Question

What are some of the ways that scholars think Zoroastrianism has influenced other religions? How sound do you think these arguments are? What is the Zoroastrian view on death? How do the tower of silences relate to this view? What is the scriptural structure of Zoroastrianism, and what religious and historical significance does this have? What is the Zoroastrian view on death? How do the tower of silences relate to this view? How is this similar to, and how does it differ from, those of other religions?

Answer 1

Part I

Zoroastrianism is thought to have greatly influenced Judaism, specifically through the prophet Daniel's close association with the Achaeamenid kings (Cambyses I, Cyrus the Great, Cambyses II and Darius the Great).  

Two locations claim Daniel's tomb. One, in Kirkuk, is venerated by the Iraqi Kurds who see Daniel as a great man who both served and influenced their Zoroastrian ancestors. The other is in Susa, the former king seat of Darius the Great, in southwestern Iran; a place where Daniel is known to have lived when he was in Darius' service as an adviser to his court.

It is interesting to note that Iranians still lay flowers on Daniel's tomb. They do the same with the tomb of Esther, the Jewish wife of Xerxes the Great. They are aware that the founder of Iran, Cyrus the Great, returned the tribe of Judah from their enslavement in Babylon to the city of Jerusalem, along with the funds to rebuild their temple and a promise of protection; a promise which he and his predecessors kept until their overthrow by Alexander the Great two centuries later.

It is also interesting that Iran's major holidays are almost all Zoroastrian events. The influence of Zoroastrianism on Islam and the Iranian culture is profound.

Many aspects of Zoroastrianism are in turn present in the culture and mythologies of the peoples of the Greater Iran, not least because Zoroastrianism, for a thousand years, was a dominant influence on the people of the cultural continent. Even after the rise of Islam and the loss of direct influence, Zoroastrianism remained part of the cultural heritage of the Iranian language-speaking world, in part as festivals and customs but also because Ferdowsi incorporated a number of the figures and stories from the Avesta in his epic Shāhnāme, which in turn is pivotal to Iranian identity.

In addition, Zoroastrianism is thought to have influenced eastern Dharmic religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism. This is expressed through the Vedic texts of Dharma, a Sanskrit word that means both 'fixed decree, law, duty' and 'natural law, reality':

Like the historical Vedic religion, which is the historical predecessor of Hinduism, Zoroastrianism also derives from the religious principles of Indo-Iranian times. As such, and although Zoroastrianism is not considered a Dharmic religion, it is not surprising to find fundamental concepts similar to dharma and rta in the [earlier] Gathas as well.

Much of the western understanding of Zoroastrianism comes from the early Greek writers, most specifically, Herodotus. This presents a problem because both he had reason to overlook the positive in favor of the difference and/or misunderstandings of the faith.

Part II

To understand why, it helps to look at what was happening between east and west where he lived.

Herodotus was from Ionian Greece (western Turkey) at a time when the Achaeamenid kings, Darius and Xerxes, were campaigning against Greece. During Darius' campaign, the city of Miletus (modern Bodrum), the seat of Greek philosophy, revolted against their Persian overlords and was burned to the ground.

The importance of Miletus cannot be underestimated in the hearts of Greeks. It was the home of Thales the Sage, the father of philosophy who had opened the first Greek academy of higher learning, where his students included Pythagoras and Anaximander and his colleagues, Solon and Aesop.

To quote Aristotle: All thought began with Thales.

Needless to say, after that, the Greeks were not inclined to publicized positive information about their adversaries' faith.

In addition, there has been some confusion in reading the sacred texts (the first five books of Zoroaster) as also including the later Pahlavi texts, rather than seeing the latter as commentary and religious studies.

Part III

Early Zoroastrianism was specific in its requirement to preserve the purity of earth, water and fire. As they saw the body as a vessel for one's spirit, the flesh, upon death, was seen as unclean, because it decomposed. To bury it or burn it was, to them, a form of pollution.

Therefore the cleansing ritual (this is a bit ewwww) was a form of recycling where they left the body out to be picked clean by carrion, after which they would bury the bones which were considered purified.

Part IV

The tower, which because of its remote location in the middle of the desert has remained largely unaffected to the battles and destruction of wars, is an 8-meter circular structure built on top of a hilltop in southeastern of Yazd and primarily was used for funerary purposes by adherents of the Zoroastrian faith.

The roofless structure of the tower, or as the local people call it ‘Dakhmeh’, lets the birds of prey like vultures to dive in and out.

The interior part of this monument consists of three concentric rings: The outer row was used for males, the central ring was for females and the innermost ring was dedicated to the body of children.

Additionally, a well is located in the middle of this structure for keeping the bones of the dead bodies of Zoroastrians after getting cleaned by vultures.

Based on ancient Zoroastrian beliefs, dead parts of physical body like clipped nail or cut hair are impure and unclean, ‘nasu’ as they say. Moreover, physical purity has a close connection with spiritual purity and as soon as the breath (the spirit) has left the physical body, it becomes pollutant, as it is contaminated by demons.

The corrupting influence of this process is considered to be spiritually dangerous; Consequently Zoroastrian people try to keep contagion away from their community as far as possible. In addition, according to Zoroastrians, fire, earth, air and water are four ‘sacred ‘elements and should be kept clean from any contagious or unclean material.

For this reason, instead of burying the corpse directly into the earth or burning it- which would also dishonor the fire like the earth-, they would apply another method as the funeral process of their loved ones’ dead bodies.

In the first place, they would wash the corpse of recently deceased with water and ‘gomez’ – which is bull’s urine- and after that, they would also wash the clothes and the place where the body would lie.

Furthermore, by bringing a dog into the dead body’s presence, they would attempt to hold back the demons. This process is known as ‘Sagdid’ which means the glance of dog (‘Sag’ in Persian means dog and ‘-did’ means to see) and forms an essential part of Zoroastrian funeral ceremony.

Afterwards, they would use the cloth as a shroud to cover the body and put it on a stone or a shallow hole in the ground. They would also draw some circles around the corpse to create a distance between visitors and the body and as a spiritual barrier for keeping away the evil forces.

In this ritual, fire acts as a sacred element and by burning fragrant woods, Zoroastrians would keep the place clear of disease and contamination. During the process, which dates back to around 3000 years ago, non-Zoroastrians would not be allowed to observe any of the actual funeral traditions. Within a day, the corpse would be carried to the tower of silence.

This part of ceremony has to be done only during the day and the number of bearers should always be even. Furthermore, weepers and mourners should move in pairs while they are following the corpse. For three days, family and friends would pray for the soul of the deceased and avoid eating meat and cooking in the house where the body was prepared for the funeral.

By putting the corpse over exposure of the sun and the air, Zoroastrians would use these sacred elements for purifying the dead body by creating a balance between ‘the good and evil forces’.

Meanwhile, prey birds would clean the bones of the corpse. This way, the impure body would vanish and the remaining bones would be moved into the well which is located in the center of the structure.

However, after 1970s, this tradition became illegal in Iran and the government made the Zoroastrian community to adjust to other methods as the funeral process. As a result, many of them have applied burying the corpse beneath concrete as a way to avoid all contaminants.

Part V

From the scripture

On Evolution: "How is existence brought about? Just as one substance is evolved out of another according to its own laws and in the finite time."

On Action: "A thousand people cannot convince one by words to the extent that one person can convince a thousand by action."

On Religious Education: "It is the desire of Ahura Mazda [God] from people is this: 'Know me', for he knows: 'If they know me, everyone will follow me'. The desire of Angra Mainyu [the Devil] is this: 'Do not know me', for he knows: 'If they know me no one will follow me'."

Zoroastrianism's most sacred prayer

The Ahunwar (in Avestan):

ýathâ ahû vairyô
athâ ratush ashâtcît hacâ
vanghêush dazdâ mananghô
shyaothananãm anghêush mazdâi
xshathremcâ ahurâi â
ýim drigubyô dadat vâstârem!!

Translation:

The will of the Lord is the law of righteousness.
The gifts of Vohu-mano [humanity] to the deeds done in this world for Mazda [God].
He who relieves the poor makes Ahura [God] king.

He who relieves the poor makes Ahura [God] king...

And then there are those ancient legal codes within the Avesta that prohibited slavery, allowed for anyone, king to poorest, to bring another before a court, required that men were responsible for women they impregnated (and the child) throughout their lifetimes, codified that women could own land and divorce without question, prohibited animal and human sacrifice and on and on and on.........

More on the basics beliefs

The supreme being is called Ahura Mazda (Phl. Ohrmazd), meaning "Wise Lord." Ahura Mazda is all good, and created the world and all good things, including people. He is opposed by Anghra Mainyu (Phl. Ahriman), meaning "Destructive Spirit," the embodiment of evil and creator of all evil things. The cosmic battle between good and evil will ultimately lead to the destruction of all evil.

The scripture of Zoroastrianism is called the Avesta, which consist of the following five books:

• Yasna: Sacred Liturgy and Gathas/Hymns of Zarathushtra
• Khorda Avesta: Book of Common Prayer
• Visperad: Extensions to the Liturgy.
• Vendidad: Myths, code of purification, religious observances
• Fragments

The most sacred section is in the Yasna: the Hymns of Zarathushtra (also known as the Gathas). These are beautiful poems that are incredibly enigmatic, requiring a lifetime of study and thought to come to an understanding of the layers of teachings written by Zoroaster, of which, the following (from the wiki) are the basic beliefs:

• There is one God, Ahura Mazda, the one uncreated Creator to whom all worship is directed.
• Ahura Mazda's creation - truth and order - is the antithesis of chaos - falsehood and disorder.
• Active participation in life through good thoughts, good words and good deeds (Humata, Hukhta, Hvarshta) is necessary to ensure happiness and to keep the chaos at bay.
• The malevolent is represented by Angra Mainyu, the "Destructive Principle".
• Ahura Mazda will ultimately prevail over Angra Mainyu, after which, all souls of the dead will be brought from darkness and reunited with God.

Here's that bit from the scripture (Zoroaster's own words) that I like:

"It is the desire of Ahura Mazda from people is this: 'Know me', for he knows: 'If they know me, everyone will follow me'. The desire of Angra Mainyu is this: 'Do not know me', for he knows: 'If they know me no one will follow me'"

That quote is not difficult to figure out. Zoroaster is saying that Ahura Mazda [God] wants people to know him because, if they do, they will follow him, whereas the Angra Mainyu [the angry spirit] does not want people to know him, because if they did, they would not follow him.

Zoroaster was not often that direct in the Gathas. If fact, he was rarely that clear. To understand him, his writings need to be read in Avestan and mulled over for years to get any idea, at all, as to their meaning.

Even then, one can go back and find more meanings in the words, due to the nuance and complexity of the Avestan language, a nuance that exists in the resultant Indo-European languages that followed (Farsi, Kurdi, etc), making it imperative that one understands both the context and the idioms if they seek to obtain an accurate translation (more on language below).

The five sacred books were followed by multiple texts written centuries after Zoroaster's death. These additional books, while revered, are perceived as commentary -- since they were not written by Zoroaster -- rather than sacred (something that has been misinterpreted by some in western academia who have taken precepts from the additional texts as the source religion).

These text are known as the Middle Persian or Pahvlavi texts and comprise over a thousand years of thought.