Table of Contents

  • ZOROASTER ii. GENERAL SURVEY

    W. W. Malandra

    “Zoroaster” is the name generally known in the West for the prophet of ancient Iran, whose transformation of his inherited religion inaugurated a movement that eventually became the dominant religion in Iran up until the triumph of Islam.

  • ZOROASTER iii. ZOROASTER IN THE AVESTA

    Manfred Hutter

    Zaraθuštra is considered the founder of the Mazdayasnian religion who lived in Eastern Iran during the end of the second millenium BCE.

  • ZOROASTER iv. In the Pahlavi Books

    A. V. Williams

    Although Pahlavi was spoken as long ago as the 3rd century BCE, most of the written works that survive were compiled from older Zoroastrian material in the period after the Muslim conquest up to the 10th century CE.

  • ZOROASTER v. AS PERCEIVED BY THE GREEKS

    Roger Beck

    The Greek constructions of Zoroaster relate to the historical Zoroaster and to the Zoroaster of the Zoroastrian faith in one respect only. The Greeks knew that Zoroaster was the “prophet,” in the sense of the human founder, of the national Persian religion of their times.

  • ZOROASTER vi. AS PERCEIVED IN WESTERN EUROPE

    Michael Stausberg

    There is a continuous tradition of reports about Zoroaster among early and later medieval Christian historians, chroniclers, and annalists. In slightly modified form, this tradition continues through the early modern periods stretching from Humanism to Enlightenment.

  • ZOROASTER vii. AS PERCEIVED BY LATER ZOROASTRIANS

    Jenny Rose

    This entry treats the development of the concept and image of Zoroaster among the Zoroastrians of Persia and India after the Islamic conquest (10th century onwards).

    This Article Has Images/Tables.
  • ZOROASTRIAN RITUALS

    Michael Stausberg

    Ritual has been variously theorized in recent decades.  While the category remains elusive, the formative social importance of ritual is by now generally acknowledged even in Zoroastrian studies.

  • ZOROASTRIANISM

    Multiple Authors

    Historical reviews

  • ZOROASTRIANISM i. HISTORICAL REVIEW UP TO THE ARAB CONQUEST

    William W. Malandra

    This article presents an overview of the history of Zoroastrianism from its beginnings through the 9th and 10th centuries CE. Details of different periods and specific issues relating to Zoroastrianism are discussed in the relevant separate entries.

  • ZOROASTRIANISM ii. Historical Review: from the Arab Conquest to Modern Times

    Jamsheed K. Choksy

    As Zoroastrians in the seventh century began slowly but steadily adopting Islam, the magi attempted to preserve their religion’s beliefs, traditions, and lore by writing them down.

    This Article Has Images/Tables.