Zoroastrian “Tower of Silence” in Yazd, Iran
Until last century, corpses could still be found on top of the Towers of Silence in Yazd, slowly disintegrating or being picked apart by desert vultures.
In the Zoroastrian tradition, once someone has died, their body can immediately be contaminated by demons and made impure. To prevent this, Zoroastrians purified the dead body by exposing it to the elements on top of flat-topped towers in the desert.
Zoroastrian “Tower of Silence” in Yazd, Iran
Until last century, corpses could still be found on top of the Towers of Silence in Yazd, slowly disintegrating or being picked apart by desert vultures.
In the Zoroastrian tradition, once someone has died, their body can immediately be contaminated by demons and made impure. To prevent this, Zoroastrians purified the dead body by exposing it to the elements on top of flat-topped towers in the desert.