A winged disc with a human figure rising from it, carved on the reliefs of Persepolis
The faravahar, now the emblem of the faith
General knowledge · Religion & belief
Zoroastrianism
founder variously dated between c. 1500 and c. 600 BCE
The religion of ancient Iran — Ahura Mazda against the destructive spirit
The ancient religion of Iran, founded by the prophet Zarathustra, known to the Greeks as Zoroaster. It worships Ahura Mazda, the Wise Lord, as creator, and sees the world as the arena of a struggle between truth and the destructive spirit, in which human choices matter and truth will finally win. It was the religion of the Achaemenid, Parthian and Sasanian empires, and declined after the Arab conquest of Persia in the 7th century. Today its largest community is the Parsis of India, and the worldwide total is probably under 200,000.
How to spot them
- ▸Ahura Mazda, the Wise Lord, opposed by Angra Mainyu or Ahriman
- ▸'Good thoughts, good words, good deeds' — humata, hukhta, huvarshta
- ▸Fire temples, and towers where the dead were exposed
- ▸Parsis: the Indian community descended from refugees from Persia
Key facts
Towers on which the dead were laid out for vultures, so as not to pollute earth or fire
The dakhma or 'Tower of Silence'; the practice has largely ceased, partly through the collapse of vulture populations
'Good thoughts, good words, good deeds' — the whole ethic in three phrases
Humata, hukhta, huvarshta
A cosmos divided between the Wise Lord and a destructive spirit, with human choices tipping the balance
Ahura Mazda against Angra Mainyu (Ahriman)
Refugees from the Arab conquest of Persia settled in Gujarat and are known there by a word meaning 'Persian'
The Parsis; tradition places the landing at Sanjan
The singer born Farrokh Bulsara, to a family from Gujarat by way of Zanzibar, was raised in it
Freddie Mercury of Queen; Zubin Mehta and the Tata family are also Parsis
Nietzsche put its founder on a title page and Strauss set the sunrise that opens it (1883)
Also sprach Zarathustra — Nietzsche's book of 1883–85 and Richard Strauss's tone poem of 1896
Seventeen hymns, the oldest part of its scripture, attributed to the founder himself
The Gathas, within the Avesta
Key ideas
- Its influence is usually described as running the other way from its size. Ideas of a final judgement, a resurrection, heaven and hell, angelic beings and a saviour figure are all present in it, and scholars have long debated how far they passed into Judaism during the Persian period and from there into Christianity and Islam.
Quick-fire facts
- •The founder is Zarathustra, called Zoroaster by the Greeks; his date is disputed, with estimates ranging from about 1500 to about 600 BCE
- •The supreme god is Ahura Mazda, 'Wise Lord'; the destructive spirit is Angra Mainyu, later Ahriman
- •The scripture is the Avesta; its oldest layer, the Gathas, is a set of 17 hymns ascribed to Zarathustra himself
- •Fire is venerated as a symbol of purity and truth; the highest grade of fire temple is the Atash Behram
- •The dead were traditionally exposed in a dakhma or Tower of Silence, to avoid polluting earth, water or fire
- •The faravahar, a winged disc with a human figure, is the best-known emblem and appears on Achaemenid reliefs at Persepolis
- •It was the state religion of the Achaemenid, Parthian and Sasanian empires, and declined after the Arab conquest of Persia in the 7th century
- •Followers who migrated to Gujarat are the Parsis; Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara), Zubin Mehta and the Tata industrial family are among the best known
- •Nowruz, the Persian New Year at the spring equinox, is its major festival and is now kept far beyond the community
- •Nietzsche's Also sprach Zarathustra (1883–85) borrowed the prophet's name; Richard Strauss's tone poem of 1896 takes its title from the book
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Sources
- BBC Religion & Ethics — Zoroastrianism
- Encyclopaedia Iranica — Zoroastrianism i. Historical Review up to the Arab Conquest
- World History Encyclopedia — Zoroastrianism