Zoroastrianism

Zoroastrianism, also called Mazdayasna and Behdin, is an Iranian religion centred on the Avesta and the teachings of Zarathushtra Spitama, who is more commonly referred to by the Greek translation, Zoroaster (). Among the world's oldest organized faiths, its adherents exalt an uncreated, benevolent, and all-wise deity known as Ahura Mazda (), who is hailed as the supreme being of the universe. Opposed to Ahura Mazda is Angra Mainyu (), who is personified as a destructive spirit and the adversary of all things that are good. As such, the Zoroastrian religion combines a dualistic cosmology of go

Zarathushtra Spitama, more commonly known as Zoroaster or Zarathustra, was an Iranian religious reformer who challenged the tenets of the contemporary Ancient Iranian religion, becoming the spiritual founder of Zoroastrianism. In the oldest Zoroastrian scriptures, the Gathas, which he is traditionally believed to have authored, he is described as a preacher and a poet-prophet. Some have claimed, with much scholarly controversy, to find his influence in Heraclitus, Plato, Pythagoras, and, perhaps less controversially, in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, parti

Angra Mainyu (; ) is the Avestan name of Zoroastrianism's hypostasis of the "destructive/evil spirit" and the main adversary in Zoroastrianism either of the Spenta Mainyu, the "holy/creative spirits/mentality", or directly of Ahura Mazda, the highest deity of Zoroastrianism. The Middle Persian equivalent is Ahriman (; ). The name can appear in English-language works as Ahreman and Ahrimanes.

Hellenistic-era kingdom centred in northern Anatolia (281 BC-62 AD)

Zoroastrian place of worship

structure used by Zoroastrians to dispose of their dead

Jamshid ; Classical Persian: Jamshēd ; Middle and New Persian: Jam ), also known as Yima ( ), is the fourth Shah of the mythological Pishdadian dynasty of Iran according to Shahnameh.

Zurvanism was a fatalistic religious movement of Zoroastrianism in which the divinity Zurvan is a first principle (primordial creator deity) who engendered equal-but-opposite twins, Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu. Zurvanism is also known as "Zurvanite Zoroastrianism", and may be contrasted with Mazdaism.

Mazdakism (Persian: مزدکیه, romanized: mazdakīye) was an Iranian religion, which was an offshoot of Zoroastrianism.

Keyumars or Kiomars is a legendary figure from Iranian mythical history, appearing in both the Avesta and the Shahnameh.

mythological homeland of the early Iranians

exceptionally old cypress tree in Abarkuh, Iranian national natural heritage site

antique sculptured tomb monument in Lycia (Turkey)

Mazdaism (Armenian: Մազդէականութիւն; Persian: آیین مزدایی) It is a pre-Zoroastrian Iranian religion, believed to be the ancestor of Zoroastrianism, from which later religions would derive, unlike Zoroastrianism, Ahura Mazda is one of the gods in Mazdaism, considered to be equal to Mithra.

ancient Armenian Kingdom

family name

Iranian kingdom in Asia Minor (331 BC-17 AD)

Ahura (Avestan: 𐬀𐬵𐬎𐬭𐬀) is an Avestan language designation of a type of deity inherited by Zoroastrianism from the prehistoric Indo-Iranian religion, and denotes a particular class of Zoroastrian divinities. The term is assumed to be linguistically related to the Asuras of Indian Vedic era.

the first man and woman in Zoroastrian cosmogony

Majūs () or Magūs () is a term that originally referred to the Magi, the Zoroastrian priestly caste of ancient Persia. In Arabic usage, it was soon generalized to denote all Zoroastrians. The term was borrowed into Arabic via from the . The same Old Persian root was independently borrowed into Ancient Greek as mágoi (μάγοι), the term that appears in the Gospel of Matthew.

mausoleum in Kaş District

legendary mountain in Persian mythology

fire temple in Takht-e Soleyman, major Zoroastrian sacred fire

Bagavan (also spelled Bagawan; ) was an ancient locality in the central part of Armenia in the principality of Bagrevand. The site is located in the village of Taşteker to the west of modern Diyadin, Turkey. Situated on a tributary of the Euphrates at the foothills of Mount Npat, to the north of Lake Van, Bagavan held one of the major temples of pre-Christian Armenia. After the Christianization of Armenia, Bagavan became the site of a large church and monastery. Pillaged in 1877 by the Kurds, it was completely destroyed after 1915 during the Armenian genocide.

Vourukasha, also known as Warkash or Fraxkard, is the world ocean in Zoroastrian cosmology and Iranian mythology. In addition to its role in mythology, it may also have referred to real-world places at different times.

rock-cut monument in Fars, Iran

sacred tree in Zoroastrian legend

Gabr (; also geuber, geubre, gabrak, gawr, gaur, gyaur, gabre) is a New Persian term originally used to denote a Zoroastrian.

neighbourhood in Ardakan, Iran

early period in the history of the Iranian peoples

Turanian is a term that has been used in reference to diverse groups of people. Many of the uses of the word are obsolete. It may refer to: An Iranic ethnic group mentioned in the Avesta See Turanian (Avesta) See Turan The Turanid race Any historical people of Transoxiana or present-day Turkestan Obsolete term for any historical people speaking languages of the obsolete Ural–Altaic family, in particular: The Huns Finno-Ugric peoples like the Finns, Estonians and Hungarians

Zaratosht-nama or Cangranghaca-nama () is a religious epic poem in Persian language composed in 13th century CE. The poem is about the life of Zoroaster, the founder of Zoroastianism. The author of the poem is Kay Kavus pur-i Khosrow. The poem is erroneously attributed to Zartosht Bahram-e Pazhdo who is actually the copier of the first surviving manuscript of the work. The poem contains 600 distichs and is composed in the same meter as Shahnameh of Ferdowsi. The work is based on the oral narratives of Zoroastrians and has a lot of similarities with Middle Persian literature such as the Denkard

Zoroastrian observance

religion

Lycian sarcophagus

Gāh () is a period of time which is dedicated to a Yazata in Zoroastrianism.

critical views of the Zoroastrian religion