The Muslim conquest of Persia between and A. The Arab invaders charged Zoroastrians living in the Persia extra taxes for retaining their religious practices and implemented laws to make life difficult for them. Over time, most Iranian Zoroastrians converted to Islam. Parsi are followers of Zoroastrianism in India. According to Parsi tradition, a group of Iranian Zoroastrians emigrated from Persia to escape religious persecution by the Muslim majority after the Arab conquest. Experts speculate that the group sailed across the Arabian Sea and landed in Gujarat, a state in western India, sometime between and A.
The Parsi are an ethnic minority in India and Pakistan. Today there are about 60, Parsi in India and 1, in Pakistan. The Faravahar is an ancient symbol of the Zoroastrian faith. It depicts a bearded man with one hand reaching forward. He stands above a pair of wings that are outstretched from a circle representing eternity.
Fire is another important symbol of Zoroastrianism, as it represents light, warmth and has purifying powers. Some Zoroastrians also recognize the evergreen cypress tree as a symbol of eternal life. Zoroastrian places of worship are sometimes called fire temples. Each fire temple contains an altar with an eternal flame that burns continuously and is never extinguished.
According to legend, three ancient Zoroastrian fire temples, known as the great fires, were said to have come directly from the Zoroastrian god, Ahura Mazda, at the beginning of time. Archaeologists have searched for these places, though it's unclear whether the great fires ever existed or were purely mythical. There corpses were exposed to the elements—and local vultures—until the bones were picked clean and bleached.
Then they were collected and placed in lime pits called ossuaries. Dakhmas have been illegal in Iran since the s. Many Zoroastrians today bury their dead beneath concrete slabs, though some Parsi in India still practice sky burials. A dakhma remains in operation near Mumbai, India, for example. Many Europeans became familiar with Zoroastrian founder Zarathustra through the nineteenth century novel Thus Spoke Zarathustra by German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche.
In it, Nietzsche follows the prophet Zarathustra on his travels. British musician Freddie Mercury , lead singer for the rock band Queen, was of Parsi descent. Mercury, born Farrokh Bulsara, practiced Zoroastrianism. American novelist George R. The process of one religion adopting "foreign" aspects of another is called syncretism. To make the process complete, the adoptees often create internal origins for what had been external, non-related beliefs and customs.
Other examples of Jewish rituals with foreign origins: the Sukkah, two loaves of bread on the Shabbat table, breaking a glass at a Jewish wedding, etc. By the time of the development of rabbinic Judaism in the 3rd century, years after the first exile, many Persian and Babylonian customs and ideas had been incorporated into Judaism, and the historical origins forgotten.
Discovered in Iraq Babylon in , the Cylinder was inscribed in Babylonian cuneiform on the orders of the Persian king Cyrus the Great after he captured Babylon in B. This artifact marks the establishment of Persian rule, and most importantly for the Jews, records how Cyrus restored shrines and allowed deported peoples to return home.
When my friend Darius speaks lovingly of Cyrus the Great, I feel like adding an "Amen" to each of his sentences. Cyrus restored us to Jerusalem and gave permission for the rebuilding of our Holy Temple.
His historical precedent for "return" becomes one of the major echoes adopted by rabbinic Judaism. Confronted with the second, more devastating Roman exile, the Cyrus precedent for eventual restoration to our Holy Land was anchored in rabbinic theology and practice. The Cyrus precedent kept alive the belief in our ultimate return from exile; a hope that came into being in with the re-creation of the modern State of Israel.
As much as Zoroastrianism influenced Judaism; the most important action of Persia was facilitating our exilic redemption. May God continue to bless the descendants of our Zoroastrian co-religionists. You do not currently have access to this article. Download all slides. Sign in Don't already have an Oxford Academic account? You could not be signed in.
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