Cypress of Kashmar

The Cypress of Kashmar was a cypress tree regarded as sacred to followers of Zoroastrianism. According to the Iranian epic Shahnameh, the tree had grown from a branch Zoroaster had carried away from Paradise and which he planted in honor of King Vishtaspa's conversion to Zoroastrianism in Kashmarbalkh. The spreading branches of the tree are used as an allusion to the spread of Zoroaster's creed.

Cypress of Kashmar
Species	Cypress
Location	Iran, Kashmar
Date felled	c. 10 December 861

On 10 December 861 AD, Abbasid caliph al-Mutawakkil, unable or unwilling to leave Baghdad, ordered the tree be felled and transported to his capital, so that carpenters might reassemble it for him. The villagers who lived near the tree pleaded with the caliph and offered money for its protection, to no avail. Al-Mutawakkil was murdered before the 1,300 camels carrying the cypress pieces reached Baghdad.^[1]

The palace and its spiral minaret still stand today.^[2][3]

See also

• Adur Burzen-Mihr
• Zoroastrian Sarv
• Torshiz
• List of individual trees

References

1. "CYPRESS". Encyclopædia Iranica. December 15, 1993. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
2. "The Destruction of Sacred Trees". www.goldenassay.com. 17 July 2012. Archived from the original on 6 March 2021. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
3. "The Cypress of Kashmar and Zoroaster". www.zoroastrian.org.uk. Archived from the original on 20 May 2019. Retrieved 27 November 2019.

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