For other uses, see Tower of Silence (disambiguation).
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Interior view of dakhmaEarly 20th century drawing of the dakhma on Malabar Hill, Mumbai
A dakhma (Persian: دخمه), also known as a Tower of Silence, is a circular, raised structure built by Zoroastrians for excarnation (that is, the exposure of human corpses to the elements for decomposition), in order to avoid contamination of the soil and other natural elements by the decomposing dead bodies.[1][2][3] Carrion birds, usually vultures and other scavengers, consume the flesh. Skeletal remains are gathered into a central pit where further weathering and continued breakdown occurs.[1][2]
^ abRussell, James R. (1 January 2000). "BURIAL iii. In Zoroastrianism". Encyclopædia Iranica. Vol. IV/6. New York: Columbia University. pp. 561–563. ISSN 2330-4804. Archived from the original on 17 May 2013. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
^ abHuff, Dietrich (2004). "Archaeological Evidence of Zoroastrian Funerary Practices". In Stausberg, Michael (ed.). Zoroastrian Rituals in Context. Numen Book Series. Vol. 102. Leiden: Brill Publishers. pp. 593–630. doi:10.1163/9789047412502_027. ISBN 90-04-13131-0. ISSN 0169-8834. LCCN 2003055913.
^Malandra, W. W. (2013). "Iran". In Spaeth, Barbette Stanley (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Mediterranean Religions. New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 122. doi:10.1017/CCO9781139047784.009. ISBN 978-0-521-11396-0. LCCN 2012049271.
also known as a TowerofSilence, is a circular, raised structure built by Zoroastrians for excarnation (that is, the exposure of human corpses to the...
The TowersofSilence is the 1971 novel by Paul Scott that continues his Raj Quartet. It gets its title from the Parsi TowersofSilence where the bodies...
player" The TowerofSilence was released in November 2012 to positive critical response. The TowerofSilence made The Sunday Times Album of the Week and...
burials" in parts of Asia, the Zoroastrian "TowerofSilence", and Native American "tree burials". Excarnation is practiced for a variety of spiritual and...
Hymns Irene 2017 New York Normal Melanie 2018 Love Me Anyway Jack 2018 Bel Canto Esmeralda 2019 TowerofSilence Lior 2019 Room 220 Officer Lex Diaz Short...
be retrieved by family for burial or other funerary practices. The TowerofSilence is a raised circular structure used in Zoroastrian funerary rituals...
exhumation Burial mound Corpse road Museum of Funeral Customs State funeral Superburial Thanatology TowerofSilence Philip Lieberman. (1991). Uniquely Human...
mummification, a type of embalming, practiced by the Ancient Egyptians; and the sky burial and a similar method of disposal called TowerofSilence practiced by...
to be carried out on the tower. The decision to silence the bells was made to protect the hearing of the workers on the tower, and drew much criticism...
one of the largest cities built almost entirely out of adobe. Yazd's heritage as a center of Zoroastrianism is also important. There is a Towerof Silence...
the TowerofSilence or the doongerwadi. Again, the High Court ruled in favor of the trust. In a third case, in December 2017, the Supreme Court of India...
form of either an eagle or a vulture. The people of Parsi community in India leave the dead bodies exposed in high towers called TowerofSilence in order...
cover the water from the potentially contaminating activity of the nearby TowersofSilence. When seen from the air, the walkway inside the park (Hanging...
for the construction of a palace in Baghdad, 2,000 miles (3,200 km) away. In the 10th century, on the day that a TowerofSilence had been completed at...
preclude pollution of fire or earth. The traditional method of corpse disposal is through ritual exposure in a "TowerofSilence", but both burial and...
India's Parsis relied mainly on vultures to eat corpses left in TowersofSilence. Vultures constituted the natural animal disposal system, processing...
hold a type of sky burial within a structure known as a TowerofSilence in which the body is exposed to weathering and predation to dispose of the remains...
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