Religion
Religious Institutions/Belief Systems
The main religion is Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism (a.k.a Zarathustra)
Branches: zurvanism (same concept but the almighty god was Zervan), and manichaeism (5)
Zoroastrianism (a.k.a Zarathustra)
- This religion is still practiced till today and dated back at least 3,500 years (1)
- Contain many fundamental elements of Judaism and Christianity, and influenced Islam and Greek philosophy
- Founded by a Persian prophet named Zoroaster
- They believed in a god called Ahura Mazda making them a monotheistic religion
- Believed to have created the world and good things (have control of Asha, the world righteousness) (2)
- In contrast, there was an evil force, Druj, evil spirit of Angira Mainyu (2) (This is why sometimes it's considered a duotheism religion) (3)
- These two made up the religion which created similarities to Daoism (Yin Yang)
- They were thought that life was a battle between the two
- This was the first official religion of the Persian Empire
- Even though they had an official religion, they didn’t force their people to follow the religion
- An example being when Cyrus the Great conquered Jerusalem, he released the prisoners and did not enslaved them
- He also let them follow their religion
- They believed in making good
- Life is what make of it on Earth and not just the reward of afterlife
- One must have good thoughts and good words to go to hell or heaven
- The religion in the Persian Empire was not publicly practiced but later practiced at fire temples which represented Asha (2)
- Fire is a symbol of light and goodness
- Dead bodies were possessed by evilness so they were left outside to be eaten by bird
- Saoshyant would save the world and bring the rebirth
Branches: zurvanism (same concept but the almighty god was Zervan), and manichaeism (5)
Arab Invasion Effect
Due to the location of the Persian Empire, the Arabs were able to invade them. They then forced them to convert into Islam. Since then there culture and religion have changed. However, they developed their own branch of Islam, called Shitte. (6)
The Winged Figure (Faravahar)
- A symbol of Zoroastrianism
- Priests tended his sacred fire
- They were called Magi, (org. Magic) (7)
Sacred Bull (7)
- The bull was a symbol of power
- They believed it was the first animal to be created
- After the first bull was killed, all the other animals of the world were born from its soul
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