Kangavar Temple of Anahita (Kangavar)

 temple, place with historical importance, excavation, interesting place

The Anahita Temple (Persian: پرستشگاه‌ آناهیتا یا ناهید) is the name of an archaeological sites in Iran popularly thought to have been attributed to the ancient deity Anahita (an Old Persian goddess). It is located in Kangavar, Kermanshah Province and dates to circa 400 BC.

The remains at Kangavar reveal an edifice that is Hellenistic in character, and yet display Persian architectural designs. The plinth's enormous dimensions for example, which measure just over 200m on a side, and its megalithic foundations, which echo Achaemenid stone platforms, "constitute Persian elements". This is thought to be corroborated by the "two lateral stairways that ascend the massive stone platform recalling Achaemenid traditions", particularly that of the Apadana Palace at Persepolis.

Excavation first began in 1968, by which time the "large structure with its great Ionic columns set on a high stone platform" had been associated with a comment by Isidore of Charax, that refers to a "temple of Artemis" (Parthian Stations 6). References to Artemis in Iran are generally interpreted to be references to Anahita, and thus Isidore's "temple of Artemis" came to be understood as a reference to a temple of Anahita.

Consequently, it has been commonly believed that the site was a "columnar temple dedicated to Anahit." Karim Pirnia, one of the proponents of this theory, believes that the construction belongs to the Parthian style of Iranian architecture which underwent renovations in the Sassanid period. Warwick Ball considers the structure "one of the greatest works of Parthian architecture" which has an "eastern Roman Temple form", with the architectural emphasis being on the temenos.

In 1981, a report by an excavator of the site however contended that the construction "did not have the necessary characteristics that could identify it as a temple". Ali Akbar Sarfaraz, former head of the archaeology team of the Tehran University, shares this opinion. The popular theory held by this group is that the ruin is of a "late Sasanian palace."

Finally, a third group contends that the site was originally constructed in the Achaemenid period, and underwent several phases of construction. Of this group, one can mention archeologist S. Kambakhsh Fard.

Originally, 400 BCE was proposed as the date of the site's construction. "Under the Parthians any observable western influence can just as well be a survival from the Hellenistic period, which is why the monument at Kangāvar was once acceptably dated as early Parthian while recent investigations proved it to be late Sasanian."