darius II's mausoleum. It is rectangular and has only one entrance door. The material of the structure is white limestone. It is about high, or if including the triple stairs, and each side of its base is about long. Its entrance door leads to the chamber inside via a thirty-stair stone stairway. The stone pieces are rectangular and are simply placed on top of each other, without the use of mortar; the sizes of the stones varies from to , and they are connected to each other by dovetail joints.
Etymology
The structure was built in the Achaemenid era and there is no information of the name of the structure in that era. It was called Bon-Khanak in the Sassanian era; the local name of the structure was Naggarekhaneh (naggar "keep/hold" + -e "of" + khaneh "house"). The phrase Ka'ba-ye Zartosht has been used for the structure from the fourteenth century into the contemporary era.
Various views and interpretations have been proposed for the purpose of the chamber, but none of them can be accepted with certainty. Some consider the tower a fire temple and a fireplace, and believe that it was used for igniting and worshiping the holy fire. Another theory is that it is the mausoleum of one of the Achaemenid shahs or grandees, due to its similarity to the Tomb of Cyrus and some mausoleums of Lycia and Caria. Other Iranian scholars believe the stone chamber to be a structure for the safekeeping of royal documents and holy or religious books, but the chamber of Ka'ba-ye Zartosht is too small for this purpose. Other less noticed theories, such as its being a temple for the goddess Anahita or a solar calendar, have also been mentioned.
In the Sassanian era, three inscriptions were written in the three languages Sassanian Middle Persian, Arsacid Middle Persian and Greek on the northern, southern and eastern walls of the tower. One of them belongs to Shapur I the Sassanian, and another to the priest Kartir. According to Walter Henning, "These inscriptions are the most important historical documents from the Sassanian era." The Ka'ba-ye Zartosht is a beautiful structure: its proportions, lines and external beauty are based on well-executed architectural principles.
Currently, the structure is part of the Naqsh-e Rustam compound and owned by the Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization of Iran.
Name
Alireza Shapur Shahbazi believes that the phrase Ka'ba-ye Zartosht is relatively new and inaccurate, originating around the fourteenth century. When the structure was discovered by the Europeans, its local name was Karnaykhaneh or Naggarekhaneh; the Europeans considered it a special site for worshiping fire, since the inside of the structure was blackened by smoke, and because they mistook the Zoroastrians for fire-worshipers, they attributed the place to them and named it the Zoroastrians' fire temple. As the shape of the structure was cuboid and the black stones that were placed on the white background of its walls resembled the Black Stone, the Muslims' Kaaba, it became famous as Ka'ba-ye Zartosht, the Kaaba of Zoroaster.
The Encyclopedia Iranica explains about the name of the structure: "Ka'ba-ye Zartosht has probably acquired its name in the fourteenth century, the time that the ruined ancient sites in the whole Iran were attributed to characters in the Quran or Shahnameh. This does not mean that the place has been Zoroaster's mausoleum and there is also no report of the pilgrims' travels there for pilgrimage."
Due to the discovery of Kartir's inscription on its walls, it is revealed that the name of the structure in the Sasanian era was Bon Khaanak, meaning the Cold Foundation, as the inscription reads: "This Cold Foundation will belong to you. Act as the best way you see suitable that will delight our gods and purpose (implying Shapur I)." There is no knowledge of the name of the structure in any earlier periods.
Ibn al-Balkhi has mentioned the name of the area of Naqsh-e Rustam and its mountain as Kuhnebesht, and has considered that the reason behind its naming was that the book Avesta was held there. The word Dezhnebesht or Dezhkatibehs might have also been used for the Ka'ba-ye Zartosht.