Yōišta Friiāna est un héros mythologique présent dans toutes les strates de la littérature zoroastrienne ancienne et médiévale, l’archaïque Uštauuaitī Gāθā, deux Yašt de l’Avesta récent, le Dēnkard et d’autres livres pehlevis. Sa confrontation avec un démon, contée dans le petit livre pehlevi qui porte son nom, rappelle fortement le mythe grec d’Œdipe et de la Sphinx.
Various types of impact, assimilation, and engagement of certain redactional layers of the Hebrew Bible with Achaemenid-era Zoroastrianism have long been noted by biblical scholars and by researchers of ancient Iranian cultic practices. Both disciplines, however, are facing similar challenges regarding the problem of the transmission history of their sacred texts, which is complex, perplexing, and vigorously debated. Thus, due caution must be taken when considering latent echoes of one tradition within the corpus of the other. The following article focuses on one particular, intricate, and very well-known biblical story often associated to various degrees with the so-called “P(riestly) source”—namely, the “Call of Moses” (CoM) in the initial portions of the famous scene at the “Burning Bush” on Mt. Horeb (here defined as Exod 2:23–3:15)—examined in relation to Achaemenid-era Zoroastrianism. I begin with an assessment of the relevant cultic elements that can be securely dated to that timeframe or to its later evolution—especially those that can be shown to have impacted Yahwists at the time. This preliminary study then serves as a foundation to examine the passage in question in a more systematic manner. The conclusion points to a deep familiarity and assimilation of Zoroastrian fire veneration practices by the Priestly author/redactor.
The Society of Scholars of Zoroastrianism presents The Academic Research Segment.
The Academic Research Edition of the Society of Scholars of Zoroastrianism presents ‘a deep dive into the newest discoveries in the world of Zoroastrianism’. This is an online event taking place on 15 November 2025 from 3:30 to 6:30pm GMT.
This study presents a comprehensive investigation into a Zoroastrian funerary rite, ‘Zīnda-ruwān-yaštan’, performed during their lifetime for the well-being of their living soul. The research draws on Zoroastrian scriptures and ethnographic sources to trace the origins and eventual decline of the ‘Zīnda-ruwāni’ ritual through a combination of historical, textual, and epigraphic analysis. The finding emphasises the ritual’s adaptability in response to evolving socio-political circumstances. Concentrating on ‘Srōš Yazata’, the divine entity believed to guide souls following death, the ceremonial practice underscores its profound spiritual import in assuaging death anxieties. The study makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the evolution of Zoroastrian funerary customs within various historical contexts. It demonstrates how Zīnda-ruwāni functioned to alleviate death-related anxieties within a dynamic socio-religious milieu, providing reassurance amid political and economic instability.
Zoroastrianism is a religion with a long history, but it has been comparatively neglected by contemporary philosophers. This Element aims to bring aspects of its long intellectual history into conversation with contemporary Anglo-American philosophy. Section 1 provides an introduction to Zoroastrianism and its history, some of the important texts, and some contemporary philosophy engaged with Zoroastrian themes. Section 2 discusses distinctive contributions Zoroastrian thought can make to the problems of evil and suffering. And Section 3 discusses a ‘quasi-universalist’ approach to puzzles about heaven and salvation, inspired by Zoroastrian theological texts.
Summary
For those with access,this title is also available as open access on Cambridge Core.
This article deals with the spread of Iranian religion in the western regions of the Achaemenid Empire by means of a combined analysis of historical and linguistic data. The core of the discussion is about the word Φαρνάουας, which appears as an epithet of Zeus in a Greek inscription from Roman Cappadocia. After showing, on linguistic grounds, that this epithet must have originated in the empire heartland during the Achaemenid period, some reflections are offered on the way by which Persian religious elements ended up in Cappadocia. In the framework of a survey of the traces of Iranian religion in Achaemenid and post-Achaemenid Cappadocia, another interesting point of contact between Cappadocia and the local cultic reality of Persia is pointed out – the female theonym *R̥tāna fravr̥tiš “Frauuaṣ̌i of the Righteous”, both attested in the Cappadocian calendar and the Elamite administrative documents from Persepolis.
In her magnum opus, A History of Zoroastrianism, Mary Boyce perceptively noted that often, in the history of this Iranian religion, “developments within Iran itself have to be deduced from the ripples which they caused abroad”. This is certainly true of the history of Achaemenid-era Zoroastrianism, the characteristics (and in some circles even the existence) of which, continue to be a matter of debate even as more and more information regarding its possible features continues to emerge. This article aims to complement the current body of knowledge with data gathered from Yahwistic sources outside of Iran to enhance and solidify our understanding of Achaemenid-era Zoroastrianism and its contours. It reviews the current state of scholarship and the significant progress that has been made in the recent decades and studies some Zoroastrian/Avestan echoes preserved in Yahwistic sources in Upper Egypt, mostly at Elephantine, which provide first-hand documentation of Zoroastrian devotion.
This study analyses the problem of the trajectory taken by Ahreman during his aggression against the Good Creation. In the Pahlavi texts, this attack moves from the bottom of the universe to the top, passing throughout the intermediate void. This means that the heaven of the stars, pierced by the demonic army in the circumpolar area, was not spherical at that moment, and that the cosmos did not follow a homocentric model, or Ahreman, coming from the outer space, would have aggressed directly Ohrmazd, whose paradisiacal sphere would have been the most external one. Actually, the cosmos assumed a homocentric shape only after the aggression, and this shows that the Sasanian theologians mixed an earlier non spherical model with a later spherical one with contradictory results. Parallel problems emerge with reference to certain narrations concerning Ahreman’s expulsion from the lowest heaven, whose effects would have produced the transfer of the antagonist not out of the universe, but in a superior sphere. The present book discusses this and other uranographic problems in connection with the complex evolution of Zoroastrian cosmology since the Avestan period till the later phases, when the Mazdeans were living within a dominating Islamic cultural framework.
This book examines how ancient Zoroastrianism is practiced in the US diaspora and how it has evolved dynamically. As it developed in the patriarchal cultures of Iran and India, to move beyond the dominant male perspective, this book focuses on women. The lived religion approach demonstrates that Zoroastrianism in their everyday experiences is more than just a religion, but is a spiritual path, an ethnic tradition, and a cultural identity. Some women challenge old patterns, and Zoroastrianism in the diaspora turns out to be multifaceted and vibrant, despite the fear held by some community members that it may become extinct.
Richly illustrated with the narratives of subsequent generations of Iranian and Parsi immigrants as well as photos, the book gives a taste of the diverse Zoroastrian life across the US. It not only broadens the picture of the ethnoreligious landscape in the country and expands interest in Zoroastrian studies, but also highlights the role of social practice theory in the study of religion, demonstrating how it may apply to qualitative field research, stimulating further discussion.
The Gāϑās of Zaraϑuštra provide us with the Old Avestan attestations of the adjectives mauuaṇt-, ϑβāuuaṇt– and xšmāuuaṇt-/yūšmāuuaṇt-. The adjective mauuaṇt– occurs twice in the Gāϑās, while ϑβāuuaṇt– occurs five times and xšmāuuaṇt-/yūšmāuuaṇt– occurs seven times. Over the years, little effort has been put into studying the broader context in which these words are situated or into understanding the specific use and significance of these words in the Gāϑās. The basis for their translation has mostly been exogenous, with the early Avestan scholars using the readily available meanings of the Vedic equivalents mā́vat-, tvā́vat– and yuṣmā́vat– for this purpose. In contrast, this article endeavours to understand the meaning and significance of the words mauuaṇt-, ϑβāuuaṇt– and xšmāuuaṇt-/yūšmāuuaṇt– in the context of Zoroastrian theology. It further seeks to examine the morphological basis of their meaning, to offer updated translation options for them and to situate these updated translations into the Gāϑic stanzas in which they occur.
The ancient Zoroastrian hymn of worship dedicated to the frauuaṣ̌i-s (affirmative choices) of righteous mortals and divinities refers to an important discourse that takes place between an unnamed Zoroastrian poet-sage and his mysterious rival, named Gaōtəma. The figure of Gaōtəma has intrigued Avestan scholars through the years, but the significance and the implications of Gaōtəma’s identity, and of his presence in the hymn, has to date not been seriously studied. This article first examines the context in which Gaōtəma is presented in the hymn. Building upon this, it then evaluates four potential identities for Gaōtəma: Avestan, Turanian, Buddhist, and Vedic. Conducting a multidisciplinary and comparative assessment, the article eventually argues in favour of a Vedic identity for Gaōtəma, specifically that of a poet-sage who was a proponent of the Rig Vedic divinity Indra. This investigation into Gaōtəma’s identity concomitantly provides important perspectives on certain aspects of the Zoroastrian religion, and often in a comparative context.
