During the 1980s (the first decade of the 21st century) when the construction of a dam in the village of Qala Shayan belonging to the city of Shabad in Kermashan Province began, engineers encountered some historical monuments that attracted the attention of everyone. Later, an investigation of these monuments led to the discovery of a building in that place that belonged to the Sassanid era. This historical monument was the Shayan Fire Temple.
Shayan in Kurdish means a house over the heights where brave and skillful live. Shayan fire temple was the first fire temple in Kermashan found in that place; because no other fire temples had been found in that province before. The paintings on the walls of this fire temple are very beautiful and special which shows how much the Sassanid authorities had paid attention to architecture, art, and beauty.
According to the investigations, Shayan Fire Temple dates back to the second millennium BC. In the investigations traces of pots and pans made of ceramics, coins, jewelry, and gems and some other items made of iron were found. In fact, detailed research has not been conducted on this fire temple of the Sassanid era so far and there are only some brief articles about it.
This fire temple is 1427 meters above sea level and is located 45 kilometers from Kermashan. It is located in a village with some hills. The width of this historical site is 2 thousand square meters.
The structure of this fire temple was made 14.5 by 14.5. There are four rooms inside it. The height of the fire temple's walls is 1 meter and 10 centimeters. The fire temple is mostly made of stones and rocks. The walls of this fire temple are finely plastered.
In the Shayan fire temple, religious, non-religious, and other items have been found. The most common items found here are ceramic pots and pans. Some of these broken items have pictures of bulls on them. The bull was a symbol of wealth during the Zoroastrian era.
According to the myths, there is a connection between bulls and the moon and a bull's horn is a symbol of the moon. A bull is also a symbol of the male gender which shows strength and skill.
The East part of Kurdistan is rich in historical places and monuments. The ability to produce ceramics and such great architectural structures indicates the rich culture of the authorities of that time in history.
In the Shayan Fire Temple, coins have also been found. These coins are decorated with many drawings. The drawings carved on these coins include the moon crescent, star, the holy fire, the fire temple, the kings, the religious figures, and other things. These distinctive drawings show how rich was the Sassanid's culture. Interestingly, the year of their mintage was also carved on the coins of that time.
A part of this fire temple is destroyed which is due to the invasion of the Muslims. The Islamic authorities built mosques over these places at that time and changed the surrounding area into a cemetery.
This fire temple has not been investigated completely and only some evidence has been gathered that the investigators themselves say they are not clear.
Since enough budget was not dedicated to the investigations of this place, the archeologists gave up their work and covered the ruins with sand so that they would not be destroyed.
