News from Mehr Kangelu may be Mithraist temple: archaeologists

A team of archaeologists working on the Kangelu monument in northern Iran’s Mazandaran Province has found evidence suggesting that it might have been a Mithraist temple during the Sassanid era, the Persian service of CHN reported on Wednesday.

The team recently discovered engravings depicting ibex and cypress trees, an inscription written in Pahlavi, and some structures with Mithraist architectural elements at Kangelu, which experts believed was a Sassanid fortress before the discoveries.

“Mithraist temples were usually built in caves or in lower places. A hole was made facing the sun in such structures. In initial studies, the archaeologists have identified a hole facing west in the lower part of Kangelu’s tower, which shows that a room lies beneath the tower,” team director Saman Surtiji said.