The 19th century witnessed a flurry of trading activity throughout the Indian Ocean, and as a result, a sizable Parsee community became established in Aden. A Parsee businessman by the name of Cowasjee Dinshaw Adenwalla bankrolled the construction of a Temple of Fire accompanied by the Tower of Silence. Like other Zoroastrian towers of silence, this site was used as a form of burial known as excarnation. In this practice, the bodies of the deceased were left inside roofless towers, exposed to the elements and carrion birds—in this case, kites…
