Marianne Duer
Zoroastrianism
Main Points
- Place founded: Ancient Persia
- Founder: Zarathustra
- Date founded: 6th Century BCE
- Polytheistic religion
Basic Beliefs
-Speak good words
-Do good deeds
- Ahura Mazda was the supreme god
- Six minor gods
- Zarathustra believed that the god he believed in wanted him to be a prophet
- Believed that there was a bad spirit
- In the end, good reigns over evil
- At the end of the material world, people would be judge upon their good deeds
- They believed in a heavenly paradise and a punishable hell
- Three main daily rules
-Speak good words
-Do good deeds
History
- Not many written records of the religious occurences
- Spread by word of mouth
- After beliefs were spread, many people across the empire began to believe in these teachings
- Wealthiest groups (aristocrats and ruling elites) also believed, having a greater influence on the government
- Beliefs carried on to Influence development of Religions such as Judaism and Christianity
- They had religious texts, most of which were burnt when Alexander conquered Persepolis
Values
- Truth - "truth is the greatest virtue. It is happiness. Happy is who is truthful for the sake of truth". Lying is considered the greatest disgrace
- Charity - "He who give assistance to the poor acknowledge the kingdom"
- Purity - "Purity of the body as well as that of the mind"
- Dignity of Labor - "The way of furthering the religion is to cultivate. He who cultivates, cultivates righteousness"