Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

ZARATHUSTRA

(O. Pers. zrdrwšt),

ZOROASTER

(Gk. Zōroástrēs)

Mede carrying a barsom or bundle of rods used in Zoroastrian ritual. Gold plaquette from the Oxus treasure (Copyright British Museum)

The founder of Zoroastrianism, the major pre-Islamic religion of Iran. He is typically dated ca. 628-551 b.c.e., but some authorities argue for a date between 1500 and 1200, and some devotees even claim he lived several thousand years earlier. The claim for the earlier periods revolves around the date of 17 hymns, the Gāthās, which are the primary written evidence for his existence and which contain archaic linguistic forms as old as the Rig Veda in Hinduism.

Zoroaster was born in central Iran into a well-to-do family, who provided him with a formal education at the hands of a tutor. At age 20 he left his parents to wander about, seeking answers to the meaning of life. At 30 he had a call vision, which included the visit of an archangel. He spent 10 years teaching before registering his first convert, a cousin. Zoroaster’s career reached a turning point when he traveled to eastern Iran to the court of the Aryan king Vishtāspa. The priests of Vishtāspa resisted his ideas and managed to have him thrown into prison, but Zoroaster healed one of the king’s favorite horses. In exchange the king and queen accepted his teachings, their son agreed to fight for Zoroaster, and the priests who had imprisoned him were punished. The last 20 years of Zoroaster’s life were spent promoting and defending his new religion. He died at the age of 77 in a battle against the Turanians (marauding nomads from north of Persia).

See Zoroastrianism.

Paul L. Redditt

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

ZARATHUSTRA

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)