The Legal and Judicial Function of Fire Temples in Shahnameh of Ferdowsi

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Ph.D. in Persian language and literature, Islamic Azad University, Karaj Branch,karaj,Iran

Abstract

Besides the religious and spiritual aspects, the fire temples mentioned in the Shahnameh have also other functions including legal and judicial aspects. The references in this regard indicate the role and the position of the fire temples as a part of important law enforcement centers and judicial affairs, fulfilling juridical-legal obligations, and also the very deep bond between the laws of kings and the punishments issued by them with religious approaches and attitudes. Using descriptive analysis methods, current article will demonstrate the role of the fire temples from the Shahnameh in the fields of "judicial rules," "social contracts," and "religious contracts." The results indicate that there is a very deep connection between economic-political and juridical-legal as well as judicial functions of the fire temples in Shahnameh, and also the fact that the fire temples were counted as suitable platforms for the fulfillment of religious and social obligations (endowments and fulfilmenting vows and oaths), prevention of crimes and its reduction, which was clearly evident in the politics of Sassanid kings of Shahnameh. On the other hand, fire temples were places to remove social and jurisprudence aspects of sin and crime (the sinner or the criminal). They were also a place for forgiveness of the souls of the deceased, which has been carried out in the form of various punishments, or atonements and endowment in Shahnameh, both in the pecuniary and non-pecuniary forms. The non-pecuniary atonement in Shahnameh is demonstrated as punishing the criminal or sinner, and the pecuniary atonement was paid in cash and non-cash (illiquid) forms.
Key Words: Fire temple, Law, Crime, Punishment, Atonement, Endowment, Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh.
 
Introduction:
In the past, legal approaches and judicial rules had very deep connections with the religious beliefs of societies, and religious centers had an important role in drafting and implementing laws; the things that are implied from surveying Shahanameh, Zoroastrian legal works, (in particular"Madian Hazardadestan" )and other historical sources about fire temples, it clearly shows that these centers are juristic-legal and legal places for the implementation of many judicial orders and laws, and they were also customary-religious rules which ruled in the society as well as conventional contracts between people. Meanwhile, the role of Shahnameh’s kings and their orders as well as punishments that were tied to fire temples are very interesting.
 
Method: 
Using descriptive analysis methods, the current article will demonstrate the role of the fire temples from the Shahnameh in the fields of "judicial rules," "social contracts," and "religious contracts." 
 
Discussion:
The legal and judicial functions of fire temples in Shahnameh are:
 

Judicial punishment and decriminalization:  Sending the criminal to the fire temple to repent and apologize" is one of those punishments in Shahnameh, and its implementation is directly related to the fire temples: it means that in the punishment aspect, taking advantage of the capacity of religious beliefs and arousing religious conscience in the sinner ( due to sin, compunction and afterlife issues) or social criminal( due to the committed crime) is seen. Additionally, in some of Shahnameh’s crimes, the guilt and the fear of their afterlife punishment are discussed; in these cases, people for repentance try to decrease their guilt by donating gifts to the fire temples.

 
 

Tax supervision and its connection with fire temples: 

Shahnameh’s hints imply the relationship of Mobadan and fire temples with judicial arbitration in various parts including, inspections and issuance of tax penalties.
 

Paying vows and endowments to fire temples

In Shahnameh, different cases of financial endowments (cash and non-cash) to the fire temples are seen. Meanwhile, kings and other people donated various gifts to the fire temples for different reasons, including ( thanksgiving, vow, victory, compunction, and forgiveness of the souls of the deceased). devolution of human resources for serving in the fire temples, is also among the non-financial endowments of Shahnameh, based on that, the kings after winning the wars, donated captives to the fire temples to work there.
 

Judicial aspect of the contract and oath to the fire or fire temples and fire test:

The importance of oath can be seen a lot in Shahnameh, which is one of the main principles in judicial courts as well as customary contracts of ancient times, which implies the deep connection between religious attitudes and traditional beliefs with the principles of legal rules.
 
Result:
Surveying the king's judicial reactions to Shahnameh and their penal policies towards the committed crimes (in order to decriminalize and accept the repentance of sinners), show the importance of the role and sanctity of fire temples and the capacity of these centers in preventing the occurrence of crimes or reducing them. In addition to the mentioned items, ( atonement),( endowment ), and( vow), of the kings to the fire temples, indicate the deep connection between various functions of fire temples such as economic function, juridical function, and legal function. 
 

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

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Classical Persian Literature
Volume 15, Issue 1 - Serial Number 38
Spring & Summer
August 2024

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