Search Results for “Zoroastrianism”

• 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.

• ESCHATOLOGY i. In Zoroastrianism and Zoroastrian Influence

  Shaul Shaked

  Faith in the events beyond life on this earth is attested in the Zoroastrian scriptures from the very first, from the Gāθās. This faith developed and became central to later Zoroastrianism so that it colors almost all aspects of the religious life.

• EARTH IN ZOROASTRIANISM

  Cross-Reference

  See ELEMENTS i.

• CLEANSING

  Multiple Authors

  This article treats cleansing practices in Zoroastrianism and in Islamic Persia.

• DEATH (2)

  Cross-Reference

  IN RELIGIONS OTHER THAN ZOROASTRIANISM. See CORPSE and BURIAL.

• ZAND

  Cross-Reference

  Zoroastrian term for the literature written in Middle Persian to translate and explicate the Avestan scriptures. The supplementary explanations, which developed into the exegetical literature that we know from the Sasanian period and which are  preserved in the Middle Persian/Pahlavi texts are known as the Zand, hence the expression “Avesta and Zand” or “Zand-Avesta.”

  See EXEGESIS i. In Zoroastrianism.

• HOMOSEXUALITY

  Multiple Authors

  OVERVIEW of the entry: i. In Zoroastrianism. ii. In Islamic law. iii. In Persian literature. iv. In modern Persia. See Supplement.  

• OHRMAZD

  Cross-Reference

  Middle Persian name of the supreme deity in Zoroastrianism. See AHURA MAZDĀ.

• XRAFSTAR

  Cross-Reference

  (Avestan xrafstra-) “evil animals” in Zoroastrianism.  See MAMMALS iii. The Classification of Mammals and the Other Animal Classes according to Zoroastrian Tradition.

• DEITY

  Cross-Reference

  See under ACHAEMENID RELIGION; AHRIMAN; AHURA MAZDĀ; MANICHEISM ii. The Manichean Pantheon; ZOROASTRIANISM; SHIʿITE DOCTRINE.

• ZOROASTRIANS IN IRAN

  Multiple Authors

  The subject of the history and status of the Zoroastrian communities of Iran.

• BILIMORIA, NUSHERWANJI FRAMJI

  Kaikhusroo M. JamaspAsa

  (1852-1922), Zoroastrian journalist, editor, and publisher.

• DENŠAPUH

  James Russell

  short form of Vehdenšapuh; Sasanian hambārakapet (quartermaster) involved in the campaign of Yazdagerd II (438-57) to force Christian Armenians to abjure their faith and return to Zoroastrianism; a gem bearing his name is preserved in the British Museum in London.

• AKŌMAN

  J. Duchesne-Guillemin

  “Evil Mind,” a term personified as a demon in Zoroastrianism.

• BEHDĪN

  James R. Russell

  “the Good Religion,” i.e., Zoroastrianism, or one of its adherents, in modern usage, specifically of the laity.

• ĀZŪITI-

  M. Boyce

  an Avestan word meaning “oblation of fat,” also a divine being representing Fatness or Plenty.

• Z~ CAPTIONS OF ILLUSTRATIONS

  Cross-Reference

  list of all the figure and plate images in the Z entries

• ABZŌN

  M. F. Kanga

  Middle Persian term meaning “prosperity, increase” in Zoroastrianism.

• AHRIŠWANG

  B. Schlerath

  a learned transcription of the Avestan nominative Ašiš vaŋuhī, the goddess “Good Recompense.”

• MĀR ABĀ

  Manfred Hutter

  Zoroastrian convert to Christianity, catholicos for the Church of the East, 540-52 CE.

• NAVSARI

  Cross-Reference

  city and district of Gujarat State, adjoining Surat. See PARSI COMMUNITIES i. Early History, ZOROASTRIANISM ii. Historical Review: from the Arab Conquest to Modern Times.

• CATECHISMS

  Philip G. Kreyenbroek

  treatises for instruction in the fundamental tenets of a religious faith, cast in the form of questions and answers.

• SPANDARMAD

  Cross-Reference

  one of the six great Aməša Spəntas in Zoroastrianism. See ĀRMAITI .

• APŌŠ

  C. J. Brunner

  Middle Persian for Av. Apaoša, the demon of drought.  

• COSMOGONY AND COSMOLOGY

  Multiple Authors

  theories of the origins and structure of the universe.

• ANĒRĀN

  Ph. Gignoux

  “non-Iran,” Middle Persian ethno-linguistic term generally used pejoratively to denote a political and religious enemy of Iran and Zoroastrianism.  

• DŪRĀSRAW

  D. N. MacKenzie

  according to the Pahlavi tradition the name of two legendary personages in the history of Zoroastrianism.

• GŌBADŠĀH

  D. N. Mackenzie

  the name of a mythical ruler first appearing in medieval Zoroastrianism.

• HELL

  Multiple Authors

  This entry will treat the concept of hell in the Iranian culture under two rubrics.

• MANICHEISM

  Multiple Authors

  the religion founded by Mani, who regarded his doctrine not as the religion of a region, a state, or a chosen people, but as the completion of the preceding great religions of Christianity, Zoroastrianism, and Buddhism.

• BURIAL

  Multiple Authors

  This series of articles covers burial practices in Iran and Iranian lands.

• MAZDAK, MAZDAKISM

  Cross-Reference

  See  IRAN ix. RELIGIONS IN IRAN (1) Pre-Islamic (1.1) Overview, COSMOGONY AND COSMOLOGY iv. In the Mazdakite religion, ḴORRAMIS, BĀBAK ḴORRAMĪ, SASANIAN DYNASTY, CLASS SYSTEM iii. In the Parthian and Sasanian Periods, IRAN ii. IRANIAN HISTORY (1) Pre-Islamic Times,  ZOROASTRIANISM i. Historical Review Up To The Arab Conquest.

• BŪŠĀSP

  Allan V. Williams

  demon of slothfulness and procrastination in Zoroastrianism.

• ARLEZ

  J. Russell

  Armenian term for a supernatural creature.

• ĀΘVIYA

  cross-reference

  in the Avestan Hōm Yast (Y. 9.7) the second mortal to press the haoma and the father of Θraētaona (Ferīdūn).

• ĀYADANA

  J. Duchesne-Guillemin

  “place of cult.” The term occurs once in the Old Persian Bīstūn inscription of Darius I.

• SAGDID

  Cross-Reference

  in Zoroastrian practice, a purificatory ritual, involving a dog, before a body is carried away to be exposed; see DOG ii. In Zoroastrianism.

• ESCHATOLOGY

  Multiple Authors

  the branch of theology concerned with final things, i.e., the advent of the savior to defeat evil and the end of the world.

• CHILDREN

  Multiple Authors

  This series of articles covers children and child-rearing in Iran and Iranian lands.

• ĒRĪČ MOUNTAIN

  Gherardo Gnoli

  mentioned in a chapter of the Bundahišn devoted to mountains.

• FRĀXKARD

  Ahmad Tafazzoli

  name of the cosmic ocean in Iranian mythology.

• ĀB i. The concept of water in ancient Iranian culture

  Mary Boyce

  The ancient Iranians respected water as the source of life, which nourished plants, animals, and men. In their cosmology water was the second of the seven “creations.”

• AŠTĀD

  G. Gnoli

  Old Iranian female deity of rectitude and justice.

• AIRYAMAN IŠYA

  C. J. Brunner

  Gathic Avestan prayer.

• PĀDYĀB

  Ramiyar P. Karanjia

  a Pahlavi word meaning “ritually clean.”

• MONĀJĀT

  Multiple Authors

  a prayer genre which is often associated with the mystical verses of the Persian poet ʿAbdallāh Anṣāri (d. 1089) compiled in his famous Monājāt-nāma.

• DAIVADANA

  Gherardo Gnoli

  lit., "temple of the daivas," Old Persian term that appears in the “daiva inscrip­tion” of Xerxes at Persepolis.

• HUMATA HŪXTA HUVARŠTA

  Mary Boyce

  three Avestan words which encapsulate the ethical goals of Zoroastrianism. In form verbal adjectives,  they were substantivized to mean “good thought, good word, good act.”