From Dakhma to Aramgāh: Transformations in Zoroastrian Death Rituals and the Role of Religious and Social Mediators

Khalili, Somayeh; Elmi Daneshvar, Mahdi

doi:10.22103/jis.2026.26104.2790

From Dakhma to Aramgāh: Transformations in Zoroastrian Death Rituals and the Role of Religious and Social Mediators

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Religion,Faculty Of East Religion, Religions And Denominations

10.22103/jis.2026.26104.2790

Abstract

This study provides a systematic analysis of the transformation of funerary rites and afterlife beliefs in Zoroastrianism during the transition from the Sasanian period (224–651 CE) to the early Islamic centuries. It examines whether these changes reflect continuity with Sasanian tradition or indicate rupture and ritual reinterpretation within the Islamic context, as well as the role of social mediators—such as mōbeds, nasusalārān, and local Zoroastrian institutions—in guiding this process.

The research adopts a qualitative and interdisciplinary comparative method. Data were collected from three sources: Zoroastrian religious texts, early Islamic writings, and archaeological evidence. The analysis employed historical interpretation and ritual semiotics to identify patterns of change and continuity.

Findings show that dakhma exposure, the official Zoroastrian funerary method, persisted in Fars, Yazd, and Kerman after the Sasanian collapse but gradually shifted toward enclosed structures under Islamic social and legal pressures. Concepts such as the judgment of the soul and the Chinvat Bridge developed interpretive overlaps with Islamic notions of the Day of Reckoning and the Ṣirāṭ Bridge. Archaeological evidence indicates a gradual move from exposure burial to inhumation and simplified rituals.

The conclusion suggests that these transformations represent moderated continuity: the doctrinal core remained, while ritual forms were reorganized to adapt to the Islamic social environment, with religious mediators playing a decisive role.

Keywords