At the remote, ancient mountain fortress of Rabana-Merquly in Iraqi Kurdistan, German archaeologists have made a surprising discovery. Evidence has emerged that suggests the site had been used as a religious sanctuary in the first and second centuries BC, by settlers associated with the legendary Parthian Empire.
Researchers have concluded that a shrine found there had most likely been devoted to the ancient Persian water goddess Anahita, a popular deity from the Zoroastrian religion who was revered by the Parthians.
The excavations that produced the startling new information were led by Dr. Michael Brown, an archaeologist from the Institute of Prehistory, Protohistory and Ancient Near Eastern Archaeology at Heidelberg University in Germany, and were supervised by the Iraqi Kurdistan Directorate of Antiquities. The German archaeological team has just published the results of their study in the historical journal Iraq, detailing a find that helps clarify the rich history of the cult of Anahita, which was wildly popular in Mesopotamian lands in the latter half of the first millennium BC.
Seeking the Blessings of the Divine Feminine
Among their many fascinating discoveries at the site of the fortress complex, Dr. Brown and his team uncovered what appears to have been a fire altar or shrine, located adjacent to a natural waterfall. Typically, such an altar would have been used to burn oil or make offerings to the deity to which it was dedicated.
Aerial view of the Rabana sanctuary, believed…
