The GettyResearch Institute
Research Home Tools Art & Architecture Thesaurus Full Record Display
Art & Architecture Thesaurus Full Record Display
New Search Previous Page Help

Click the icon to view the hierarchy.

Semantic View (JSONRDFN3/TurtleN-Triples)

ID: 300005880
Page Link: http://vocab.getty.edu/page/aat/300005880

 

Record Type: concept
towers of silence (funerary preparatory buildings, funerary buildings, ... Built Environment (hierarchy name))

 

Note: Circular stone platforms or towers erected on hills on which Parsees of India dispose of their dead according to the Zoroastrian rite. Such towers, built of stone or brick, are about 25 feet high and have gratings on which the dead are left. After the corpses have been devoured by vultures, the bones fall into a pit below, thereby satisfying the Zoroastrian injunction that corpses, which are seen as extremely polluting, should not defile the earth or have contact with fire. The actual towers are seen as threats to purity and therefore can only be entered by professional corpse-bearers who take ritual precautions before entering and undergo rites of purification after leaving the profession. Some members of the Zoroastrian community want to abandon this ancient way of disposing of the dead but others staunchly adhere to it.
 
Terms:
towers of silence (preferred,C,U,English-P,D,U,PN)
tower of silence (C,U,English,AD,U,SN)
dahkmes (C,U,English,UF,U,N)
dakhmas (C,U,English,UF,U,N)
dokhmas (C,U,LC,English,UF,U,N)
dokmehs (C,U,English,UF,U,N)
daxmas (C,U,English,UF,U,N)
死者之塔 (C,U,Chinese (traditional)-P,D,U,U)
沉默之塔 (C,U,Chinese (traditional),UF,U,U)
寂沒塔 (C,U,Chinese (traditional),UF,U,U)
sǐ zhě zhī tǎ (C,U,Chinese (transliterated Hanyu Pinyin)-P,UF,U,U)
si zhe zhi ta (C,U,Chinese (transliterated Pinyin without tones)-P,UF,U,U)
ssu che chih t'a (C,U,Chinese (transliterated Wade-Giles)-P,UF,U,U)
torens der stilte (C,U,Dutch-P,D,U,U)
toren der stilte (C,U,Dutch,AD,U,U)
torens van het zwijgen (C,U,Dutch,UF,U,U)
torres del silencio (C,U,Spanish-P,D,U,PN)
torre del silencio (C,U,Spanish,AD,U,SN)

Facet/Hierarchy Code:  V.RK

Hierarchical Position:

Hierarchy of Objects Facet
Objects Facet
Hierarchy of Built Environment (hierarchy name)
.... Built Environment (hierarchy name) (G)
Hierarchy of Single Built Works (hierarchy name)
........ Single Built Works (hierarchy name) (G)
Hierarchy of single built works (built environment)
............ single built works (built environment) (G)
Hierarchy of <single built works by specific type>
................ <single built works by specific type> (G)
Hierarchy of <single built works by function>
.................... <single built works by function> (G)
Hierarchy of ceremonial structures
........................ ceremonial structures (G)
Hierarchy of funerary structures
............................ funerary structures (G)
Hierarchy of funerary buildings
................................ funerary buildings (G)
Hierarchy of funerary preparatory buildings
.................................... funerary preparatory buildings (G)
Hierarchy of towers of silence
........................................ towers of silence (G)

Additional Notes:
Chinese (traditional) ..... 崇信瑣羅亞斯德教的印度帕西人在山丘上建的圓形石台或石塔,用來放置屍體。此種塔為石或磚造,約二十五呎高,有格柵以留置屍體。待禿鷹啄食屍體之後,骨骸會落入下方的坑洞中。此作法乃因瑣羅亞斯德教義規定,屍體皆極汙穢,不可汙染大地或和火接觸。此外,塔身也被視為危害純潔之邪惡勢力,因此僅有職業抬屍者可以進入;抬屍者在入塔前會進行避邪儀式,而卸除此職務時也需舉行淨化儀式。有部份瑣羅亞斯德教教徒欲廢止此種處理屍體的古法,但其他教眾仍堅持依循此道。 
Dutch ..... Ronde stenen platforms of torens die zijn opgericht op heuvels waarop de parsen in India hun doden achterlaten, overeenkomstig de zoroastrische rituele gebruiken. Dergelijke uit steen of baksteen vervaardigde torens zijn circa 8 meter hoog en zijn voorzien van een rooster waarop de doden worden neergelegd. Nadat de lijken door gieren zijn verslonden, vallen de botten in een kuil eronder; zo wordt voldaan aan het zoroastrische gebod dat eist dat lijken, die als uiterst vervuilend worden beschouwd, niet de aarde mogen verontreinigen of in contact mogen komen met vuur. De torens worden beschouwd als bedreiging van de zuiverheid en zijn uitsluitend toegankelijk voor bevoegde lijkendragers, die rituele voorzorgsmaatregelen nemen voordat ze de toren betreden en zuiveringsrituelen ondergaan wanneer ze hun beroepsuitoefening beëindigen. Sommige leden van de zoroastrische gemeenschap pleiten voor afschaffing van dit traditionele lijkenritueel, terwijl anderen er fervent voorstander van blijven. 
Spanish ..... Plataforma circular de piedra en la que los parias de India dejan sus muertos para ser dvorados por los buitres. 

Sources and Contributors:
死者之塔............  [AS-Academia Sinica Preferred]
...........  智慧藏百科全書網 October 30, 2013
沉默之塔............  [AS-Academia Sinica]
...........  AS-Academia Sinica data (2014-)
寂沒塔............  [AS-Academia Sinica]
...........  AS-Academia Sinica data (2014-)
dahkmes............  [VP]
.................  Sturgis, Dictionary of Architecture and Building (1901)
dakhmas............  [VP]
.................  Encyclopedia Britannica Online (1994-2001) accessed 12/01
.................  Goring, ed., Larousse Dictionary of Beliefs and Religions (1994) 129
.................  Random House Dictionary of the English Language (1987)
daxmas............  [VP]
.................  Bowker, Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (1997) 262
dokhmas............  [VP]
.................  CDMARC Subjects: LCSH (1988-)
.................  Sturgis, Dictionary of Architecture and Building (1901)
dokmehs............  [VP]
.................  Sturgis, Dictionary of Architecture and Building (1901)
si zhe zhi ta............  [AS-Academia Sinica]
..........................  AS-Academia Sinica data (2014-)
ssu che chih t'a............  [AS-Academia Sinica]
.............................  AS-Academia Sinica data (2014-)
sǐ zhě zhī tǎ............  [AS-Academia Sinica]
..........................  AS-Academia Sinica data (2014-)
toren der stilte............  [RKD, AAT-Ned]
.............................  AAT-Ned (1994-)
.............................  Van Dale Engels-Nederlands (1989)
torens der stilte............  [RKD, AAT-Ned Preferred]
................................  AAT-Ned (1994-)
................................  Van Dale Engels-Nederlands (1989)
torens van het zwijgen............  [RKD, AAT-Ned]
.........................................  AAT-Ned (1994-)
.........................................  Van Dale Engels-Nederlands (1989)
torre del silencio............  [CDBP-SNPC Preferred]
...................................  TAA database (2000-)
torres del silencio............  [CDBP-SNPC]
...................................  Comité, Plural del término en singular
tower of silence............  [VP]
.............................  Bowker, Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (1997) 262
.............................  Getty Vocabulary Program rules
towers of silence............  [VP Preferred]
................................  CDMARC Subjects: LCSH (1988-)
................................  Harris, Historic Architecture Sourcebook (1977)
................................  Random House Dictionary of the English Language (1987)
................................  Sturgis, Dictionary of Architecture and Building (1901) Vol. 3, 842
 
Subject: .....  [AS-Academia Sinica, CDBP-SNPC, RKD, AAT-Ned, VP]
............  Van Dale Engels-Nederlands (1989)
 
Note:
English .......... [VP]
.......... Encyclopedia Britannica Online (1994-2001) accessed 12/01
.......... Goring, ed., Larousse Dictionary of Beliefs and Religions (1994) 129
.......... Random House Dictionary of the English Language (1987)
Chinese (traditional) .......... [AS-Academia Sinica]
.......... AS-Academia Sinica data (2014-)
Dutch .......... [RKD, AAT-Ned]
.......... AAT-Ned (1994-)
.......... Van Dale Engels-Nederlands (1989)
Spanish .......... [CDBP-SNPC]
.......... TAA database (2000-)

 

New Search

Back to Top

Printer Friendly Version

The J. Paul Getty Trust
The J. Paul Getty Trust