ANC: Lesson - Early Monotheism: Zoroastrianism

Early Monotheism: Zoroastrianism

Geography of Canaan and Persia

Both Egypt’s and Mesopotamia’s people practiced polytheism or religion with many gods. The Bantu practiced polytheism and animism (the belief that everything in nature has a spirit). But there were also two early Monotheistic religions before 300 BCE. Monotheism is the belief in one god. These two religions were Judaism, practiced by the ancient Hebrews, and Zoroastrianism, practiced by the Persians. The Hebrews and the Persians were influenced by geography and the civilizations around them. We will continue our discussion with the Persian people and their religion, Zoroastrianism.

Zoroastrianism: Ancient Persians

The Persians, and Zoroastrianism, developed differently from the Hebrews and Judaism in part because of their different geography. Persia is in modern-day Iran. Iran has rivers, mountains protecting flat farmland, and natural resources like gold, copper, and silver. This allowed them to expand very quickly. In fact, their empire was so large and popular that most of their innovations dealt with regulation: they created roads and postal services to keep people connected and cooling domes (kind of like ancient refrigerators) to keep food from spoiling before it got to the right people.

At its height, the Persia empire extended east to modern-day Greece, South to modern-day Sudan, West to modern-day India, and North to modern-day Kazakhstan. In ancient times, it would be very hard to require one religion across such a large area, even if the leaders wanted to!

Culture and History of Zoroastrianism

The most influential religion of the Persian empire was Zoroastrianism. Zoroastrianism was founded by the prophet Zoroaster. He believed that Ahura Mazda was the only god, and was locked in an eternal struggle with Angra Mainyu, the evil spirit. Ahura Mazda told Zoroaster to follow him and help those in need. Ancient Zoroastrians worshiped in fire temples and believed in Free Will (people choose how they act). Their religious texts are called the Avesta. About 50 years after the beginning of Zoroastrianism, Persia was founded by Cyrus the Great. Cyrus the Great was a devout Zoroastrian and it shaped the way he ruled. He created the Cyrus Cylinder, which was one of the earliest documents on human rights. He allowed multiculturalism, rights for women, and freedom of religion. As we already learned, he also opposed slavery and set enslaved Mesopotamians like Hebrews free.

After Cyrus the Great, Persia was divided into 20 provinces (states) to protect the local ethnic groups. Because the Persian empire was so large, with so many different ethnic groups, and because Zoroastrianism allows free will, the religion was not forced upon the people. Zoroastrianism flourished even though some Persians practiced other faiths. Even though Zoroastrianism is no longer the official religion of Persia (now Iran), there are still some followers in Iran and India.

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