When Cyrus conquered Babylon in B. Many returned home to Jerusalem , where their descendants helped to create the Hebrew Bible. Over the next millennia, Zoroastrianism would dominate two subsequent Persian dynasties—the Parthian and Sassanian Empires—until the Muslim conquest of Persia in the seventh century A. The Muslim conquest of Persia between and A.
The Arab invaders charged Zoroastrians living in the Persia extra taxes for retaining their religious practices and implemented laws to make life difficult for them. Over time, most Iranian Zoroastrians converted to Islam. Parsi are followers of Zoroastrianism in India. According to Parsi tradition, a group of Iranian Zoroastrians emigrated from Persia to escape religious persecution by the Muslim majority after the Arab conquest.
Experts speculate that the group sailed across the Arabian Sea and landed in Gujarat, a state in western India, sometime between and A. The Parsi are an ethnic minority in India and Pakistan. Today there are about 60, Parsi in India and 1, in Pakistan. The Faravahar is an ancient symbol of the Zoroastrian faith. It depicts a bearded man with one hand reaching forward. He stands above a pair of wings that are outstretched from a circle representing eternity. Fire is another important symbol of Zoroastrianism, as it represents light, warmth and has purifying powers.
Some Zoroastrians also recognize the evergreen cypress tree as a symbol of eternal life. Zoroastrian places of worship are sometimes called fire temples. Each fire temple contains an altar with an eternal flame that burns continuously and is never extinguished. According to legend, three ancient Zoroastrian fire temples, known as the great fires, were said to have come directly from the Zoroastrian god, Ahura Mazda, at the beginning of time.
Archaeologists have searched for these places, though it's unclear whether the great fires ever existed or were purely mythical. There corpses were exposed to the elements—and local vultures—until the bones were picked clean and bleached. Then they were collected and placed in lime pits called ossuaries.
Dakhmas have been illegal in Iran since the s. Many Zoroastrians today bury their dead beneath concrete slabs, though some Parsi in India still practice sky burials. A dakhma remains in operation near Mumbai, India, for example. Many Europeans became familiar with Zoroastrian founder Zarathustra through the nineteenth century novel Thus Spoke Zarathustra by German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. In it, Nietzsche follows the prophet Zarathustra on his travels.
Thus spake Zarathustra: 6th century BC. Zoroaster the Greek name by which the Iranian prophet Zarathustra has become known is traditionally believed to have lived and taught in the early part of the 6th century BC. His home is probably in the region to the east of the Caspian Sea. The main theme of Zoroaster's teaching is to replace the numerous ahuras or gods of the traditional Indo-Iranian religion with just one ahura , the supreme God or 'Wise Lord', Ahura Mazda.
Zoroaster's original concept of Ahura Mazda is found in what are believed to have been his own discourses, the Gathas , which form the opening section of the Avesta , the holy book of Zoroastrianism. Ahura Mazda, he says, created a pair of twin spirits as his sons. One, Spenta Mainyu, chose truth, light and life; the other, Angra Mainyu, preferred deceit, darkness and death.
As the religion of Zoroastrianism develops, after its founder's death, Ahura Mazda himself sometimes now shortened to Ormazd tends to take over from his good son the responsibility for thwarting Angra Mainyu. Human history, according to Zoroastrian belief, reflects the struggle between these eternal opposites, Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu, good and evil, light and darkness, truth and deceit.
Zoroaster rejects all but one of the forms of sacrifice practised by the Indo-Iranians, and keeps only sacrifice by fire. So fire becomes, in Zoroastrianism, the sacred symbol of truth.
It is not known how the religion spreads through Iran to become, eventually, the official religion of the Achaemenid dynasty. The Magi, a priestly sect whose name has given us 'magic' , soon become associated with Zoroastrianism - very probably making a politic adjustment from the service of an earlier Iranian religion.
The power of Persia gives the Magi a special status; they are the wise men of the east. As such, five centuries later, they arrive to add weight and authority at the birth scene of another religion - Christianity.
The Magi, who in the Christian story bring gifts to the infant Jesus, travel from a Persia ruled by the Parthians , in origin a dynasty of nomads. However this may be, it is certain that under the Achaemenid empire, Zoroastrianism was polytheistic.
Zarathustra is not mentioned in any of the cuneiform texts of the Achaemenid empire although there is one seal mentioning his family name Spitama , and we may ask whether the Achaemenid kings were Zoroastrians. A first, tentative answer is "yes", because many of their texts mention Ahuramazda. Two examples from the famous Behistun inscription of king Darius I the Great :.
Ahuramazda brought me help, until I gained this empire; by the grace of Ahuramazda do I hold this empire. Ahuramazda brought me help, and the other gods, all that there are. I have ruled according to righteousness. Neither to the weak nor to the powerful did I do wrong. In other words: Darius protects the weak, is not a friend of The Lie and venerates Ahuramazda. This is interesting, but it does not prove very much, because we do not know how much of Zarathustra's teaching was original.
On the other hand, Darius' dislike of "the lie" and the use of this expression is not a common theme in ancient political or religious texts. Some scholars have argued that the following inscription from Susa by Artaxerxes II Mnemon proves that the Achaemenid kings were not Zoroastrians:.
Artaxerxes the Great King, [ May Ahuramazda, Anahita, and Mithra protect me from all evil, and that which I have built may they not shatter nor harm. It is indeed remarkable that Artaxerxes II invokes the goddess Anahita and the god Mithra, but as we have already seen above, Zarathustra was not a monotheist; he wrote Yashts for these two gods.
On the other hand, there is one specific point that suggests that the Achaemenid kings were indeed Zoroastrians. It is the way they use the name Ahuramazda. Originally, this was the god of wisdom, as is suggested by his name the Wise Lord. The Achaemenid kings mention their supreme god frequently as a creator, which strongly suggests that they were at least influenced by Zoroastrian ideas:. A great god is Ahuramazda, who created this earth, who created yonder sky, who created man, who created happiness for man, who made Xerxes king, one king of many, one lord of many.
Again, this does not prove that Xerxes was a Zoroastrian, but it certainly does not contradict it. A final argument is a quote by the fourth-century Greek philosopher known as pseudo- Plato , who describes the teacher of young Persian noblemen:.
He teaches the science of the Magians , owing to Zarathustra, son of Ahuramazda. It is in fact the worship of the gods.
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