For centuries, Zoroastrianism was the leading religion of Persia (now Iran) before the modern Islamic religions came to be. Zoroastrianism is thought to be founded in 6th century BC by Zarathustra. Zoroastrians follow the sacred text called the Avesta; it is their "Book of the Law."
Zarathustra was a Persian prophet, when at age 30 claimed to have had visions of God. Zarathustra called God Ahura Mazda. Zoroastrianism quickly became the "official" religion of Persia, but came to an abrupt end in 637 AD at the time of the Muslim invasion. There are an estimated 2.6 million practicing Zoroastrians in the world today.
In Zarathustra's visions, he was taken up to heaven, where God, Ahura Mazda, revealed his opponent. Where Ahura Mazda stood for good, his opponent Aura Mainyu stood for evil. After revealing his opposite, Ahura Mazda told Zarathustra to return to earth and tell all humans to choose between him (Ahura Mazda) and Aura Mainyu.
Zarathustra preached to the people that they must take part in this decision to exercise their proper use of free will and choice. Zarathustra taught the people that they were free to choose between right and wrong, honesty and dishonesty, good and bad, etc. This causes Zoroastrianism to be a very ethical religion: Those who do more good than evil, go to heaven. Those who do more evil than good, go to hell. "Hell" according to Zoroastrianism, has several levels, corresponding to the level of wickedness one does in the course of their lifetime. In addition to heaven and hell, there is an "intermediate stage" (comparable to Purgatory) for those who have equal good and bad deeds.
We can see that a lot of these ideas and ideals seem to have carried themselves down to Judaism, Christianit...
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...day; for this is the day the soul is thought to reach the next world, and appear before deities who weigh their judgment to determine the fate of the soul.
When first researching Zoroastrianism, it came off as a fairly western-ish religion, believing in heaven and hell, encouraging ethics as a form of eternal savior, and other major similarities. Yet, the deeper into the rituals and practices I looked, the more differences and oddities I found. In my research, I found their fascination with fire quite amusing, and their burial practices to be a bit strange. All that said, I would still like to learn more about the religion; more than the internet can teach me. I would like to find a practicing Zoroastrian, and learn about their rituals, traditions, practices and beliefs in context and in reality.
Works Cited
http://www.religionfacts.com/zoroastrianism/index.htm
...o the practice of other religions throughout his empire because his religion allowed for him to be a more moral and upright leader. However, Darius was a firm believer in the punishment of evil-doers. This can be seen by the inscription on the relief above the Royal Road, which stated that “The Lie made them rebellious, so that these [men] deceived the people. Afterwards Ahuramazda put them into my hand; as was my desire, so I did unto them (Primary Source, 131).” This supports the idea that Zoroastrianism, created benevolent yet firm political dignitaries.
The Persian Empire was ruled by Darius the Great from 522 to 485 BCE. He spent years improving administrative organization then worked on expanding the empire. This empire lasted longer than all the others because people could keep their own laws as long as they pay their taxes. The Persian army also allowed more protection from invasions. They used cuneiform writing borrowed from Summerians. More unifying forces they use was Universal System of Weights and Measure, Highway System, Postal service, and Zoroastrianism which was based on individual
Zoroastrianism, Judaism, and Christianity share so many features that it seems that there must be a connection between them. There is a great deal of Zoroastrian influence in both Judaism and Christianity.
...ries and the 1979 revolution. The author presents Iran through the leadership of mullahs and shah tradition. The book has rich information covering the history of Iran. Mottahedeh managed to develop an impressive book that satisfies the curiosity of a reader wanting to understand the history, culture and political atmosphere of Iran through the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth century. Roy Parviz Mottahedeh and Ali Hashemi represent two views of Islamic learning and Iranian history and culture. While Ali Hashemi represents a religious view of Islamic learning and history of Iran, Parviz represents a secular view of Islamic learning and ambiguity of culture in Iran. The two views help to bring out the ways in which Islamic religion and culture influenced political atmosphere, in Iran especially at a time when politics in Iran was shaped by religion.
Religion has been a major focal point in any society and in any culture. Starting from the first civilizations in Sumer and Ur to the vast metropolitans of today like New York and London, religion has been around and played a key part in lives of people. Possibly two of the oldest religions in the world, Judaism and Zoroastrinism share distinct qualities that are still alive today. Both religions are practiced but Zoroastrianism is not as popular as it once was. Meanwhile, Judaism is one of the world’s largest religions. These two religions are similar in the way that they are designed and practiced throughout history.
Moving along, Persian Empire was founded around 548 BC. It was the first largest empire stretching from Atlantic Ocean, Morocco, to Indus River, India. The Persian Empire is most famous for its tolerance over other religions and races and the first people to write the Charter of Human Rights. They also invented coins, roads, postal system, and many more innovations.
From watching the video “Engineering an Empire: The Persians” I learned about the Persian Empire. Persia is today the country of known as Iran. Led by Cyrus II the Great (576 – 530 BC) Persia became one of the largest and most successful empires of all time. The reign of Cyrus the Great is said to have lasted from twenty eight to thirty one years. In that time he stretched his empire over much land, including; parts of the Balkans and Thrace-Macedonia in the west, to the Indus Valley in the east. Because he was a just and benevolent leader who refused to enslave his conquered subjects he was given many titles including; The Great King, King of Media, King of Babylon, King of Sumer among many others. In 539 BC Cyrus conquered Babylon, but instead of presenting himself as a conquer he presented himself as a liberator, freeing those people from their cruel leader.
...nt Day. The Qur’an teaches that everyone will be judged on one final day and that deceased persons, those in their graves, are shown their future, whether be Heaven or Hell. Christians believe that judgment takes place upon death of each individual and that the final Judgment Day is for those who remain on earth.
Not only did the religious history play a large role in Iran’s beliefs but also foreign invaders have been imposing their power on the Iranian region for thousands of years. Iran...
Zoroastrianism is an ancient religion that is the first religion to develop a monotheistic belief system. Zoroastrianism is heavily influential in the formation of the many religions, but more specifically, Christianity. For example, both religions believe in dualism, which is the concept that there are two original spirits: good and evil. In Zoroastrianism the good god is Ahura Mazda with the evil god being Angra Mainyu (Oxtoby, 5). In Christianity the good god is just referred to as God or Lord while the evil god is simply referred to as the Devil. In class we learned about the founder of Zoroastrianism, Zoroaster who was born into the warrior class who travels from his hometown to convince King Vishtaspa of his message who then converts his kingdom to Zoroastrianism. Mirroring this in Christianity, Jesus of Nazareth, known as Christ is the founder of Christianity spreading his message of resurrection and monotheism (Oxtoby, 143). Additionally, both religions believe that Ahura Mazda and God were the creators of the world, respectively, and how it came to be and also sharing the monotheistic belief that these two gods are the only ones to worship. Both religions have an emphasis on morality and good ethics, with Zoroastrianism having five particular points while Christianity stemmed from this which also has a moral code which is known as the Ten Commandments (Oxtoby, 5). While both religious share the importance of death and reincarnation the two differ on burial rites. In Zoroastrianism the belief is that the dead should be disposed of in the “towers of silence” so that birds of prey can eat their remains (Oxtoby, 5). In Christianity, the belief is to give the person a proper burial ceremony and then to bury the body in a gra...
of life, when we die we don't have souls, were empty, that is the end,
In the sixth century B.C, the land that we now call Iran was the center of the largest empire in the world. The kings of Ancient Persia( such as Cyrus the Great) were the leaders of a great civilization that made amazing advances in laws, goverment and communication. Founded in 550 B.C by King Cyrus the Great, the Persian Empire spanned from Egypt in the west to Turkey in the north, and through Mesopotamia to the Indus River in the east. Unlike most empires at that time, the Persian kings were benovelent rulers, and allowed a diverse variety of diffrent people with diffrent ethnic backgrounds. The Persian empire was split into three diffrent empires with three diffrent time periods but the first empire was called the Achaemenid Empire. It began with King Cyrus the Great and ended with King Darius III.
"Zoroaster was thus the first to teach the doctrines of an individual judgment, Heaven and Hell, the future resurrection of the body, the general Last Judgment, and life everlasting for the reunited soul and body. Th...
...control with the Chaldeans, the deciding factor would be the Persians. They would unite the Near East from Greece to Egypt all the way to Mesopotamia. They set a standard currency and measurement system and expanded trade to and communication to unknown proportions. The Persian religion was Zoroastrianism, which resembles Judaism and Christianity, and was a universal religion before Christianity and Islam.