130 BULLETIN 139^ UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



"In the beginning of the seventh century, when the rehgion of 

 Mohammed became dominant in Persia, many Parsees had to leave 

 the country; of these a part settled in the region of Baku, and tra- 

 dition tells that the eternal fire over which their shrine was built was 

 discovered in the following manner : A well having become suddenly 

 dry, the owner threw down a piece of lighted tow in order to see the 

 bottom, when immediately the mouth burst into a pale amber flame, 

 which continued to burn for ages until five years ago (1880). From 

 a very small structure, occupied by one or two priests, the temple 

 grew in course of time to a building of considerable size, Avhich exists 

 to-day in a state of good preservation. As is usual in the East, it 

 is in the form of a hollow square, composed of about 20 chambers, 

 all built in solid masonry, which look into the courtyard. These 

 chambers are all fitted with raised platforms of stone, serving as beds, 

 and various recesses in the wall form receptacles for the property of 

 pilgrims. 



"Over the entrance door is a small house occupied probably by 

 the priests and serving as a lookout over the plain. In the middle 

 of the courtyard stands a square kiosk, carried an four columns, 

 which are continued for a few feet above the domed roof. These 

 columns are hollow and communicate with the gas supply, so that 

 they may be lighted at the top. Below the dome is the altar, where 

 the gas is burnt day and night. 



" For various reasons the prestige of the temple fell away. The 

 priests as they died were not replaced, and five years ago the last one 

 disappeared, no one knows whither. The fires are now extinct, the 

 alter is cold, and weeds and wild flowers cover the courtyard or sprout 

 froni the walls. A petroleum refining company, whose premises ad- 

 join the temple, protects it from destruction and admits visitors on 

 appHcation. Thus for a few years longer the interesting relic of a 

 past age will be preserved from its ultimate fate of being swallowed 

 up and lost in a vast manufacturing district. It is not difficult to 

 imagine what would befall it if left to the marauders of the country. 

 The massive wooden door has at least a dozen bullet holes through 

 it, fired from the outside."" 



The fire worship of the Parsee is an offshoot or of cognate deri- 

 vation with Vedism. It appears that Zoroaster (about 660) was the 

 agent in crystallizing the prevalent practice of fire and nature wor- 

 ship among the rude tribes of the Persian highlands, and sought to 

 found on it the higher conceptions which would constitute a new re- 

 ligion. While the course of Zoroastrianism through the centuries did 

 not develop the barbarianism of the Hindu cults, it had not the seeds 

 of a great religion and has almost disappeared. 



" Sassoon Lectures. No. Ill, Petroleum, by J. Wallace, Bombay, p. 16. 



