Only relatively recently, however, have scholars recognized the extent to which ancient peoples, as well, were exposed to a diversity of religions, both indigenous and imported—or even, indeed, acknowledged that ancient peoples were exposed to a diversity of cultural influences of any kind. Part 1 ancient iranian religions 1 1 The Origins of Iranian Religion 3 2 Mithra and Mithraism 19 3 In Search of Zoroaster 32 4 Mazda and His Rivals 44 5 Iranian Goddesses (Manya Saadi-nejad) 56 part 2 foreign religions in iran 75 6 Judaism 77 7 Buddhism 94 8 Christianity 106 9 Mandaeism 125 part 3 challenges to sasanian zoroastrianism 135.

.Ancient Iranian religion refers to the ancient beliefs and practices of the before the rise of.The Iranian peoples emerged as a separate branch of the in the 2nd-millennium BC, during which they came to dominate the and the. Their religion is derived from, and therefore shares many similarities with which may have branched from it.

Although the Iranian peoples left little written or material evidence of their religious practices, their religion is possible to reconstruct from scant Iranian, and accounts, similarities with Vedic and other, and material evidence. Their religion was polytheistic and the chief god of their pantheon was, who was recognized as the creator of the world. They had a three-tiered division of the into the earth, the atmosphere and the heaven above. Dualism was strongly emphasized and human nature was considered essentially good.

The chief ritual of the ancient Iranians was the, in which the deities were praised and the was consumed. This ritual was performed by a highly trained priestly class. Fire was worshiped as the deity. Politics and religion under the were strongly connected.Beginning in the early 10th-century BC, the ancient Iranian religion was gradually displaced by Zoroastrianism, which contains many essential aspects of its predecessor.

The of is an important source on the ancient Iranian religionAn important Iranian source is the, which are sacred scriptures made in the. This is considered the principal source of knowledge on ancient. It is a collection of several texts that seems to have been over a large span of time by a variety of authors. These texts have been subjected to editings and redactions throughout their development. It is now the only extant fragment of what remained in the 9th century AD of the Avesta compiled in the by (6th century). Summaries of its content reveal that it was a huge collection containing texts not only in Avestan, but also in, which was the language of Zoroastrianism in the Sasanian Empire. Though the existing Avesta is dated quite recently, it contains information that is considerably older.

The ('Songs') of the Prophet and much of the Yashts are considered among the oldest. The Gathas includes expressions of the religious vision of Zoroaster, which in many ways is a reinterpretation of the ancient Iranian religious principles. The Yashts are a collection of verses dedicated to various deities. These verses are mostly related to Zoroastrian terminology and ideas, but have little relation to anything specifically Zoroastrian. The gods invoked are basically the pre-Zoroastrian gods of the Iranian peoples. There is little agreement on when Zoroaster lived, but most scholars agree that he lived somewhere between 1200 and 600 BC. Dating the Yashts is similarly difficult, but it is likely that they were redacted (not necessarily composed) initially in the 5th-century BC.

The 5th-century BC historian is an important source on ancient Iranian religionAnother Iranian source are royal inscriptions of the made in the (with, and translations). These inscriptions, in particular those of and his son, contain many references to religion. The fact that these are fixed in time and place make them particularly useful.Except from the Achaemenid inscriptions, there is no evidence that the Iranian religious compositions were written until the late or Sassanid period. This makes ancient Iranian religion the only major religion of the which has no written texts in the ancient period.

The religious information was rather oral both in composition and transmission.Non-Iranian sources The non-Iranian sources are mainly. The most important Greek source is. Some of the Greek information on ancient Iranian religion is however unreliable. This is either because it is based on outright wrong information or based on misunderstandings.The historical reconstruction of ancient literature is also an important source. The earliest religious texts of the related are indispensable for reconstructing the historical development of the ancient Iranian religion. The most important of these texts in this regard is the. It is composed of more than 1,000 hymns dedicated to various deities.

The Rigveda can be dated to the period between 5000 and 2500 BC.Material sources Material sources are rather limited and mostly confined to western. The remains of Achaemenid architecture are the most important of these material sources. They provide a mass of evidence of imperial articulation of religious symbols and indicate a significant dependence on Middle Eastern precedents.Origins.During the second half of the 2nd millennium BC, one group of migrated southwards from the into the, the and the northwestern part of the. These were calling themselves Arya ('nobles'). Those that settled in the and are known as Indo-Aryan peoples, while those that settled in are known are. Because of their common origin, Iranian and Indo-Aryan religion is substantially similar. Through a comparative study of both groups one can reconstruct general features of Iranian religion for which there is no direct documentation.The Iranian peoples were originally seminomadic whose main economic base was cattle, chiefly bovines but also goats and sheep.

They excelled at breeding horses, which they used for riding and pulling in sport and warfare. Exactly how their society was is difficult to determine. The Iranian peoples were specialists in religious matters. Men who could afford chariots and horses were recognized as leaders and warriors.By the creation of the Achaemenid Empire, a more rigid division of society into priests, nobles, farmers and artisans had developed. Society was heavily, which was strongly reflected in religion.

As the Iranian peoples settled the land they became more engaged in agriculture and sedentary life. During this process they were influenced by the indigenous populations. The religions of these peoples are completely unknown except from the elements they have left Iranian religion which has no parallel with other.Cosmology. See also: Cosmography The ancient Iranians believed in a which was a three-tiered structure. This structure consisted of the earth, the atmosphere, and the heaven above. Beyond heaven was the realm of Endless Lights while below the earth lay the realm of darkness and chaos. The earth rested on a cosmic sea called the.

In the earths centre was cosmic mountain. Down the Hara flowed the river.The earth divided into six continents surrounding the central continent.

The central continent was Khvaniratha, the locus of Aryana Vajiah (land of the Aryans).Creation. Who is the original father of? Who established the paths of the sun and the stars? Who is it through whom the moon now waxes now wanes?

Who supports the earth below and (keeps) the heavens (above) from falling down? Who yokes the two steeds to the wind and the clouds? Who fashioned honoured Devotion together with Dominion? A son respectful of his father?Neither the Avesta or Achaemenid inscriptions have much to say about creation as they contain nothing that can be compared to the or the first chapters of the. What is rather emphasized is the majesty and power of as the creator of heaven and earth.

Beside Ahura Mazda is the ancient Indo-Iranian god ('Artisan'). Thvarstar also appears under the name Spenta Mainyu ('the Beneficient Spirit') in Zoroaster's system of the Beneficent Immortals. In the creative aspect Thvarshtar functions in many ways as Ahura Mazda. In the Younger Avesta and the Gathas Mainyu is paired with the evil antagonist ('the Evil Spirit', Ahriman in ).

In later sources it is Ohrmazd (Middle Persian for Ahura Mazda) who is paired with Ahriman. The Avesta contains cryptic allusions to the creations of two antagonistic spirits.It is (De Iside et Osiride 47), who conducts the first discursive exposition of world creation by two spirits. Plutarch describes the as telling mythical tales about Oromazes (i. E., Ahura Mazda), who is born from light, and Areimanios (i. E., Ahriman), who is born from gloom, engaging in a war against each other.

This dualistic idea of two primordial spirits, which Zoroaster calls twins, is an early Indo-European concept. Reconstruction indicates that primordial twins that existed before the creation of the world, came into conflict.

One was named ' (Iranian.Manu', meaning 'man'), the other was named ' (Iranian Yama, Avestan Yima). After Man killed Yima he used his dismembered body to fashion the world. He used the flesh for the earth, the bones for the mountains, the skull for the sky, etc. In a different Iranian variant of the myth, Yama is the first mortal and the first ruler. His rule is described as a golden age in which there is no hot or cold, no death or old age, etc. When falsehood enters Yama's speech this golden age comes to an end. The royal Glory departs from Yama and seeks refuge in the cosmic sea.

('Dahaka the Snake'), a serpentine tyrant, then overthrows Yama. His rule ushers in a period of chaos, drought and ruin. Azhi is later defeated by the hero Thraitauna. Thraitauna establishes the legendary line of rulers called.Myths Since all sources on, both from indigenous texts and classical authors, originated after the emergence of Zoroastrianism, it is difficult to distinguish between myths that are Zoroastrian innovations from that those that are inherited. The fact that Zoroastrianism is heavily inspired by already existing ideas and has adapted from previous Iranian religions makes this discerning particularly hard.

Like other ancient religions in general, Iranian religions did not have main collection of myth. Iranian myths are rather fragments from a diverse variety of myths that exhibit variations in common themes.There is a variant of the myth in Iranian religion.

Here Yama appears as the herdsman and leader of mankind. Yama rules the world for a long time, during which the earth is increased threefold due to overcrowding. Ahura Mazda tells Yama that a great winter is on the horizon. He advises Yama to build a large three-story barn-like structure (vara) in order to hold seeds of plants and pairs of animals. It seems that the vara were actually some sort of paradise or blessed island, even though the story at first developed as myth among pastoralists about the culture hero building a first winter cattle station.Zoroaster appears to have been the first religious figure to develop an myth about a future saviour to rescue the world from evil.

This idea plays an important part in Zoroastrianism. It was probably also influential in introducing the concept of the in.Pantheon The Iranian pantheon was similar to that of other Indo-European religions. It contained a large number of, primarily male.

These deities personified natural phenomena, social norms or institutions. It seems that there were two major groups of deities, the and the. Daiva, which means 'heavenly one', is derived from the common word for 'god', which is the meaning it has in the. Among some Iranians and in Zoroastrianism the daivas were considered, but this view was not universal. The ahuras ('lords') were noble sovereign deities.

They were contradicted with the ('the one who distributes') and the ('the one who worshipped').The chief of the pantheon was ('wise lord'). He was particularly connected with the principle of social and cosmic order called in Avestan. Closely connected to him was the ahura. Mithra was the god who presided over the covenants. In Iranian religion there were two gods with martial trais similar to those of Vedic Indra, these were Mithra. The most prominent female deities were Spanta Aramati, the deity of the earth, and Ardvi Sura, the deity of the sacred river.Ahura Mazda.

Ahura Mazda was the great god. Who created this earth, who created yonder heaven, who created man, who created happiness for man, who made Darius king., Inscription atAhura Mazda ('Wise Lord') was probably the main god in pantheon of the pre-Zoroastrian Iranians. In both the religion of Darius, Xerxes and Zoroaster, he was worshipped as the to the point that the rest were almost excluded. He is chiefly considered the creator of the and the one who maintains cosmic and social order,. In his inscriptions, Darius derives his source of authority from Ahura Mazda and makes it clear that political stability and order through law imitates the model set out by the Creator. Through interrogative discourse, an ancient Indo-European poetic device, Zoroaster asks: 'Who is the original father of arta?

Who established the paths of the sun and the stars? Who is it through whom the moon now waxes now wanes? Who supports the earth below and (keeps) the heavens (above) from falling down? Who yokes the two steeds to the wind and the clouds? Who fashioned honoured Devotion together with Dominion? A son respectful of his father?'

Neither the Avesta nor the Achaemenid instripctions identify Ahura Mazda with a natural phenomenon. In the hymn of the goddess (Reward), Ahura Mazda is identified as her father and Spenta Ariamati (Earth) as her mother.

This implies that he has assumed the role of the Indo-European (., Vedic ), who is paired with. Herodotus apparently makes this identification when stating that in 'is the whole circle of heavens'. Zeus is also equated with Oromazes (Ahura Mazda) in other Greek sources. These Greeks made this comparison because of Ahura Mazda's role as father and chief god of the pantheon. His name implies that that he was sought by worshippers for his wisdom. Based on the expressions of Darius and Zoroaster, it is reasonable to assume that he was the object of a personal devotion which seems to have been absent with other deities.Mithra. Of emperor (3rd century CE bas-relief at,.

On the left stands the with raised, sanctifying the investiture.Along with Ahura Mazda, Mithra was the most important deity in the ancient Iranian pantheon. He may have occupied a position almost equal to him. In the Achaemenid inscriptions, Mithra is along with the only deity specifically mentioned.In the ancient Iranian pantheon there was an individual called.

In the eastern Iranian traditions laid out in the Avesta, Mithra also appears to have a connection to the sun, especially with the first rays of sunrise as he drives forward in his chariot. In the western Iranian tradition Mithra was thoroughly associated with the sun and his name became the common word for 'sun'.Despite his connection to the sun Mithra function prominently in the ethical sphere. The word Mithra was a common noun meaning 'contract, covenant, treaty'.

Mithra was thus the god of Covenant. In this respect he function as a deity overseeing all solemn agreements made between people.

Breaking such agreements was subjected to severe punishment whether the agreement were made between individuals or sociopolitical entities. As a covenant breaker, Mithra is described as sleepless and having 1,000 ears and 10,000 eyes. He is great warrior sporting a mace while driving his chariot into battle.

In this capacity he intervenes on behalf of those faithful to treaties by subjecting the treaty breakers (mithra-drug) to panic and defeat.As an independent deity, Mithra carried the standing epithet varu-gavyuti, which means 'one who (presides over) wide pasture lands'. Another of his epithets was payu, 'protector'. He is considered the one who protects the territories of those who worship him and abide by their promises.Mithra is the god who gave his name to the religion of, which was at one point popular throughout the. The Iranian origins of mithraism are difficult to trace.Anahiti.

High-relief of the investiture of ( r. The king (center) receives the ring of kingship from Mithra (right). On the left, apparently sanctifying the investiture, stands a female figure generally assumed to be.One of the longest of the Avestan Yashts is devoted to a goddess whose name is given as, which means 'the damp, strong, untainted'. The long name apparently combines two separate names which originally belonged to two individual deities, Ardvi Sura and Anahiti. Ardvi Sura is the Iranian name for the heavenly river goddess who in the Rigveda is called. In this capacity she brings water to the earth, streams, rivers, and seas while flowing from Mount Hukarya to Varu-Karta sea.

Anahiti on the other hand is a separate goddess of unknown origin whose cult appears to have been popular originally in northeastern Iran. The name probably meant “untaintedness, purity'. Here purity was meant both in moral and physical terms.

The Greek Anaitis preserves the original form of this name, while the Old Persian and Avestan Anahit(a) is a more recent linguistic form. In post-Achaemenid Iran Anahiti was closely connected with kingship and the.The Yashts describe Anahita in great detail, unlike any other deity. The descriptions about her clothing and ornamentation are so specific that it is likely the source of the description was a dressed cult image. This fact is confirmed in her mentioning by., a historian, notes that the king had several images of her made and distributed. Since the Iranians did not originally make images, it is likely that the cult of Anahiti was inspired by Mesopotamian models. The Mesopotamian goddess is a likely candidate in this regard, although Anahiti's dress, in particular her beaver coat, shows major differences.

There were also major similarities in their roles. Ishtar was the patroness of the palace and goddess of war. Anahiti is described as a patron of Iranian heroes and legendary rulers and her Yasht is strongly devoted to her martial traits. Both goddesses were.Vrthraghna.

Main article:Vrthraghna was the mighty. He had martial traits are similar to Mithra and the Vedic god of war.

In the post-Achaemenid period he was equated with and became a favourite deity of monarchs, many of whom took his name. His name means 'the smashing of resistance or obstruction'. In his capacity as the god who guaranteed his people to overcome all resistance, his name came to be understood as meaning 'Victory'.In connection with rulership and granting victory, he held the epithet bara-khvarnah, which means 'Bearing the Glory.' Like Mithra he is portrayed as the ideal warrior. Bsbmgt502b trainer s and assessor s guide free.

For the earliest Iranian invaders of the Iranian plateau, he came to personify aspirations to acquire new territory from the native population. For later Iranians he became the divine manifestation for the will to.In the Iranian pantheon, Vrthraghna was the god who predominantly possessed the ability to undergo transformations, both anthropomorphic. Though rich mythologies are believed to have existed for these, only 10 forms have been recorded. Vrthraghna is a ferocious wild boar with sharp teeth and tusks, a boar that kills at one blowwho, overtaking his opponentstrikes (him) down with a toss of his headuntil he smashes the vertebrae, the pillars of life(and) mixes on the ground the bones, hair, brains, and blood.Description of as a wild boar. The Wind (the god ).

Bull. Stallion. Rutting camel. Wild boar. 15-year-old male (this was considered the ideal age).

Falcon. Ram.

Goat. HeroThe avatars of Vrthraghna all had a fellow aggressiveness and virility. In some violence is conspicuous. Descriptions of these avatars can be particularly graphic.Rashnu. Main article:was an ethical deity, a divine judge who presided over the legal disputes of humans. He was often associated with Mithra. The name of Rashnu is derived from the Indo-European verb,.reg ('to be, make straight, direct, judge').

In particular he seems to have been the god of oaths and ordeals administered in trials. In several ways he was responsible for the same judicial functions as the Vedic god, who was the ultimate judge presiding over oaths, often inseparable from the Vedic.While it is uncertain whether Ahura Mazda had any judicial responsibilities, Rashnu and Mithra were connected with two separate areas of law. While Mithra was concerned with covenants, Rashnu mainly had jurisdiction of legal matters, in particular those of criminal nature. He was invoked as the god who 'best smite(s), who best destroy(s) the thief and the bandit at this trial.' Tishtrya and Tiri. Further information: andWorship was mainly performed through the central ritual yazna.

This ritual corresponds in many regards with the Vedic. Despite changes undergone through the millennia, these rituals are still performed. It is probably the oldest continuously enacted ritual in the world. As far as yazna can be reconstructed, it was basically a highly elaborate festive meal offered to a guest. In this ritual the sacrificer was the host and the deity the guest.

While yazna is a daily ritual in Zoroastrianism, its frequency among the early Iranians is not precisely known. Yazna was held to into communion a divine.

This was either for a specific purpose, for example to secure victory in war, to express piety or to secure general welfare. Yazna followed the general rules of hospitality. A guest was sent by invitation. Upon arrival he received a warm greeting and was shown to a comfortable seat. There he was given meat and drink while entertained with songs praising his deeds and virtues.

The guest was expected to return the hospitality with a gift.The seat provided for the gods invited to yazna originally consisted of special grasses spread on the ground in front of the altar. In Vedic terminology this was called the barhish (Avestan barzish, 'cushion'). The Avestan word barəsman (Iranian barzman), used in Zoroastrianism, is a cognate of this word. It is used for a bundle of sticks, later thin metal rods, that are manipulated by priests.Of bigger importance than the offering of meat was the preparation of the divine drink. Like fire, hauma was considered both sacred and as a deity.

The most important part of yazna was probably the preparation of hauma. Despite numerous proposals, the plant whose juices were extracted to prepare hauma has not been identified. The word hauma is derived from a verb 'to press, extract'. It thus literally means the which has been pressed out of the whatever plant that has been used.

While making hauma the stalks were first soaked in water and then pounded. While Zoroastrians did this with metal mortar and pestle, the early Iranians pounded the stalks between two pressing stones. The juice was filtered and mixed with to reduce the bitter taste. It was also possibly mixed with. Hauma was described as. The drink was then consumed immediately. Though it was not it was rather a.

According to the Yasht to Hauma: 'All other intoxicants are accompanied by Wrath with the horrible club, but that intoxication which is Hauma’s is accompanied by gladdening Truth (arta).' This minor statement can be extended with more informative descriptions in the Rigveda.

In the Rigveda was not only offered to gods, but also consumed by poets to increase their power in their search for truth. Hauma was also drunk as a stimulant by warriors before going into battle.

Many heroes of Iranian mythology are remembered for having practiced this cult.It is probable that yasna from a very early period was carried out by a priest, the zautar (Vedic hotar). The zautar was probably assisted by several other ritual specialists. With the priests acting through the sacrificer, the gods were invoked through fire. When the god arrived he was placed at the barzman, served parts of the slaughtered victim as food, served a drink and entertained with song. In turn the sacrificer would request a gift, usually in the form of heroic songs, good health or victory. In many ways the ritual can be compared with the old dictum do ut des ('I give so that you may give'), in the sense that it was meant to provide a means of inducing the deities to act in favor of humans. In addition it made a communion between the divine and human realms possible.

Deities could also be addressed directly through prayer. In this case the supplicant would be standing erect with upraised arms. Prostration was not known. See also:Fire was of supreme importance in Iranian rituals. In ancient Iran, fire was considered a deity and highly sacred element. As a result, was denoted both 'fire and 'Fire'. Every instance of fire was considered a manifestation of a deity.

Because burned offerings were not made, Atar's role was mainly that of an intermediary between heaven and earth and between humans and gods. This is similar to his Vedic counterpart. Beyond yazna, fire was carefully treated as a sacred element. Whether in households, or later, in fire temples, fire was maintained with proper fuel, protected from polluting agents, and most importantly never extinguished.Songs The song of praise to the divine guest was a major importance. Almost all of the Rigveda and much of the poetic portions of the Avesta must be understood in this context. This means that the ancient poetry of the Indo-Iranians was religious in nature and composed specifically for ritual occasions in which gods required songs of praise in order to make them well disposed towards those who worshipped them.The obscure parts of many Vedic hymns and Zoroaster's Gathas can best be understood through realizing that the intended audience were the gods rather than humans.Festivals.

An Introduction to Ancient Iranian Religion was first published in 1983. Minnesota Archive Editions uses digital technology to make long-unavailable books once again accessible, and are published unaltered from the original University of Minnesota Press editions.When Persia fell to Islam in the mid-seventh century, the ancient Iranian religion of Zoroastrianism all but disappeared (although it is still practiced by small groups in India and Iran). As one of the dominant religions of antiquity, it influenced the Judeo- Christian tradition as well as some forms of gnosticism. Despite its age and venerable place in the history of world religions, Zoroastrianism remains little known outside of a few philologists and historians of religion. Because of the difficulty of translation, there is little primary textual material available for nonspecialists; the few translations that do exist are quite old.In An Introduction to Ancient Iranian Religion, William Malandra provides not only modern English translations of the sacred texts but also a comprehensive introduction to the subject of Zoroastrianism itself.

In an introductory essay Malandra outlines the main features of Zoroastrianism in its historical, cultural, and spiritual setting. His new translations of readings from the Avesta, the sacred book of Zoroastrianism, and selections from the Achaemenid inscriptions of the great kings Darius and Xerxes are accompanied by interpretive notes that allow students to make their way through this difficult material. This book is, therefore, not just a collection of texts but a selfcontained introduction to Zoroastrianism that can be used by the nonspecialist without recourse to additional interpretive works.' Synopsis' may belong to another edition of this title. From the Back Cover:Minnesota Archive Editions uses digital technology to make long-unavailable books once again accessible to scholars, students, researchers, and general readers.

Rich with historical and cultural value, these works are published unaltered from the original University of Minnesota Press editions. The books offered through Minnesota Archive Editions are produced in limited quantities according to customer demand and are available through select distribution partners. About the Author:William W. Malandra earned a B.A. In philosophy at Haverford College, an M.A. In religious studies at Brown University, and his doctorate in Indo-Iranian studies at the University of Pennsylvania.

He is Professor of Classical and Near Eastern Studies, Emeritus at the University of Minnesota.' About this title' may belong to another edition of this title.

Book Description University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, 1983. Condition: Very Good. First Edition. Silver decorated and titled burgundy cloth. No DJ as issued. Although there are several good handbooks on Zoroastrianism in English, there is little in the way of primary textual material. This book is designed especially to provide a selection of texts from the most ancient period of Iran's recorded history, presented in a modern English translation.

'Non-returnable' stamp on the text foredge else clean and tight with crisp text, no name or other markings. Seller Inventory # 13318.