Zoroastrianism

Source: http://religion-cults.com/Eastern/Zoroastrianism/Parsis-Zarathusthra11g.jpg

I found it very interesting that the language known as Avestan only exists through the Holy text, Avesta. Also, it is unfortunate that most of the Avesta’s were destroyed and that it is difficult to regard the text as “authorative” because there new research is constantly being discovered.

I was unaware of the fact that the known Zoroastrian beliefs and practices had come from Persian monuments, inscriptions and from Greek writings. It was intriguing to read about the fact that Parsis helped the Iranis to be freed from prosecution and then given the opportunity to develop their own community in Tehran. I had to not the fact that the Zoroastrians, being a minority, were not regarded and unknown to most western scholars. It wasn’t until travellers were able to voyage over and bring back knowledge of the Zoroastrian culture that other societies were beginning to recognize this religion. One of the scholars was Thomas Hyde who, I think, made a few important claims in believing that the Greek evidence about dualism was misleading.