n up to
quite recent times their fire temples and towers of silence were attacked
and broken into by Mussulman crowds, the fires, so tenderly cared for,
mercilessly put out: the sacred books destroyed, and the temples
desecrated in the most insulting manner.

There are a number of Guebre places of worship in Yezd, and in the
surrounding villages inhabited by Guebre agriculturists, but the
principal one is in the centre of the Guebre quarter of Yezd city. It is
a neat, small structure, very simple and whitewashed inside, with a
fortified back room wherein the sacred fire is kept alight, well covered
with ashes by a specially deputed priest. It is hidden so as to make it
difficult for intending invaders to discover it; and the strong door,
well protected by iron bars, wants a good deal of forcing before it can
be knocked down.

The religious ceremony in the temple of the Guebres is very interesting,
the officiating priests being dressed up in a long white garment, the
_sudra_, held together by a sacred girdle, and with the lower portion of
the face covered by a square piece of cloth like a handkerchief; on the
head they wear a peculiar cap. Various genuflexions, on a specially
spread carpet, and bows are made and prayers read.

[Illustration: Parsee Priests of Yezd Officiating during Ceremony in
their Fire Temple.]

The priests belong generally to the better classes, and the rank is
mostly hereditary. Certain ceremonies are considered necessary before the
candidate can attain the actual dignity of a prelate. First of the
ceremonies comes the _navar_, or six days' retreat in his own dwelling,
followed by the ceremony of initiation; four more days in the fire temple
with two priests who have previously gone through the _Yasna_ prayers for
six consecutive mornings. Although after this he can officiate in some
ceremonies, such as weddings, he is not fully qualified as a priest until
the _Bareshnun_ has been undergone and again the _Yasna_. The following
day other prayers are offered to the guardian spirit, and at midnight the
last ceremony takes place, and he is qualified to the degree of
_Maratab_, when he can take part in any of the Zoroastrian rituals.

As a preliminary, great purity of mind and body are required from
candidates, and they are made to endure lavish ablutions of water and
cow urine, clay and sand--an ancient custom, said to cleanse the body
better than modern soaps. After that the candidate is secluded