
Zoroastrianism
An Introduction
Jenny Rose(Author)
Bloomsbury Academic (Publisher)
Published on 30. May 2019
Book
Paperback/Softback
296 pages
978-1-350-12871-2 (ISBN)
Description
Zoroastrianism is one of the world's great ancient religions. In present-day Iran, significant communities of Zoroastrians (who take their name from the founder of the faith, the remarkable religious reformer Zoroaster) still practise the rituals and teach the moral precepts that once undergirded the officially state-sanctioned faith of the mighty Sasanian empire. Beyond Iran, the Zoroastrian disapora is significant especially in India, where the Gujarati-speaking community of emigrants from post-Sasanian Iran call themselves 'Parsis'. But there are also significant Zoroastrian communities to be found elsewhere, such as in the USA, Britain and Canada, where western cultural contexts have shaped the religion in intriguing ways and directions. This new, thorough and wide-ranging introduction will appeal to anyone interested in discovering more about the faith that bequeathed the contrasting words 'Magi' and 'magic', and whose adherents still live according to the code of 'Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds.'
The central Zoroastrian concept that human beings are continually faced with a choice between the path of 'good' and 'evil', represented by the contrasting figures of Ahura Mazda and Ahriman, inspired thinkers as diverse as Voltaire, Mozart and Nietzsche. Jenny Rose shows why Zoroastrianism remains one of the world's most inspiring and perennially fascinating systems of ethics and belief.
The central Zoroastrian concept that human beings are continually faced with a choice between the path of 'good' and 'evil', represented by the contrasting figures of Ahura Mazda and Ahriman, inspired thinkers as diverse as Voltaire, Mozart and Nietzsche. Jenny Rose shows why Zoroastrianism remains one of the world's most inspiring and perennially fascinating systems of ethics and belief.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
College/higher education
Illustrations
30 integrated b/w, 3 maps
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 136 mm
Thickness: 27 mm
Weight
373 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-350-12871-2 (9781350128712)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
04/2014
1st Edition
I.B. Tauris
€28.49
Available for download
Previous edition

Book
01/2011
I.B. Tauris
€44.80
Article exhausted; check for reprint
Person
Jenny Rose is Associate Professor of Religion at Claremont Graduate University and Visiting Associate Professor of Religion at Stanford University. She is the author of The Image of Zoroaster: The Persian Mage Through European Eyes (2000).
Content
Acknowledgements
Zoroastrianism: An Introduction
List of Abbreviations
Maps
I: Zoroastrians Present and Past
II: The Ancient Persians: Truth-Tellers and Paradise-Builders
III: A Zoroastrian Presence from Seleucia to Sistan: The Parthian Period
IV: Eranshahr: The Sasanian Center of the World
V: The Zoroastrians of Central Asia
VI: Gabr-Mahalle: Zoroastrians in Islamic Iran
VII: Parsipanu: Zoroastrians in India
VIII: Zoroastrians Present: Revisited
IX: Zarathushtra Present and Past
Appendix 1: Textual Timeline
Appendix 2: The Five Gathas
Appendix 3: Outline of the Yasna
Appendix 4: A Selective Historical Timeline
Glossary of Names and Terms
Notes
Select Resources
Index
Zoroastrianism: An Introduction
List of Abbreviations
Maps
I: Zoroastrians Present and Past
II: The Ancient Persians: Truth-Tellers and Paradise-Builders
III: A Zoroastrian Presence from Seleucia to Sistan: The Parthian Period
IV: Eranshahr: The Sasanian Center of the World
V: The Zoroastrians of Central Asia
VI: Gabr-Mahalle: Zoroastrians in Islamic Iran
VII: Parsipanu: Zoroastrians in India
VIII: Zoroastrians Present: Revisited
IX: Zarathushtra Present and Past
Appendix 1: Textual Timeline
Appendix 2: The Five Gathas
Appendix 3: Outline of the Yasna
Appendix 4: A Selective Historical Timeline
Glossary of Names and Terms
Notes
Select Resources
Index