Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and

This book traces the continuous history of the faith from the time it was preached by Zoroaster down to the present day - a span of about 3,500 years. First taught among nomads on the Asian steppes, Zoroastrianism became the state religion of the three great Iranian empires and had a remarkable influence on other world faiths: to the east on northern Buddhism, to the west on Judaism, Christianity and Islam. With the conquest of Iran by the Muslim Arabs, Zoroastrianism lost its secular power, but continued to survive as a minority faith. Despite its antiquity, it remains a living religion.

Mary Boyce is Professor Emerita of Iranian Studies at the University of London.

Foreword to this edition

xiii

Preface

xvii

Glossary

xix

Signs and abbreviations

xxiii

The background

1

(16)

Introduction

1

(1)

The Indo-Iranians

2

(1)

The old religion

3

(1)

The cult

3

(3)

The gods

6

(6)

Death and the hereafter

12

(4)

Conclusion

16

(1)

Zoroaster and his teaching

17

(13)

Introduction

17

(1)

Zoroaster and his mission

18

(1)

Ahura Mazda and his Adversary

19

(2)

The heptad and the seven creations

21

(4)

Creation and the Three Times

25

(2)

Death and the hereafter

27

(3)

The establishing of Mazda worship

30

(9)

Introduction

30

(1)

The Zoroastrian badge

31

(1)

The times and manner of praying

32

(1)

The seven festivals

33

(1)

The oldest prayers

34

(1)

The creed

35

(2)

The liturgy and Yenhe hatam

37

(1)

The Ashem vohu

38

(1)

The hymns

38

(1)

The unrecorded centuries

39

(9)

The early days

39

(1)

Doctrinal developments

40

(2)

Belief in a world Saviour

42

(1)

The extension of purity laws

43

(3)

Priests and worship

46

(1)

Conclusion

46

(2)

Under the Achaemenians

48

(30)

The Medes, the Persians and Zoroaster

48

(2)

The early kings

50

(1)

Cyrus

50

(3)

Cambyses

53

(1)

Darius the Great

54

(2)

Xerxes

56

(1)

Achaemenian palaces and tombs

57

(3)

Fires and fire-holders

60

(1)

The divine beings

61

(1)

Icons and temples

62

(3)

The priesthood

65

(2)

The Zurvanite heresy

67

(3)

The Zoroastrian calendar

70

(4)

The three world Saviours

74

(1)

Practices of the faith

75

(1)

The spread of Zoroaster's teaching

76

(2)

Under the Seleucids and Arsacids

78

(23)

Alexander and Iran

78

(1)

The Seleucids and Iran

79

(1)

The rise of the Parthians

80

(3)

Eastern Iranian borders: the Kushans

83

(1)

Western Iranian borders: Armenia

84

(1)

Fire temples and image shrines

85

(5)

Funerary practices

90

(2)

Developments in calendar and chronology

92

(1)

The Avesta

93

(2)

Developments in the scribal tradition

95

(2)

Human affairs

97

(1)

Khvaetvadatha

97

(1)

Ecclesiastical organization

97

(1)

Unbelievers

98

(2)

Conclusion

100

(1)

Under the early Sasanians

101

(17)

The rise of the Sasanians

101

(1)

Tansar, a religious propagandist

102

(2)

Calendar changes

104

(2)

Iconoclasm and sacred fires

106

(3)

The rise of Kirder, the second great prelate

109

(2)

The prophet Mani

111

(1)

Zurvanism in the early Sasanian period

112

(1)

Learning and writing

113

(1)

The summit of Kirder's power

114

(2)

Persian made the official language of all Iran

116

(1)

Conclusion

117

(1)

During the mid Sasanian period

118

(14)

Upholding a Zurvanite orthodoxy

118

(5)

The three great sacred fires

123

(2)

Liturgical reform

125

(1)

Religious literature and royal propaganda

126

(2)

Calendar reform

128

(2)

The Mazdakite movement

130

(2)

Under the later Sasanians

132

(13)

Khosrow `the Just'

132

(2)

The written Avesta

134

(2)

The Pahlavi literature

136

(2)

Religious observances

138

(3)

The last years of Zoroastrian Iran

141

(2)

Conclusion

143

(2)

Under the Caliphs

145

(18)

The Arab conquest of Iran

145

(2)

Inducements and barriers to conversion

147

(3)

Islam takes root in Iran

150

(2)

Zoroastrians in ninth-century Iran

152

(4)

Zoroastrians in tenth-century Iran

156

(5)

Turkish and Mongol invasions of Iran

161

(2)

Under Il-Khans, Rajahs and Sultans

163

(14)

Zoroastrian survival

163

(2)

Manuscript copying and preservation

165

(1)

The Parsi founding fathers

166

(2)

Parsis in the twelfth to fourteenth centuries

168

(3)

Parsis in the fifteenth century

171

(4)

Irani Zoroastrians in the sixteenth century

175

(1)

Parsis in the sixteenth century

175

(2)

Under the Safavids and Mughals

177

(19)

Irani Zoroastrians under Shah cAbbas: their beliefs and practices

177

(5)

Parsis in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries

182

(6)

Eighteenth-century Parsi religious disputes

188

(2)

Irani Zoroastrians in the eighteenth century

190

(2)

The Parsi Panchayat of Bombay

192

(2)

Eighteenth-century European studies of Zoroastrian beliefs

194

(2)

Under the Qajars and British

196

(20)

Christian missionaries and Parsi beliefs

196

(3)

Parsi religious reforms

199

(3)

Haug and West on Zoroastrian beliefs

202

(2)

Theosophy and the Parsis

204

(1)

Ilm-i Khshnum: Zoroastrian occultism

205

(1)

Parsis and the printed word

206

(1)

The Parsi practice of the faith

207

(2)

Irani Zoroastrians in the nineteenth century

209

(3)

Parsi calendar and religious reform in the early twentieth century

212

(4)

In the twentieth century

216

(13)

Urban Parsis

216

(2)

Zoroastrians in modern Iran

218

(5)

Parsis in independent India and Pakistan

223

(1)

Recent interpretations of Zoroastrian belief

224

(2)

International dispersion

226

(3)

Bibliography

229

(8)

Index

237

What is included with this book?

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

FREE SHIPPING

Amazon no longer offers textbook rentals. We do!

Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials