ZOROASTRIANI

Zoroastrianism or Mazdayasna is one of the world's

oldest continuously practiced religions. It is centered
in a dualistic cosmology of good and evil and an
eschatology predicting the ultimate conquest of evil
with theological elements of henotheism,
monotheism/monism, and polytheism.
 It is an ancient Persian religion that may have
originated as early as 4,000 years ago, arguably
the world’s first monotheistic faith.

Zoroastrianism was the state religion of three

Persian dynasties, until the Muslim conquest of
Persia in the seventh century A.D.
 Zoroastrian refugees, called Parsis, escaped
Muslim persecution in Iran by emigrating to India.

They now have an estimated 100,000 to 200,000

worshipers worldwide, and is practiced today as a
minority religion in parts of Iran and India.
ZOROASTER
 Zarathustra, Greek
Zoroaster, Iranian religious
reformer and prophet,
traditionally regarded as the
founder of Zoroastrianism.
 Most of what is known about
Zoroaster comes from the Avesta—a
collection of Zoroastrian religious
scriptures. It’s unclear exactly when
Zoroaster may have lived.
 Some scholars believe he was a
contemporary of Cyrus the Great, a king of
the Persian Empire in the sixth century
B.C., though most linguistic and
archaeological evidence points to an earlier
date—sometime between 1500 and 1200
B.C.
 Zoroaster is thought to have been born in
what is now northeastern Iran or southwestern
Afghanistan. He may have lived in a tribe that
followed an ancient religion with many gods
(polytheism). This religion was likely similar to
early forms of Hinduism.
 According to Zoroastrian tradition,
Zoroaster had a divine vision of a supreme
being while partaking in a pagan
purification rite at age 30. Zoroaster began
teaching followers to worship a single god
called Ahura Mazda.
 In the 1990s, Russian
archaeologists at Gonur Tepe,
a Bronze Age site in Turkmenistan,
discovered the remains of what
they believed to be an early
Zoroastrian fire temple. The temple
dates to the second millennium
B.C., making it the earliest known
site associated with
PERSIAN
EMPIRE
Zoroastrianism shaped one of the ancient world’s
largest empires—the mighty Persia Empire.
It was the state religion of three major Persian
dynasties.
 Cyrus the Great, founder of the
Achaemenid Persian Empire, was a
devout Zoroastrian. By most
accounts, Cyrus was a tolerant ruler
who allowed his non-Iranian
subjects to practice their own
religions.
He ruled by the Zoroastrian law of asha (truth and
righteousness) but didn’t impose Zoroastrianism
on the people of Persia’s conquered territories.
The beliefs of Zoroastrianism were spread across
Asia via the Silk Road, a network of trading routes
that spread from China to the Middle East and into
Europe.
 Some scholars say that tenets of Zoroastrianism helped to
shape the major Abrahamic religions—
including Judaism, Christianity and Islam—through the
influence of the Persian Empire.
Zoroastrian concepts, including the idea of a single god,
heaven, hell and a day of judgment, may have been first
introduced to the Jewish community of Babylonia, where
people from the Kingdom of Judea had been living in captivity
for decades.
 When Cyrus conquered Babylon in 539 B.C., he
liberated the Babylonian Jews. 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.D.
 MUSLIM
CONQUEST
 The early Muslim
conquests, also referred to
as the Arab conquests and
early Islamic conquests
began with the Islamic
prophet Muhammad in the
7th century.
The Muslim conquest of Persia between 633 and 651 A.D. led to
the fall of the Sassanian Persian Empire and the decline of the
Zoroastrian religion in Iran.

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
RELIGION
Parsi, also spelled Parsee, is a member of a
group of followers in India of the Iranian
prophet Zoroaster (or Zarathustra).
The Parsis, whose name means “Persians,” are
descended from Persian Zoroastrians who
emigrated to India to avoid religious
persecution by Muslims.
A group a Parsee sailed across the Arabian Sea
and landed in Gujarat, a state in western India,
sometime between 785 and 936 A.D.
 The Parsi are an ethnic minority in India and
Pakistan. Today there are about 60,000 Parsi in
India and 1,400 in Pakistan.
ZOROASTRIAN
SYMBOLS
Faravahar
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
 Evergreen
Cypress Tree
symbol of eternal life.
 Fire
another important symbol of
Zoroastrianism, as it
represents light, warmth and
has purifying powers.
ZOROASTRIAN
BELIEFS
Fire along with water - symbol of purity

Fire temples - places of worship

Three ancient zoroastrian fire temples

known as great fires
 Zoroastrians gave their dead "sky burials"

Dakhaas - circular flat topped towers

Ossuaries - lime pits were the bones are collected

Dakhas have been illegal in Iran since 1970s

ZOROASTRIANI
SM IN WESTERN
CULTURE
British musician Freddie Mercury, lead singer
for the rock band Queen, was of Parsi
descent. Mercury, born Farrokh Bulsara,
practiced Zoroastrianism. Mercury died of
complications from AIDS in 1991, and his
London funeral was performed by a
Zoroastrian priest.
Zoroastrian god Ahura Mazda served as
the namesake for Japanese automaker
Mazda Motor Corporation. The company
hoped that an association with the “God
of Light” would “brighten the image” of
their first vehicles.
American novelist George R.R. Martin,
creator of the fantasy series A Song of
Ice and Fire, which was later adapted
into the H.B.O. series Game of Thrones,
developed the legend of Azor Ahai from
Zoroastrianism.
In it, a warrior demigod, Azor Ahai,
defeats darkness with the help of
the deity R’hllor, a fire god which
Martin may have modeled after
Ahura Mazda.