Tower of Silence

The rituals of death in Iran like all other cultures are closely related to the concepts of life after death. With the ancient Iranians their fate in the after life was decided by their choice of good or evil. One of the biggest family tombs, “Reza’s Paradise”, is located in north east of Iran, Mashad. This vast field consists several family tombs and abandoned graves. Family tombs are private and usually decorated and furnished by members of family as a sign of respect to dead one. As a visitor you are not allowed to enter the space since entrance doors are locked and you can only take a peek through its window. Leading members of the family would be buried at the bottom of deep shafts covered by earthen barrows. Ordinary people would be laid in simple graves in the earth and criminals would be segregated from the rest in abandoned places.

During this project I traveled around Iran to explore a complicated funeral rituals and how current social, political and economical climate has influenced this historical culture.