BABYLON AND PERSIA

152 MEDIA, BABYLON, AND PERSIA.Turanian feature, and as regards specially that" ofFire, it is quite likely that the Eranians alreadyfound it in full force in the region bordering on theCaspian Sea from the west.That maze of moun¬tains and valleys, uniting the foot of the Caucasianrange and the head of the Zagros, abounds in under¬ground springs and reservoirs of naphthaa perfectlyinexhaustible wealth of fuel, which a very little la¬bor could bring to the surface by means of pipes, andutilize for entertaining quenchless fires.Thus theinstitution of sacred fires is absolutely suggestedby the nature of the country, and is accordinglyintimately associated with that country even in itsname Atropatene = Aderbeidjan to our own day.(See p. 144.) Some few so-called " Gebers " or " Fireworshippers" still linger among the mountains of Ad¬erbeidjan and Upper Kurdistan, attracted by the flamewhich still glimmers on the top of some of the ancientFire-towers, the gigantic Atesh-gahs or Fire-altars con-.structed in the times of their fathers' glory; uniqueand most impressive constructions, now mostly inruins.The sacred flame, kindled in the pure moun¬tain air, high above all defiling contact, drew itsnourishment by a pipe that passed straight upthrough the centre of the building, directly from theinvisible store below. Truly, few forms of worshipappeal more to our imagination and pur sense ofreverent awe than the homage paid to this purest ofsymbols on the stainless mountain tops, by whiterobedAthravans, raising their voice in song amidthe silence of a wild and undesecrated nature.28. More traces of Turanian influence might eag-