Details on Zoroaster
Basics on Zoroaster
Zoroaster was a priest or Zaotar who rejected the old Indo-Iranian gods (or monotheistic religion) and in their place believed that a single, wise, omnipotent god, Ahura Mazda 'Lord Wisdom', created and ruled the world. Ahura Mazda fought against the prince of evil or druj, Ahriman, which makes Zoroastrianism, Zoroaster's monotheistic religion, dualistic.
Zoroaster may have lived in northern Persia, possibly in the 7th century B.C. and perhaps as early as 1200 or as late as the 1st century B.C. Earlier dates are based on linguistics.
The beliefs of Zoroaster, religious prophet and founder of Zoroastrianism, were written down in the (Zend) Avesta. Much of the original Avesta was lost, although the extant Gathas retain Zoroaster's teaching.
Zoroaster is based on the Greek: Ζωροάστρης. Zarathuštra is Iranian and is familiar through the writings of the philosopher Nietzsche.
See Frequently asked questions on Zoroastrianism and the Avesta
References:
- "Dualism in Iranian and Christian Traditions"
François de Blois
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 2000. - "On Mysticism and Esotericism among the Zoroastrians"
James R. Russell
Iranian Studies, 1993.
Zoroaster is on the list of Most Important People to Know in Ancient History.
There is a tradition dating Zoroaster to the 6th century that includes his meeting with Pythagoras, but see "The Greek Origin of the Sixth-Century Dating of Zoroaster," by Peter Kingsley, in the Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies (1990) for problems of dating. Zoroaster is also said to have influenced another Greek philosopher, Heraclitus.
