=Funerals.=—­As soon as a man is dead his body belongs to the evil spirit.  It is necessary, then, to remove it from the house.  But it ought not to be burned, for in this way the fire would be polluted; it should not be buried, for so is the soil defiled; nor is it to be drowned, and thus contaminate the water.  These dispositions of the corpse would bring permanent pollution.  The Persians resorted to a different method.  The body with face toward the sun was exposed in an elevated place and left uncovered, securely fixed with stones; the bearers then withdrew to escape the demons, for they assemble “in the places of sepulture, where reside sickness, fever, filth, cold, and gray hairs.”  Dogs and birds, pure animals, then come to purify the body by devouring it.

=Destiny of the Soul.=—­The soul of the dead separates itself from the body.  In the third night after death it is conducted over the “Bridge of Assembling” (Schinvat) which leads to the paradise above the gulf of inferno.  There Ormuzd questions it on its past life.  If it has practised the good, the pure spirits and the spirits of dogs support it and aid it in crossing the bridge and give it entrance into the abode of the blest; the demons flee, for they cannot bear the odor of virtuous spirits.  The soul of the wicked, on the other hand, comes to the dread bridge, and reeling, with no one to support it, is dragged by demons to hell, is seized by the evil spirit and chained in the abyss of darkness.

=Character of Mazdeism.=—­This religion originated in a country of violent contrasts, luxuriant valleys side by side with barren steppes, cool oases with burning deserts, cultivated fields and stretches of sand, where the forces of nature seem engaged in an eternal warfare.  This combat which the Iranian saw around him he assumed to be the law of the universe.  Thus a religion of great purity was developed, which urged man to work and to virtue; but at the same time issued a belief in the devil and in demons which was to propagate itself in the west and torment all the peoples of Europe.

THE PERSIAN EMPIRE

=The Medes.=—­Many were the tribes dwelling in Iran; two of these have become noted in history—­the Medes and the Persians.  The Medes at the west, nearer the Assyrians, destroyed Nineveh and its empire (625).  But soon they softened their manners, taking the flowing robes, the indolent life, the superstitious religion of the degenerate Assyrians.  They at last were confused with them.

=The Persians.=—­The Persians to the east preserved their manners, their religion, and their vigor.  “For twenty years,” says Herodotus, “the Persians teach their children but three things—­to mount a horse, to draw the bow, and to tell the truth.”

=Cyrus.=—­About 550 Cyrus, their chief, overthrew the king of the Medes, reunited all the peoples of Iran, and then conquered Lydia, Babylon, and all Asia Minor.  Herodotus recounts in detail a legend which became attached to this prince.  Cyrus himself in an inscription says of himself, “I am Cyrus, king of the legions, great king, mighty king, king of Babylon, king of Sumir and Akkad, king of the four regions, son of Cambyses, great king of Susiana, grand-son of Cyrus, king of Susiana.”