Addressing the query of the origins of the Zoroastrian faith, this e-book argues that the intransigent competition to the cult of the da?vas, the traditional Indo-Iranian gods, is the basis of the improvement of the 2 imperative doctrines of Zoroastrianism: cosmic dualism and eschatology (fate of the soul after loss of life and its passage to the opposite world).

The da?va cult because it seems within the G?th?s, the oldest a part of the Zoroastrian sacred textual content, the Avesta, had eschatological pretentions. The poet of the G?th?s condemns those as deception. The booklet significantly examines a variety of theories recommend because the 19^th century to account for the condemnation of the da?vas. It then turns to the appropriate G?thic passages and analyzes them intimately on the way to provide an image of the cult and the explanations for its repudiation. ultimately, it examines fabrics from different resources, particularly the Greek money owed of Iranian ritual lore (mainly) within the context of the secret cults. Classical Greek writers constantly affiliate the nocturnal rite of the magi with the mysteries as belonging to a similar religious-cultural class. This indicates that Iranian non secular lore incorporated a nocturnal ceremony that aimed toward making sure the soul’s trip to the past and a fascinating afterlife.

Challenging the familiar scholarship of the Greek interpretation of Iranian non secular lore and presenting a brand new research of the formation of the Hellenistic idea of ‘magic,’ this e-book is a vital source for college students and students of historical past, faith and Iranian Studies.