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Zarathustra and Zoroastrianism
Zarathustra and Zoroastrianism offers a compact, concise and accessible survey of Zoroastrianism. This tiny religious community traces its root to Zarathustra, a prophet who lived some 2,500-3,500 years ago. Chapters address Zarathustra and the origins of the religion, religious concepts and narrati... Read more
Published: 2008
Pages: 137
eBook: 9781845533199
Zarathustra and Zoroastrianism offers a compact, concise and accessible survey of Zoroastrianism. This tiny religious community traces its root to Zarathustra, a prophet 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 Hultg?rd, one of the leading experts on this field, discusses the influences of Zoroastrianism on Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
| Cover | Cover | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Contents | v | ||
| Preface and Acknowledgements | vii | ||
| Abbreviations | viii | ||
| Chapter 1 | 1 | ||
| First Encounters | 1 | ||
| Contemporary distribution | 3 | ||
| Transcontinental networks and global movements | 5 | ||
| “Anonymous Zoroastrians?” | 7 | ||
| What should Zoroastrians believe? | 8 | ||
| Chapter 2 | 13 | ||
| Every Beginning is Zarathustra | 13 | ||
| Greek and Iranian information on Zarathustra’s life and times | 13 | ||
| The oldest texts | 14 | ||
| The first Gāthā | 17 | ||
| Zarathustra’s homeland | 20 | ||
| Biographies of Zarathustra | 20 | ||
| Ancient Mazda-worshippers or pre-Zoroastrian paganism? | 21 | ||
| Religion and war | 23 | ||
| Chapter 3 | 25 | ||
| Religious Concepts, Models and Narratives | 25 | ||
| Asha | 27 | ||
| The Beneficial Immortals and the Beings Worthy of Worship | 28 | ||
| Daēnā and Yima | 32 | ||
| Fravashi | 36 | ||
| Khvarenah (and Yima again) | 38 | ||
| At the end of time: heroes and events | 39 | ||
| The anti-demonic law | 42 | ||
| Chapter 4 | 51 | ||
| Ethics, Purity and Gender | 51 | ||
| Visiting heaven and hell | 51 | ||
| Purity and purification | 54 | ||
| Modern ethics of responsibility | 56 | ||
| Repentance and practices of confession | 57 | ||
| The moral-eschatological community | 58 | ||
| Men and women | 59 | ||
| Women’s rituals | 61 | ||
| Chapter 5 | 77 | ||
| Priesthood, Rituals and Ritual Infrastructures | 77 | ||
| Religious trusts | 77 | ||
| Priests in pre-Islamic times | 78 | ||
| Training, ordination, offices and titles | 79 | ||
| Priests and laity | 80 | ||
| Temples | 82 | ||
| Fire chambers and sacred fires | 83 | ||
| Ceremonial rooms and liturgies | 85 | ||
| Wells and shrines | 87 | ||
| Chapter 6 | 89 | ||
| Transitions and Festivals | 89 | ||
| The ritual investiture (initiation) | 90 | ||
| Weddings | 91 | ||
| Towers of Silence | 93 | ||
| Death ceremonies | 95 | ||
| The annual return of the ancestors | 96 | ||
| New Year | 97 | ||
| Festivals in the annual cycle | 99 | ||
| Other festivals and the structure of the calendar | 99 | ||
| Chapter 7 | 101 | ||
| Zoroastrian Influences on Judaism, Christianity and Islam | 101 | ||
| Introduction | 101 | ||
| The political and cultural background | 102 | ||
| Judaism and Christianity | 106 | ||
| Islam | 110 | ||
| Thematic Bibliography | 113 | ||
| Index | 119 |