Zoroaster: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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Estimates for the lifetime of Zoroaster very widely depending on the sources used.

* [[Persia]]n [[mythology]], mainly the ''[[Shahnama|Šahnāma]]'' of [[Ferdowsi]], and oral tradition place Zoroaster quite early. [[Manly Palmer Hall]] in his book, [[Twelve World Teachers]], arrives at rough estimate ranging from 10000 BCEBC to 1000 BCEBC.

* Zoroaster was famous in [[classical antiquity]] as the founder of the religion of the [[Magi]]. His name is cited by [[Xanthus]], and in the ''Alcibiades'' of [[Plato]] as well as by [[Plutarch]], [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]] and [[Diogenes Laertius]]. Ancient Greek estimates are dependent on [[Persia]]n mythology and give dates as early as the [[7th millennium BC]]. These are the dates to which [[Parsi]]s subscribe.

* Archaeological evidence is usually inconclusive for questions of religion. However, a [[Russia]]n archaeologist links Zoroaster to ca. 2000 BCEBC based on excavations in [[Uzbekistan]] to (Asgarov, [[1984]]). [[Indo-Iranian]] religion is generally accepted to have its roots in the 3rd millennium, but Zoroaster himself did already look back on a long religious tradition.

* Linguistic analysis of the [[Gathas|Gāthās]], the only texts directly connected with Zoroaster, and comparison with other known [[Indo-Iranian languages]], especially [[Sanskrit]], can only give rough estimates, generally dating Zoroaster to the early [[1st millennium BC]]. 1400–1000 BCEBC is cited by [[Mary Boyce]] in her ''A History of [[Zoroastrianism]]'' ([[1989]]).

* The historical approach compares social customs described in the [[Gathas|Gāthās]] to what is known of the time and region through other historical studies. Since the [[Gathas|Gāthās]] are very cryptic, and open to much interpretation, such a method can also only yield very rough estimates. [[Gherardo Gnoli]] gives a date near cac. 1000 BCEBC.

*The ''[[Bundahishn|Būndahišn]]'' or ''Creation'', an important text within the religion, cites the time of Zoroaster as 258 years before [[Alexander the Great|Alexander’sAlexander's]] conquest of [[Persia]], i.e. 588 BCEBC.

*Other scholars have been arguing even later dates, now widely rejected. Darmesteter reports 100 BCEBC; before 458 BCEBC is cited by [[H.S. Nyberg]] in ''Die Religionen des Alten Iran'' ([[1938]]).

==Life of Zoroaster==

What we know of the life of Zoroaster is from the [[Avesta]], the [[Gathas|Gāthās]], the Greek texts, oral history (which is a significant method of teaching in the tradition), what can be inferred and archeological evidence.

The 13th section of the [[Avesta]], the ''Spena Nash'', the description of Zoroaster's life, perished over the centuries. The biographies in the seventh book of the [[Denkard|Dēnkard]] ([[9th century]] CEAD) and the ''[[Shahnama|Šahnāma]]'' are mythic.

It is fair to say that Zoroaster lived in the NE area of what is now [[Iran]].

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Placing the date of King [[Hystaspes|Vištaspa]] is difficult. Antiquated sources suggest [[Hystaspes|Vištaspa]] was [[Hystaspes]], father of [[Darius I of Persia|Darius I]]. ''Hutaōsa'' is the same name as [[Atossa]], who apparently was [[queen consort]] to [[Cambyses II]], [[Smerdis]] and [[Darius I]]. The matriarchal name is the only link to the [[Achaemenid]]ian lineage.

According to the ''[[Arda Wiraf]]'', Zoroaster taught an estimated 300 years before the invasion of [[Alexander the Great|Alexander]]. [[Assyria]]n inscriptions relegate him to a more ancient period. Eduard Meyer (v. ''Ancient [[Persia]]'') maintainins that the Zoroastrian religion must have been predominant in [[Medes]], therefore, estimates the date of Zoroaster at 1000 BCEBC, in agreement with Duncker (''Geschichte des Altertums'', 44, 78). Zoroaster may have emanated from the old school of [[Medes|Media]]n Magi and appeared first in [[Medes]] as the prophet of a new faith, but met with sacerdotal opposition and turned his steps eastward. [[Zoroastrianism]] then seems to have acquired a solid footing in eastern Iran, where it continues to survive in dwindling numbers.

==The Religion of Zoroaster==