Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism (or Mazdaism) was born of a set of reforms attributed to the prophet Zarathushtra (in Greek, Zoroaster; traditional dates 628–551 BCE). A new ritual system gradually developed, revolving around a sacred fire, with a theology that envisions the world as an ongoing contest between good and evil. The religion originated around 1000 BCE in a pastoral society inhabiting what is now eastern Iran and Afghanistan, growing from archaic Indo-Iranian priestly ritual tradition, in which offerings of food and an invigorating plant juice (called soma in Old Indo-Iranian and Sanskrit; haoma in Avestan), directed to celestial divinities, were made in a ritual fire accompanied by poetic recitations. The religion survives in Iran and South Asia, with the total number of Zoroastrians worldwide at about 150,000. It is passed on mainly through family tradition; conversions are uncommon and are not sought.
Iranian Zoroastrian religious leader Jahangir Osheidari with Iranian president Mohammad Khatami in Tehran in October 2000. (AFP/CORBIS)Further Reading
Boyce, Mary. (1992) Zoroastrianism. Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda Publishers.
——, ed. (1984) Textual Sources for the Study of Zoroastrianism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Kellens, Jean. (2000) Essays on Zarathustra and Zoroastrianism. Trans. by Prods Oktor Skjœrvø. Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda Publishers.
Malandra, William W., trans. and ed. (1983) An Introduction to Ancient Iranian Religion: Readings from the Avesta and the Achaemenid Inscriptions. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
The Zend-Avesta: Part I: The Vendidad. (1887) Trans. by James Darmesteter. Sacred Books of the East, no. 4. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
The Zend-Avesta: Part II: The Sirozahs, Yasts, and Nyayis. (1882) Trans. by James Darmesteter. Sacred Books of the East, no. 23. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
The Zend-Avesta: Part III: The Yasna, Visparad, Afrinagan, Gahs, and Miscellaneous Fragments. (1887) Trans. by L. H. Mills. Sacred Books of the East, no. 31. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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