Addressing the question of the origins of the Zoroastrian religion, this book argues that the intransigent opposition to the cult of the daevas, the ancient Indo-Iranian gods, is the root of the development of the two central doctrines of Zoroastrianism: cosmic dualism and eschatology (fate of the soul after death and its passage to the other world). The daeva cult as it appears in the Gathas, the oldest part of the Zoroastrian sacred text, the Avesta, had eschatological pretentions. The poet of the Gathas condemns these as deception. The book critically examines various theories put forward since the 19th century to account for the condemnation of the daevas. It then turns to the relevant Gathic passages and analyzes them in detail in order to give a picture of the cult and the reasons for its repudiation. Finally, it examines materials from other sources, especially the Greek accounts of Iranian ritual lore (mainly) in the context of the mystery cults. Classical Greek writers consistently associate the nocturnal ceremony of the magi with the mysteries as belonging to the same religious-cultural category. This shows that Iranian religious lore included a nocturnal rite that aimed at ensuring the soul's journey to the beyond and a desirable afterlife. Challenging the prevalent scholarship of the Greek interpretation of Iranian religious lore and proposing a new analysis of the formation of the Hellenistic concept of 'magic,' this book is an important resource for students and scholars of History, Religion and Iranian Studies.

Zoroastrianism is the religion of ancient Iran, dating back over a thousand years before the time of Christ. It is also the religion of Britain's oldest South Asian minority, with a history going back to 1724. From the contribution of the Zoroastrian MPs Naoroji and Bhownagree in the nineteenth century to the transmission of their heritage and concerns today, this is the first complete study of the community right up to the 1990s. With the largest Zoroastrian population outside the 'old countries' living in London, the British community has played an important part in the modern history of Zoroastrianism. They furnish a unique opportunity to trace the history and experience of an Asian community in the West for well over a hundred years, with a wide variety of members from rural and urban India, Pakistan, East Africa, as well as the original homeland, Iran, and a substantial proportion of Zoroastrians who are British-born. The book is based on extensive study of archival sources, a large survey questionnaire, a programme of structured interviews, and over twenty years of the author's personal contact with the community. The book includes discussion of many important contemporary issues, such as racial prejudice, gender issues, generational differences, attitudes both to British society and to the 'old country' - and argues that religion is an increasingly important concern among British South Asian minorities.

Focusing on the Avestan and Pahlavi versions of the Sih-rozag, a text worshipping Zoroastrian divine entities, this book explores the spiritual principles and physical realities associated with them. Introducing the book is an overview of the structural, linguistic and historico-religious elements of the Avestan Sih-rozag. This overview, as well as reconstructing its approximate chronology, helps in understanding the original ritual function of the text and its relationship to the other Avestan texts.The book then studies the translation of the text in the Middle Persian language, Pahlavi, which was produced several centuries after its initial composition, when Avestan was no longer understood by the majority of the Zoroastrian community. Addressing the lacuna in literature examining an erstwhile neglected Zoroastrian text, The Sih-Rozag in Zoroastrianism includes a detailed commentary and an English translation of both the Avestan and Pahlavi version of the Sih-rozag and will be of interest to researchers and scholars of Iranian Studies, Religion, and History.

A new translation of the foundation texts of the Zoroastrian religion, the Gathas (songs) composed by Zoraster himself, together with the Liturgy in seven chapters composed shortly after his death some 2600 years ago. After a substantial introduction to Zoroaster's religious thought, West presents the translations with facing page explanations of the meaning of each verse.

Key Concepts in Eastern Philosophy provides an extensive glossary of the main terms and concepts used in Eastern philosophy. The book includes definitions of philosophical ideas linked to the national traditions of:

* Persia
* India
* Islamic world
* China
* Japan
* Tibet

including concepts from:

* Zoroastrianism
* Hinduism
* Sufism
* Islam
* Confucianism
* Shintoism
* Taoism
* Buddhism

Each entry includes a guide for further reading and critical analysis, is cross-referenced with associated concepts and is in easy-to-use A-Z format.

This book, first published in German in 2005, offers a compact, concise and accessible survey of Zoroastrianism. This tiny religious community traces its root to Zarathustra who lived some 2,500-3,500 years ago. Chapters address Zarathustra and the origins of the religion, religious concepts and narratives, ethics and gender, priesthoods and rituals, transitions and festivals. A postscript by Anders Hultgard, one of the leading experts on this field, discusses the influences of Zoroastrianism on Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

This obscure and ancient religion is receiving more and more attention in modern times due to its claimed influence by scholars upon Christianity. This particular author, however, focuses upon the relationship between Zoroastrianism and Judaism, as he sets out to prove that Christianity did in fact receive influence from Zoroastrianism, but that it was transmitted through Judaism. This route of transmission allows the author to clearly show how Judaism itself was directly affected by Zoroastrainism during the Exilic Period, a time when these two faiths were existing in close proximity to one another. Chapters include Zoroaster Himself, The Mission and Ministry of the Prophet, The Scriptures of Zoroastrianism, Doctrine of God, Doctrine of Man, and Developments and Contacts.

Zoroastrianism is one of the world's great ancient religions. In present-day Iran, significant communities of Zoroastrians (who take their name from the founder of the faith, the remarkable religious reformer Zoroaster) still practise the rituals and teach the moral precepts that once undergirded the officially state-sanctioned faith of the mighty Sasanian empire. Beyond Iran, the Zoroastrian disapora is significant especially in India, where the Gujarati-speaking community of emigrants from post-Sasanian Iran call themselves 'Parsis'. But there are also significant Zoroastrian communities to be found elsewhere, such as in the USA, Britain and Canada, where western cultural contexts have shaped the religion in intriguing ways and directions. This new, thorough and wide-ranging introduction will appeal to anyone interested in discovering more about the faith that bequeathed the contrasting words 'Magi' and 'magic', and whose adherents still live according to the code of 'Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds.' The central Zoroastrian concept that human beings are continually faced with a choice between the path of 'good' and 'evil', represented by the contrasting figures of Ahura Mazda and Ahriman, inspired thinkers as diverse as Voltaire, Mozart and Nietzsche. Jenny Rose shows why Zoroastrianism remains one of the world's most inspiring and perennially fascinating systems of ethics and belief.

An introduction to the ideas and writings of Zoroastrianism, expertly translated, introduced, and edited by one of the world's foremost authorities on this religion Zoroastrianism is one of the world's oldest religions, though it is not among the best understood. Originating with Iranian tribes living in Central Asia in the second millennium BCE, Zoroastrianism was the official religion of the Iranian empires until Islam superseded it in the seventh century AD. Centered on the worship of Ahura Mazda, the All-knowing Ruler, Zoroastrianism follows the practices and rituals set out by the prophet Zarathustra, according to the indigenous tradition. As one of the world's great religions, Zoroastrianism has a heritage rich in texts and cultic practices. The texts are often markedly difficult to translate, but in this volume, Prods Oktor Skjaervo, professor of ancient Iranian languages and culture at Harvard, provides modern and accurate translations of Zoroastrian texts that have been selected to provide an overview of Zoroastrian beliefs and practices. In a comprehensive introduction to these sacred texts, Skjaervo outlines the history and essence of Zoroastrianism and discusses the major themes of this the first fully representative selection of Zoroastrian texts to be made available in English for over a century.

Hakon Naasen Tandberg explores how, when, and why humans relate to the non-human world. Based on two ethnographic fieldworks among the Parsis in Mumbai, the research focuses on the role of temple fires in the lives of present-day Parsi Zoroastrians in India as an empirical case. Through four ethnographic portraits, the reader will get a deeper look into the lives of four Parsi individuals, and how their individual biographies, personalities, and interhuman relationships, along with religious identities and roles, shape -- and to a certain extent are shaped by -- their personal relationships with non-human entities. The book combines affordance theory, exchange theory, and social support to analyse such relationships, and offers suggestive evidence that relationships with non-human entities -- in this case the Zoroastrian temple fires -- can be experienced as no less real, important, or meaningful than those with other human beings. The book also provides evidence not only that non-human entities such as the temple fires must be considered relational entities analogous to humans, but also that the kind of support provided by the fires and their availability in providing it is experienced as comparable -- and in some cases, superior -- to support received from human peers. The findings demonstrate that future approaches to religion as a social phenomenon will benefit from moving beyond mere interaction to exploring how and when engagement with religious entities can lead to long-term and emotionally satisfying personal relationships, thus paving the way for a more nuanced and relevant theory of religion as something interwoven into people's everyday lives.

The source material of the book is translated from the only existent Sasanian law text and two Rivayats from the first half of the ninth and the first half of the tenth century, at which time the Zoroastrians survived only in minority communities. The original text is presented in photocopy with a transcription. The analysis is concerned with four institutions in the sphere of family law: Guardianship, marriage of levirate, marriage of a woman in order to provide her father or brother with an heir and marriage between close relatives (incest taboo did not exist). The issue of the research is to show how the social conditions and internal family economy with its power balance is reflected in the rules of the Sasanian law, and that the differences apparent in the later texts are not accidental, but form a pattern caused by the changing social conditions, and that the law was changed in order to help preserve the Zoroastrian minority in adversity under Arab rule.