Like many religion of the ancient civilizations, the religious beliefs of ancient Persia were heavily influenced and based on nature itself. During the rise of Ancient Persia, a time also known as the Achaemenid Era, many religion flourished under the rule of Persian kings that encouraged the people of their empire to practice their own cultural and religious beliefs. This approach went a long way to earning the kings the loyalty by propagandizing their benevolence to the conquered people of the empire. During this time, the concept of good versus evil was first introduced by the religion know as Zoroastrianism. Religion of the Achaemenid Era would have a lasting impression on many later religion including many of the modern day (McKay, Hill and Buckler).
The early Achaemenid religion have encountered a lot of debate regarding the prominence of Zoroastrianism. The most generally excepted understanding of Persian religion at its earliest, is that it consisted of Elamite deities based on the information gained from the Persepolis Fortification Text. Persian religion was a polytheistic belief system that consisted of many deities based on a relation to nature, fire being a particularly prominent one, and also references demonic
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powers. The primary god of early beliefs was Ahuramazda whom was known as the creator. The religious practices consisted of sacrifices, worship, and the concept of creation that was among the core practices of many ancient religions. In addition to the standard practices, was the core belief in the ideal way that a person should live their life (Lincoln). During the pivotal and influential time of the ancient near east civilizations, Persian religion is most notably an important era due to the emergence of the belief in good and evil.
This dual ideology was introduced by the religion, known as Zoroastrianism, in which it was preached that the spirit was locked in a battle of good versus evil. The Achaemenid god, Ahuramazda, is also a primary force in this belief system and was known as the god of good and light. The opposing force was the god Ahriman who is the evil spirit responsible for chaos and lies. The Zoroastrian religion is based on the teachings of the prophet Zarathustra who was the first to sacrifice in the name of Ahuramazda
(Skjærvø). The most notable achievement is the presence of Zoroastrianism in many of the modern day religions such as Christianity. Zoroastrianism is still a thriving religion with followers all over the world. The most imposing threat to the continuance of the religion is the risk of assimilation as followers begin to migrate worldwide. The modern day version of this religion is a monotheistic religion with the basis of free will in the battle between good and evil. For modern day believers “the ultimate goal is to do good, eliminate evil and move the world towards perfection” (Niebuhr). Although Ancient Persia is most often remembered for their military greatness and their “Persian rugs”, one of the greatest contributions to history was the vast effect they would have on religion long after the end of the empire. The introduction of concept of the ideal life as one of good thoughts and good deeds, goes against many people’s misconceptions of the Persian Empire. The impact of the belief in an ethical code played a critical role in what life was like during the Achaemenid Era.
Between 600 BCE and 600 CE, religion played an important role in the social order of the Middle East. The introduction of monotheistic religions challenged earlier polytheistic religions and caused people to have faith in in one almighty god. Social order was affected by these new understandings because people began to believe that those who sided with God would be granted everlasting life while those who were on the side of evil were sentenced to eternal punishment.
Not only did the religious history play a large role in Iran’s beliefs but also foreign invaders have been imposing their power on the Iranian region for thousands of years. Iran...
...o the practice of other religions throughout his empire because his religion allowed for him to be a more moral and upright leader. However, Darius was a firm believer in the punishment of evil-doers. This can be seen by the inscription on the relief above the Royal Road, which stated that “The Lie made them rebellious, so that these [men] deceived the people. Afterwards Ahuramazda put them into my hand; as was my desire, so I did unto them (Primary Source, 131).” This supports the idea that Zoroastrianism, created benevolent yet firm political dignitaries.
The empire is considered as “history’s more creative experiment in rule by tolerance” (Daisy Moore). Herodotus accounts that Xerxes burnt temples in Athens “everywhere they went, there was devastation by fire and sword and towns and temples were burnt”. However, this wasn’t because the Athenians followed different religions, but rather because of their actions “I am a friend of right, I am not a friend to wrong… who does harm, him according to do the damage thus I punish” (Naqsh-I Rustam inscription). Daisy Moore states that many different cultures of the empire were “respected by the Persians – they were free to compile their own histories, speak their own language and worship their own gods providing they paid taxes to the officials of the king, used the king’s coin and housed the king’s soldiers”. This highlights the method in which Xerxes’ ruled his empire, and his religious
...hierarchy which included many levels of command. The Zoroastrians on the other hand lacked this level of cohesiveness. This is probably due to their followers being mostly nomadic peoples, whereas the Christians had the benefit of a more static form of life.
With the formation Hellenistic civilization, came new forms of religion. Stoicism, Epicureanism, and Skepticism came into play for those that were considered intellectuals. While those less philosophically inclined, chose to worship fortune, or lean towards the more emotional religions of Oriental origin. The Orphic and Eleusinian mystery cults because more popular than ever before, while the worship of Isis, the Egyptian mother-goddess, seemed for a time to almost become a world religion.
Thesis: The Sunni and Shia ideology in terms of the concept of imamate, their believe on al-Quran and Hadith and the successor of the leadership after the death of the prophet Muhammad
Zoroastrianism is an ancient religion that is the first religion to develop a monotheistic belief system. Zoroastrianism is heavily influential in the formation of the many religions, but more specifically, Christianity. For example, both religions believe in dualism, which is the concept that there are two original spirits: good and evil. In Zoroastrianism the good god is Ahura Mazda with the evil god being Angra Mainyu (Oxtoby, 5). In Christianity the good god is just referred to as God or Lord while the evil god is simply referred to as the Devil. In class we learned about the founder of Zoroastrianism, Zoroaster who was born into the warrior class who travels from his hometown to convince King Vishtaspa of his message who then converts his kingdom to Zoroastrianism. Mirroring this in Christianity, Jesus of Nazareth, known as Christ is the founder of Christianity spreading his message of resurrection and monotheism (Oxtoby, 143). Additionally, both religions believe that Ahura Mazda and God were the creators of the world, respectively, and how it came to be and also sharing the monotheistic belief that these two gods are the only ones to worship. Both religions have an emphasis on morality and good ethics, with Zoroastrianism having five particular points while Christianity stemmed from this which also has a moral code which is known as the Ten Commandments (Oxtoby, 5). While both religious share the importance of death and reincarnation the two differ on burial rites. In Zoroastrianism the belief is that the dead should be disposed of in the “towers of silence” so that birds of prey can eat their remains (Oxtoby, 5). In Christianity, the belief is to give the person a proper burial ceremony and then to bury the body in a gra...
A revolution is a mass movement that intends to violently transform the old government into a new political system. The Iranian Revolution, which began in 1979 after years of climax, was an uprising against the Shah’s autocratic rule resulting in much religious and political change. Shah Muhammad Reza Pahlavi made efforts to remove Islamic values and create a secular rule and “westernize” Iran through his White Revolution. In addition, his tight dictatorial rule and attempts at military expansion felt threatening to the people, who desired a fairer governmental rule immensely influenced by Islam. Afterwards, governmental affairs became extremely influenced by Islamic traditions and law which created changes religiously and politically for years to come. Although the Iranian Revolution was both a political and religious movement in that it resulted in major shifts in government structure from an autocracy to a republic and that Islamic beliefs were fought to be preserved, it was more a religious movement in that the primary goal of the people was to preserve traditional ideology and in that the government became a theocracy intertwined with religious laws and desires of the people.
Ancient Egyptians tried to understand their place in the universe. This is why their mythology is centered on nature such as the earth, sky, moon, sun, stars, and the Nile River. There are many Egyptian myths of creation, but the Heliopolitan Tradition, Hermopolitan Ogdoad, and the Memphite Theology are the most commonly used. They all have some common elements and gods. For example, many of t...
People of the ancient world often had questions about their existence and how life and people came to be on earth. Most ancient people answered these questions through religion. The Sumerians were the first important group of people to inhabit Mesopotamia and they were known to practice a form of worship called polytheism, which is the worship of several gods. Mesopotamians associated different gods with natural events, emotions, and other occurrences. Their main deities included An (the god of the heavens), Enlil (Lord Storm), Enki (god of wisdom), and Nihursaga (the mother of all living things)(p.22). The Mesopotamians believed that the gods controlled all of the events and occurrences in life. An ancient text called “Creation of Man by the Mother Goddess” (p.34) helps us understand how the M...
Iran was included in the territory of what was then the ancient Persian Empire. For centuries Iran (land of the Aryans) was also referred to as Persia, which was the official name until 1935. Fourteen years had passed before the Iranian government allowed the use of both names. Few groups of people today have significant history like the Iranians, descending from the ancient Persians, who possess one of the world’s richest and oldest cultures. Historically, a variety of other cultures and groups had once occupied the ancient Iranian plateau as early as 4,000 B.C.E, with little importance. Beginning by the third millennium, Persia was ruled by some of the greatest kings of all time, from Cyrus the Great to Darius the III, who turned the Persian Empire into one of the world’s greatest civilizations.
Richard Hooker states that there are four main periods in the Hebrew Religion, they are: the Pre-Mosaic Stage (1950 - 1300 B.C.E.), the National Monolatry and Monotheism (1300-1000 B.C.E.), the Prophetic Revolution (800-600 B.C.E.), and the Post-Exile Revolution (538 B.C.E., and beyond) (Hooker n. pag.). Little is known about the Pre-Mosaic stage, but some scholars have formed four main conclusions drawn from the text of Genesis. The first conclusion states that the beginning of Hebrew religion was polytheistic, involving several gods. This conclusion is formed from the “plural form of the name of God, Elohim rather than El” (Hooker n. pag.). The second conclusions is that early “Hebrew religion was animistic...and as a result...had a number of practices that fall into the category of magic” (Hooker n. pag.).
In the sixth century B.C, the land that we now call Iran was the center of the largest empire in the world. The kings of Ancient Persia( such as Cyrus the Great) were the leaders of a great civilization that made amazing advances in laws, goverment and communication. Founded in 550 B.C by King Cyrus the Great, the Persian Empire spanned from Egypt in the west to Turkey in the north, and through Mesopotamia to the Indus River in the east. Unlike most empires at that time, the Persian kings were benovelent rulers, and allowed a diverse variety of diffrent people with diffrent ethnic backgrounds. The Persian empire was split into three diffrent empires with three diffrent time periods but the first empire was called the Achaemenid Empire. It began with King Cyrus the Great and ended with King Darius III.
The peoples of the Silk Road in its early decades followed many different religions. In the Middle East, many people worshiped the gods and goddesses of the Greco-Roman pagan pantheon. Others were followers of the old religion of Egypt, especially the cult of Isis and Osiris. Jewish merchants and other settlers had spread beyond the borders of the ancient kingdoms of Israel and Judea and had established their own places of worship in towns and cities throughout the region. Elsewhere in the Middle East, and especially in Persia and Central Asia, many people were adherents of Zoroastrianism, a religion founded by the Persian sage Zoroaster in the 6th century BCE. It posited a struggle between good and evil, light and darkness; its use of fire as the symbol of the purifying power of good was probably borrowed from the Brahmanic religion of ancient India. The Greek colonies of Central Asia that had been left behind after the collapse of the empire of Alexander the Great had, by the 1st century BCE, largely converted from Greco-Roman paganism to Buddhism, a religion that would soon use the Silk Road to spread far and wide. In India, on side routes of the Silk Road that crossed the passes to the Indus Valley and beyond, the older religion of Brahmanism had given way to Hinduism and Buddhism; the former never spread far beyond India and Southeast Asia, while the latter eventually became worldwide in extent.