Zoroastrianism
Alicia Chen, Natalia Bien,
Kendra Fort, & Jennifer Koo
7th Period.
Descriptive/Values of the People:
The people that adhered to this religion were the Persians of the Persian Empire that dated from 550 - 330 B.C. and was located from Anatolia and Egypt across western Asia to northern India and Central Asia. The Persian society was patriarchal but the women were seen as very valuable in society and experienced much more equality than any other women of different empires. The economy was mostly based on trade which brought the provinces and the entire empire together and more integrated. Urbanized Zoroastrians governed themselves by councils of notables—partly by inheritance and partly by election. The council managed
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Some other important values of the people are also shown through the passages that state that the cultivation of the individual and civic virtues of everyone, including women, following the laws and avoiding being dishonest, caring for the poor, and loyalty to the church should be important for every Zoroastrian.
Pourandokht was the first queen of Persia and it shows that women had quite a lot of equality and could participate in politics and ruling of the empire.
Origin Story:
Zoroastrianism was created by a prophet named Zoroaster, or can also be referred as Ahura Mazda, who was also considered the god of the religion. Zoroaster grew up in a polytheistic religion, where they had animal sacrifices and crazy rituals. The Zoroastrianism religion was created where they were against slaves, animal sacrifices, and only believed in one god (Monotheistic), this shows that his cultural influences growing up was a big influence on what he believed in when creating this religion. Zoroastrianism was created during the rise of Persia, when Cyrus the Great conquer the land. A big belief in Zoroastrianism is that he believed a person should have a choice between God and the “evil spirit 's”. Zoroastrianism is one of the oldest religions, it combined the
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
Throughout history women have often played a significant role. Although women haven’t usually been a position of power, they have nonetheless often contributed in significant ways. Two women who impacted their societies were Empress Theodora-of the Byzantine empire-and Queen Elizabeth I-of England. Empress Theodora-of the Byzantine Empire-impacted her Empire in many ways. Some of the ways she impacted her Empire was by delivering a powerful speech, by promoting women's rights, helping Justinian recover things after the Nika Revolt.
Believed in “Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds” because it was a proper way to live out your life.
Persia’s Religion and Intellectual The Persian Empire made many contributions to the world. One of their ideas that has expanded is Zoroastrianism which is one of world’s ancient religions that the Persians practiced. Zoroastrianism is so influential because their rulers hold imperial powers for about 1,000 years. A male prophet named Zarathustra preached this religion.
I believe there are some beliefs from Zoroastrianism that overtime made their way into early Rabbincal Judaism and therefore into modern Judaism. These connections are possibly due to the similar time frame between the creation of both religions, as well as both Zoroastrianism and Judaism being based out of the Middle East. Some similarities these religions share include: both have Pagan influence by connecting with location and nature; neither acknowledge/mention Jesus; both are monotheistic in belief; claim their God is all knowing and the creator; believe in/use angels in teachings; view women and men as equals; are convinced there will be no second coming; and lastly, practice prayer and doing good deeds. There are also some main differences
Zoroastrianism one of the most ancient religions of the world found sometime before 650 B.C in Persia by the prophet known as Zoroaster. The religion of Zoroastrianism is based mainly on two aspect of life. The people who tell the truth are on the side of Asha, and are known as the people of righteousness. The others, who are known as the people of the lie, or druj, followed the dreary way of evil. Zoroastrianism is a polytheistic religion which shows people ways of life but lets the person make a choice of truth or lie. But, it is also believed in Zoroastrianism that a judgment day will occur when good will defeat evil. In this great battle, Ahura Mazda, the lord wisdom would fight Angra Mainya, the fiendish spirit for control over the world. During this war between good and evil, Ahura Mazda and his assistant would defeat the evil Angra Mainya. Furthermore, all evil would be eliminated on earth in an ordeal in which fire and molten metal would burn away all evil and only leave behind good.
According to Mrs. P, respect for elders, a good education, good family background and connections, religion, and good ethics for society, are values that are held highly within the family’s culture. Education and a highly held position in a career are very important
It was established by Ardashir I and its capital was at Ctesiphon. It was within the bounds of Achaemenid empire. It placed weighty influence on Iranian culture after stamping out the Greek cultural influence. It was stabilized and successful and many technological improvements were produced.It was ruled by a single king of kings who ruled many smaller kings who were controlling parts of the empire as well. Its social system was comparable to the India’s caste system and there were four social classes; the priest, warriors, secretaries, and commoners. Their prominent religion was Zoroastrianism.
Until recently, much of what we thought we knew about ancient Persia was derived from the writings of Greek historians and philosophers (Borbor 101). Not many original written records—ones produced by Persians in their own time period—have survived to this day. The common view of ancient Persia is therefore based more on myth, speculation, and the historical perspectives of outsiders than concrete archaeological evidence. Even less is known about the status of women in that time period. If asked to describe ancient Persia, most modern readers might picture a civilization in which women were confined to harems or marriages that were essentially a form of enslavement. The truth, however, is much more complicated. A detailed examination of primary documents reveals that women in ancient Persia—particularly women in the royal family—had a surprising degree of social, legal, and economic independence.
Values are often influenced by different ideologies, so it is important to look at these also.
There is no denying that women have been great leaders in history – from Helen of Troy and Celopatra to Queen Elizabeth and
The army was highly equipped with thick leather pants, felt boots, mountain ponies, and ancestry arrows. Cyrus was a great ruler in terms of his ability to create the Persian Empire, made up of various groups of people with a variety of different languages, cultures, and religions. The success of Persia to hold a different form of people together, in a huge empire was largely; due to the independence given to each province, along with tolerance of other cultures and races. The diversity of Persian culture was rich with art, architecture, and their religion, Zoroastrianism, which is still practiced by some of people today. Zoroastrianism has been known to have a significant influence on early Greek philosophy and on other religions, such as, Judaism and Christianity.
Greece and Persia’s religion is one factor that makes both of these empires so diverse from each other. During the Achaemenid Period, the main religion of Persia at the time was Zoroastrianism, which the Iranian prophet and reformer Zoroaster founded in the 6th century B.C.E. At the time the royal family brought in Zoroastrianism to Persia, and since the royal family believed in it, most of the people of the Persian Empire choose to believe in it too. Greece on the other hand, did not have a religion until 146 B.C.E when Christianity entered the empire. Before Christianity had entered Greece, they believed in their mythological stories. Each myth or story had a lesson to be learned by the reader.
The impact of expansion on the core Persian Empire was generally looked at and received in a positive manner. Increasing populations created more cities and more job opportunities allowed many Persians the luxury of making more money as the empire grew. The bulk of the empire was still mostly farmers, however. One of the largest influences on the core empire was Zoroastrianism. This was advocated by both Cyrus and Darius, Darius used it in order to claim divine right to kingship. This new religion spread very quickly through high-ranking Persians (Bentley and Ziegler, 174). Zoroastrianism preached for people to enjoy this life but to live well for the afterlife (Stearns, Zoroastrianism: The Major Persian Religion, 43-45). This allowed people to have fun in this life and still be able to have eternal bliss; when people are having fun and happy they are less likely to challenge their rulers.
Zoroastrianism is a religion founded by a priest named Zarathustra Spitma or Zoroaster far back in the 1200BCE, with the principle belief of an almighty God or “the One” Ahura Mazda and the context of a cosmic battle between the good and evil forces.