Excavation at the So-called Anahita Temple Complex in Kangavar (1st Season) (The Fifth Archaeological Mission)

Dehpahlavan, Mostafa; Garavand, Morteza; Kazemi, Hashem; Alipour, Aboulfazl; Babazadeh, Saman; Hosseini, Bita; Firouzinejad Shirazi, Faezeh; Hosseini Harandi, Seyed Amirali; Abediyeh, Seyed Amirhassan; Mohammadi Sefidkhani, Ramin; Najafi, Zahra; Mirshekar, Majid

doi:10.22034/hsaj.2026.588927.1054

Excavation at the So-called Anahita Temple Complex in Kangavar (1st Season) (The Fifth Archaeological Mission)

Articles in Press

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Mostafa Dehpahlavan ¹

Morteza Garavand ²

Hashem Kazemi ³

Aboulfazl Alipour ⁴

Saman Babazadeh ⁵

Bita Hosseini ⁶

Faezeh Firouzinejad Shirazi ⁷

Seyed Amirali Hosseini Harandi ⁸

Seyed Amirhassan Abediyeh ⁹

Ramin Mohammadi sefidkhani ¹⁰

Zahra Najafi ¹¹

Majid Mirshekar ⁶

¹ Associate Professor, Department of Archaeology, University of Tehran, Iran.

² مدیر پایگاه ملی معبد آناهیتا کنگاور

³ دانشجوی دکتری باستان شناسی دانشگاه تهران

⁴ کارشناس پایگاه جهانی چغازنبیل

⁵ دانش آموخته دکتری باستان شناسی دانشگاه تهران

⁶ دانشجوی کارشناسی ارشد باستان شناسی دانشگاه تهران

⁷ دانشجوی دکتری باستان شناسی دانشگاه تربیت مدرس

⁸ دانش آموخته کارشناسی دانشگاه تهران

⁹ دانش آموخته کارشناسی باستان شناسی دانشگاه تهران

¹⁰ دانش آموخته کارشناسی ارشد باستان سنجی دانشگاه هنر اسلامی تبریز

¹¹ دانش آموخته مرمت آثار دانشگاه هنر اصفهان

10.22034/hsaj.2026.588927.1054

Abstract

Archaeological excavations of the 2024 season (1403 SH) at the so-called Anahita Temple complex in Kangavar were initiated after a hiatus of more than two decades. The primary objectives included resuming field research, clarifying functional and chronological ambiguities of the structure, and establishing conservation management. This season employed an integrated approach, combining extensive excavations in two main trenches with geophysical imaging (geomagnetometry). Key findings from this season underscore the complexity and multilayered occupational sequence of the site. In Trench 1, excavated based on geophysical anomalies, a complex of seven architectural spaces belonging to the contemporary period (likely Pahlavi) was unearthed. The presence of six clay ovens (tannurs), architectural evidence, and cultural finds indicate that this complex served as an industrial workshop—most likely for baking local bread or cookies—rather than a residential unit. In Trench 2, located at the summit of the site, a complex stratigraphy was revealed, comprising at least two distinct phases: an earlier phase consisting of a massive stone platform and stone walls (Parthian-Sassanian?), and a later phase characterized by residential mud-brick architecture with gypsum plaster (late Qajar to Pahlavi), featuring a central hearth built atop the ancient remains. These findings reveal at least three independent architectural phases in the upper section of the site. Overall, the 2024 excavations demonstrated that the so-called Anahita Temple complex was repurposed for residential and industrial functions during the Islamic and contemporary periods. Consequently, the site transitioned from an ancient monument (either a temple or a royal pavilion) into a domestic settlement and small-scale industrial workshops.

Keywords

Kangavar

Anahita Temple

Sassanian Pavilion

Platform Construction (Suffah)

Hellenistic Architecture

Subjects