An Introduction to Ancient Iranian Religion

An Introduction to Ancient Iranian Religion PDF Author: William W. Malandra
Publisher: U of Minnesota Press
ISBN: 0816611149
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 210

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An Introduction to Ancient Iranian Religion

An Introduction to Ancient Iranian Religion PDF Author: William W. Malandra
Publisher: U of Minnesota Press
ISBN: 0816611149
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 210

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Book Description


The Spirit of Zoroastrianism

The Spirit of Zoroastrianism PDF Author: Prods Oktor Skjærvø
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300170351
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 283

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Book Description
Zoroastrianism is one of the world's oldest religions, though it is not among the best understood. Originating with Iranian tribes living in Central Asia in the second millennium BCE, Zoroastrianism was the official religion of the Iranian empires until Islam superseded it in the seventh century AD. Centered on the worship of Ahura Mazda, the All-knowing Ruler, Zoroastrianism follows the practices and rituals set out by the prophet Zarathustra, according to the indigenous tradition. As one of the world's great religions, Zoroastrianism has a heritage rich in texts and cultic practices. The texts are often markedly difficult to translate, but in this volume, Prods Oktor Skjærvø, professor of ancient Iranian languages and culture at Harvard, provides modern and accurate translations of Zoroastrian texts that have been selected to provide an overview of Zoroastrian beliefs and practices. In a comprehensive introduction to these sacred texts, Skjærvø outlines the history and essence of Zoroastrianism and discusses the major themes of this the first fully representative selection of Zoroastrian texts to be made available in English for over a century.

Zoroastrianism

Zoroastrianism PDF Author: Jenny Rose
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0857735489
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
Zoroastrianism is one of the world's great ancient religions. In present-day Iran, significant communities of Zoroastrians (who take their name from the founder of the faith, the remarkable religious reformer Zoroaster) still practise the rituals and teach the moral precepts that once undergirded the officially state-sanctioned faith of the mighty Sasanian empire. Beyond Iran, the Zoroastrian disapora is significant especially in India, where the Gujarati-speaking community of emigrants from post-Sasanian Iran call themselves 'Parsis'. But there are also significant Zoroastrian communities to be found elsewhere, such as in the USA, Britain and Canada, where western cultural contexts have shaped the religion in intriguing ways and directions. This new, thorough and wide-ranging introduction will appeal to anyone interested in discovering more about the faith that bequeathed the contrasting words 'Magi' and 'magic', and whose adherents still live according to the code of 'Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds.' The central Zoroastrian concept that human beings are continually faced with a choice between the path of 'good' and 'evil', represented by the contrasting figures of Ahura Mazda and Ahriman, inspired thinkers as diverse as Voltaire, Mozart and Nietzsche. Jenny Rose shows why Zoroastrianism remains one of the world's most inspiring and perennially fascinating systems of ethics and belief. 'Jenny Rose's lively and engaging account comprises a very readable, well informed survey of Zoroastrianism and its history. The book is a pleasure to read throughout, and the author's writing style is markedly beautiful, placing her very much within Mary Boyce's literary tradition. Rose has read widely round the subject, engaging with important primary and secondary sources and rendering her thorough treatment of Zoroastrianism fully up-to-date. I particularly welcomed her valuable discussion of Zoroastrianism in Central Asia. All in all, the book is a fine example of considered synthesis and compression. This is a book one wants to read from beginning to end without putting it down. It will find a warm welcome from students of the subject and their teachers.' - Almut Hintze, Zartoshty Professor of Zoroastrianism, SOAS, University of London

An Introduction to Ancient Iranian Religion

An Introduction to Ancient Iranian Religion PDF Author: William W. Malandra
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780608008370
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 208

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Book Description


Zoroastrianism: A Guide for the Perplexed

Zoroastrianism: A Guide for the Perplexed PDF Author: Jenny Rose
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1441122362
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 225

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Book Description
The significance of the Zoroastrian religion in the development of the history of thought is often only mentioned in passing, or is completely overlooked. Zoroastrianism has developed over a span of at least three thousand years, with roots in a common Indo-Iranian culture and mythology, then becoming part of imperial Iranian ideology within an Ancient Near Eastern setting, and emerging in variant forms in western and central Asia in late antiquity. The religion continues as a living faith for an estimated 130 - 150,000 adherents in the world. Most Zoroastrians if asked, 'In a nutshell, what do Zoroastrians believe?' would begin their answer with the moral maxim: 'Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds.' Zoroastrianism: A Guide for the Perplexed takes this foundational trifold ethic as the framework for its three main chapters. The book presents a comprehensive study of the religion through its focus on the questions that perplexed seekers might ask of a Zoroastrian concerning ideology and ethics; current discussions of 'text' and 'author'; and the putting-into-practice of the religion.

Traditions of the Magi

Traditions of the Magi PDF Author: Albert F. de Jong
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004301461
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 510

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Book Description
This is the first full treatment of the Greek and Latin references to Zoroastrianism since the pioneering works of Benveniste, Bidez & Cumont, and Clemen. It focuses on the possibilities offered by the classical reports on Zoroastrianism to reconstruct the history of that faith. The book is divided into three sections. The first section deals with introductory problems concerning ancient religious ethnography and current views of the history of Zoroastrianism. The second section consists of commentaries on five selected passages. The third section offers a thematical overview of the materials and their relevance for the history of Iranian religions. Apart from offering introductions to a wide range of debates and topics in Classics and Iranian studies, the book aims to illustrate the diversity of beliefs and practices in ancient Zoroastrianism.

The Emergence of Iranian Nationalism

The Emergence of Iranian Nationalism PDF Author: Reza Zia-Ebrahimi
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231541112
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 466

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Book Description
Reza Zia-Ebrahimi revisits the work of Fath?ali Akhundzadeh and Mirza Aqa Khan Kermani, two Qajar-era intellectuals who founded modern Iranian nationalism. In their efforts to make sense of a difficult historical situation, these thinkers advanced an appealing ideology Zia-Ebrahimi calls "dislocative nationalism," in which pre-Islamic Iran is cast as a golden age, Islam is reinterpreted as an alien religion, and Arabs become implacable others. Dislodging Iran from its empirical reality and tying it to Europe and the Aryan race, this ideology remains the most politically potent form of identity in Iran. Akhundzadeh and Kermani's nationalist reading of Iranian history has been drilled into the minds of Iranians since its adoption by the Pahlavi state in the early twentieth century. Spread through mass schooling, historical narratives, and official statements of support, their ideological perspective has come to define Iranian culture and domestic and foreign policy. Zia-Ebrahimi follows the development of dislocative nationalism through a range of cultural and historical materials, and he captures its incorporation of European ideas about Iranian history, the Aryan race, and a primordial nation. His work emphasizes the agency of Iranian intellectuals in translating European ideas for Iranian audiences, impressing Western conceptions of race onto Iranian identity.

Encyclopedia Iranica

Encyclopedia Iranica PDF Author: Ehsan Yarshater
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 9780710090904
Category : Iran
Languages : en
Pages : 112

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Book Description


Christianity in Persia and the Status of Non-muslims in Iran

Christianity in Persia and the Status of Non-muslims in Iran PDF Author: A. Christian Van Gorder
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 9780739136096
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 358

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Book Description
Writing on an often overlooked section of contemporary Persian culture, A. Christian van Gorder provides a comprehensive and readable introduction to the experience of Christians and other non-Muslims in Iran throughout history and into the present day. Van Gorder gives a fascinating account of the history of Christianity in Persia. By debunking the common misconceptions and stereotypes driven by recent political events and the media, he shows the current relationship that the Muslim majority in Iran has developed with people of other faiths. Book jacket.

The History and Culture of Iran and Central Asia

The History and Culture of Iran and Central Asia PDF Author: D. G. Tor
Publisher: University of Notre Dame Pess
ISBN: 0268202087
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 398

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Book Description
This volume examines the major cultural, religious, political, and urban changes that took place in the Iranian world of Inner and Central Asia in the transition from the pre-Islamic to the Islamic periods. One of the major civilizations of the first millennium was that of the Iranian linguistic and cultural world, which stretched from today’s Iraq to what is now the Xinjiang Autonomous Region of China. No other region of the world underwent such radical transformation, which fundamentally altered the course of world history, as this area did during the centuries of transition from the pre-Islamic to the Islamic period. This transformation included the religious victory of Islam over Buddhism, Nestorian Christianity, and the other religions of the area; the military and political wresting of Inner Asia from the Chinese to the Islamic sphere of primary cultural influence; and the shifting of Central Asia from a culturally and demographically Iranian civilization to a Turkic one. This book contains essays by many of the preeminent scholars working in the fields of archeology, history, linguistics, and literature of both the pre-Islamic and the Islamic-era Iranian world, shedding light on some of the most significant aspects of the major changes that this important portion of the Asian continent underwent during this tumultuous era in its history. This collection of cutting-edge research will be read by scholars of Middle Eastern, Central Asian, Iranian, and Islamic studies and archaeology. Contributors: D. G. Tor, Frantz Grenet, Nicholas Sims-Williams, Etsuko Kageyama, Yutaka Yoshida, Michael Shenkar, Minoru Inaba, Rocco Rante, Arezou Azad, Sören Stark, Louise Marlow, Gabrielle van den Berg, and Dilnoza Duturaeva.