Moving along, Cyrus the Great, king of the Medo-Persians, was the instrument chosen by God for the liberation and restoration of Judah. So says the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 45.1 to 7). But the Persians were not only mediators of divine wisdom for the salvation of the Jews. The influence went far beyond the externals. Aura Mazda was the heavenly king and head of a hierarchy of intermediary entities called the Amesha Spenta, Geniuses, Mitra, earth, water, fire, etc. And they also had a dark deity, Angra Mainyu and his demons.
These hierarchies of invisible beings came to enrich the pantheon of angels of the Jews, it was very simple: Gabriel and Mikael. Their names appear late in Jewish history in the book of Daniel, holy prophet who lived in Babylon
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They believed that Mithra, the Sun god's son, came to earth as prophesied by Magi, born at the winter solstice. He let himself be sacrificed to save the world and returned to life on the 3rd day. During a second coming at the end of the world, he will defeat evil and establish his kingdom on Earth. Mithraism had 7 sacraments, Communion with bread & water, eating flesh & blood of the sacrifice, the cross as sacred symbol, and Sunday was its holy day. Paul (Saul) had many Mithraic concepts in his writings. Emperor Constantine, who made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire, was a follower of Mithraism and merged much of it into the new state religion. He shifted the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday, and Christmas to winter solstice.”
And therefore, the confrontation between Christianity and Mithraism has always been fascinating for historians of religions. The cult of Mithras has ancient origins. Mitra is an Indo-Iranian divine character who appears in both the Indian Veda as god of light, subordinate to the sky god Varuna, as in Avesta (collection of sacred texts of ancient Persia, belonging to the Zoroastrian religion) as companion god Ahura-Mazdah in the cosmic struggle against Angra Mainyu, the god of
The empire decided that to get their culture, or religion, around to all of the people they would only have one god. It’s a lot easier to spread the word of one god than multiple, such as ancient Egypt. To maintain the order of their empire and stop chaos, they went by something known as ‘free will’. “And when their punishment shall come to these sinners,Then, 0 Wise One, shall thy Dominion, with the Good Mind, Be granted to those who have delivered Evil into the hands of Righteousness, 0 Lord!”. Free will gives the people the right to live the way they want, and to be able to believe in or practice whatever religion best suits them. Because they were able to live this way, it made the people of Persia quite happy with their empire. Most people liked the idea of free will, which meant that they had a more positive outlook on life. This meant that they believed that there was an afterlife. They believed in good, evil, heaven, and
Adolescence is an age where children began to find themselves or, in some cases, lose themselves, an idea clearly developed by Satrapi in her graphic novel “Persepolis”. Satrapi explores the challenges and difficulties experienced by a sheltered and naive girl during the tumultuous and uncertain years of the Iranian revolution and attempts to solve the oppression she witnesses by the Islamicist government. This is important to the whole text as it identifies the religious conservatism and Islamisation of the state causes distress and confusion in Marjane who consequently had to redefine herself, given that her freedom and personal liberties were denied them in schools, public places, and even her own home.
In the mid-first millennium BCE, numerous groups arose, each with a different set of perspectives, worldviews, and attitudes: the Israelites, the Phoenicians, Neo-Assyrians, Persians and Greeks, and so on. For the Jews, they were held captive in Babylon, later returned to Jerusalem by Cyrus, the King of the Persians. Therefore, according to the first article, Cyrus was welcome within their society. These people were extremely religious, especially in regards to Marduk, and they all felt the need to help build their temple in Jerusalem. Everyone wanted to help for their beliefs and God, and gave gifts, money, and resources. “Even the Greeks, who later defeated the Persians, saw Cyrus as a model ruler” (textbook 132). Even more so, according to the Persian Customs article, most of the clans were made by Cyrus, and the rest, nomad tribes, heavily depended on Cyrus’ tribes.
The most popular roman religion was called Mithraism which originated in Persia. It was the idea that the universe was involved with an eternal fight between light and darkness, Ahura-Mazda (Good) vs Ahriman (Bad). This influenced the Jews that were in Babylon and they adopted HaShatan which means Satan. The representative of Ahura-Mazda on earth was Mithra, he was “the judger of souls” and “the protector”. He’s birthday was celebrated on December 25 and in 208 BC he went into heaven after teaching for 36 years. Mithraism was restricted to men so the wives were often in the club of Great Mothers. They had rituals that involved baptizing in blood by having an animal slaughtered in a pit below.
The ancient civilizations had very different ways of running their empires throughout their time. The Persians and Greeks held very true to this statement. They both had different sources that contributed to the power they held. The Persians had a very large empire and had a specific way of controlling it. First lets see how the Persians came to be. Cyrus, the son of the Assyrian king, was supposed to be killed as a baby. He was instead taken to a village that soon became called Persia. As Cyrus matured, the people could tell he had the characteristics of a king. He soon became just that. He didn’t want to be just a ruler though, he wanted to be different. His tactics were based on mercy, forgiveness, and compassion. Cyrus did go to war still
As American singer-song writer Duncan Sheik once said, “It’s inevitable your environment will influence what you do.” It is not a secret that the environment a person grows up in helps shape their views of the world and how he or she perceives different issues. The United State of America are known as the melting pot. We have many cultures and races all living within the same cities working together peacefully for the most part. To outsiders America is the place to come to achieve the “American Dream”, and it is the place where fresh starts, entrepreneurship, and individualism are highly encouraged. There are freedoms in American that many other people across the world are not as lucky to have.
Cyrus II of Persia, also known as Cyrus the Great, was one of the most influential and powerful rulers in the Ancient World.¹ By overthrowing the Assyrian empire, he was able to start the Persian Empire. Through his superior diplomacy skills within his empire, to his genius war tactics, he built the foundation for a line of Persian Kings to rule one of the largest empires in world history.
After the Assyrian Empire fell to the Chaldeans, later, the Chaldeans then surrendered to the Persian Empire. The Persians were a nomadic people that obtained the Indo-European tongue. Cyrus the Great was a Persian ruler that created the Persian state even more powerful with the introduction of satrapies, provinces when they continued to expand their nation. Je was a ruler with great wisdom and restraint that Babylonians experienced when Cyrus took them over. Cyrus, a merciful leader, allowed the Jews to return to their home city, Jerusalem, with all their sacred objects and could rebuild their Temple. He was a respected king for he allowed the practices of Assyria, Babylonia, Egyptian, and Lydia to occur in his palace. Even after he died,
Cyrus, typically known as Cyrus the Great, was the king of the Persians that lived from 576 to 530 B.C. He became the king of the Persians in 559 B.C. and reigned until 530 B.C. During this time, people were fighting for power and control of the Fertile Crescent and of Asia Minor. Cyrus was mainly known for his large respect and tolerance to other religions and his highly peaceful actions to people he conquered. He was also known for being one of the few people able to control and hold control one of the biggest empires, even after death.
Cyrus the Great became ruler of the Persians because he did not want to be controlled by the meads and along with his nomadic warriors, he overtook them. Previously, the Medes had an Iranian religion of whom the Magi were like the priests of Persia and with their great architectural knowledge, they build fire temples which were used by the Magi to perform ceremonies & rituals. This religion derived from magic and astrology, principles of dualism (good & Evil) and resurrection. This religion is one of the causes for which Cyrus the great, rebelled against the Medes. With his army, he conquered most of Asia and remained in power because of the type of ruler that he was. Cyrus allowed the people to keep their customs and practice their own religions, worship their own gods and carry their separate rituals,
Purposely difficult and intentionally obsessive, Plato’s Phaedrus is an exceedingly difficult read that defies all conventional logic as a piece of discourse. The text is extremely subjective, open to interpretation and individual creativity as to what or whom the narrative is about. Written by Plato, a close disciple of Socrates, this text is set along the Illissus river where Phaedrus and Socrates meet for a day of speech, debate, rhetoric and okay…flirting. Phaedrus leads of the day and recites a speech by his close friend Lysias, who Phaedrus considers to be a top speechmaker. Socrates then, after chiding by Phaedrus unleashes two speeches of his own that overshadow and refute Lysias claim so boldly that Phaedrus is so taken by the
Amazing, intriguing, and unimaginable are just a few words to describe how I felt about Persepolis while I read this true life story of Marjane Satrapi. This book has helped me to see all the life struggles, good times, and adversities that Marji faced between the ages of nine to thirteen. The Islamic Revolution had such a daunting effect in the Middle East, especially in the county of Iran where Marji and her family resided.
The Cyrus Cylinder shows the main character Marduk as compassionate and having good intentions but also able to make mistakes, some human characteristics show in him in that sense. Marduk is noticeably not the most powerful of the gods either. The other star of the story shows characteristics like pride, confidence, and selfishness. On the other hand in Isaiah, 44:24-45:7, God is perfect and is all powerful, he says "There is no God but Me" (Isaiah 45:5).
Although Constantine previously worshipped sol invictus, the Sun God, he started to follow Christianity with devotion. He announced that his victory was from the Christian God and started to adopt policies to advance the cause of Christianity in the empire. Many people claimed that Constantine converted to Christianity simply for political reasons, and that may reasonable played a role. Some people argued that Constantine was baptized just before his death as a political move to help his son become an emperor after him but it was a custom for the
The Education of Cyrus is Xenophon’s account of the development and ascendency of Cyrus, a young boy who soon become King of Persia, and also a depiction of Persia and her people. Aristotle’s Politics, on the other hand, is a philosophical work, aimed at dissecting the “political life” and determining how human beings should organize themselves politically. Yet, at their core, both books are respectfully critical of the political life. The following will assess two apparent paradoxes that appear to plague the political life: 1) with respect to Cyrus, the balancing of the noble and the good and 2) with respect to Aristotle, the struggle between broad political participation and a virtuous government.