Great Religions along the Silk Road: Zoroastrianism

Judith Lerner, Visiting Research Scholar Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (NYU)
Find out more about the landmark exhibition Secrets of the Silk Road at www.penn.museum...

[@Bssh10001]

As a scientist, who believe in science and science Gods ( Dawkins, etc), what I like abt Zoroastrianism is that it is closest to nature among all religions. Humans aren't the center of earth like the other man made religions. This religion is closest to nature and that's the most natural, real, rational, scientific philosophy one could have for living.

[@erickrueger2869]

Thank you for this insightful presentation! This fills in gaps of knowledge about the Zoroastrian world outside the documented Sassanian practices. I really liked your comment about the whirling dance and its survival among dervishes. I have the impression that there were many shared customs between Zoroastrians and the followers of Mani in the Sogdian Eastern Silk Road.

[@HT-ud4fx]

Zoroastrian religion transformed some of its beliefs in Shia Islam witch is very much Iranian compared to sunnies Islam which is more Arabic. Also a lot of Iranian Islamic religious leaders shaped what Islam is in Arabic text like Al-Ghazali or Avesina. Even Iranian scholar Ebn-Moghafa brought about the Arabic grammar as we know today. I guess when life gives you lemon make lemonade.

[@thiru8254]

REDEVELOP AND PRACTISE ZOROASTRIANISM. WITH LOTS OF ❤ FROM A HINDU.

[@astrazenica7783]

Islam was kinda tragic

[@dedskin1]

They are talking about Space , Fire is just a symbol for they did not have much to work with in those days , if you wanted light all you had is fire , so they used it as analogy . Modern Science and cosmology wouldn't have anything to add to that , since Fire is Plasma the 4th state of mater one which is most abundant in Space .

[@Jhaub420]

great video, interesting to learn about Zoroastrianism in China.

[@summ466]

Zoroaster never mentioned in the Gathas that he was a prophet. Prophets are only in Islam, Judaism and Christianity. Zoroaster describes himself as teacher. Zoroastrianism is more a philosophical concept and not a religion. It seem to me that you have a wrong conception of Zoroastrianism. Please learn from Persians about Zoroaster and not from people which tell fals stories about our believe.

[@nomesa7374]

1. "Prophets are only in Islam, Judaism and Christianity.": This contradicts your Quran, If you are a Muslim. 2. "Please learn from Persians about Zoroaster": You can learn about Zoroastrianism from Sufism Poetry too. Sufism is all about Zarathustra's teaching.

[@thejmoneyshow]

@Vajasrava Nachiketa stop the nonsense

[@ariaarian5263]

@@nomesa7374 : you are wrong! Abrahamic faith are revealed religion whereas Zoroastrian, Chinese, and Hindi are philosophies! Therefore, Ronald is right!

[@nomesa7374]

@@ariaarian5263 As far as I know, Zarathustra also visioned the 7 spenta amesha and the spiritual fire. So it is a kinda revelation! Isn't it?

[@jhake67]

@@ariaarian5263 abraham was a myth!

[@protectinghistory]

But at least you are more informed than Winston Churchill who used to think human history began with Greece and Rome. I would say you are also more intelligent that Francis Fukuyama who wrote "The End of History" as soon as USSR disintegrated. If this is the standard of intellect in the West today, writings on the walls are very clear. I already hear the death knell of the West.

[@liquidvisual]

too bad the sound is so crappy!!!

[@fanzy1338]

Well research and excellent presentation on a less know and complex ancient religion.

[@hireality]

Wonderful presentation, thank you 👍

[@MatthewHenderson1]

Around the 11-minute mark she remarks that our word "devil" comes from the Zoroastrian term "daeva". This is simply false. The word devil is not etymologically related at all to the Avestan word daeva which comes from Proto-Indo-European *deywós, an o-stem derivative from *dyew- ‎(“sky, heaven”), whence also Sanskrit deva and Latin deus. The word "devil" comes from Old English dēofol, dēoful, from earlier dīobul ‎(“devil”), ultimately from Ancient Greek διάβολος ‎(diábolos, “accuser, slanderer”), which was used to translate the Biblical Hebrew שטן (śāṭān, "adversary, accuser").

[@drakedorosh9332]

Another place where I would have liked to get more linguistic interpretation was the name Ahura Mazda. I expected that the name would break up into smaller words with familiar meanings. Could you say anything about the etymology of the name? Thank you.

[@mikepiro7379]

listen again, she is talking about the concept (notion) of "devil" not its etymology.

[@babakasad5929]

Ahura Mazda means knowledgeable light. Ahura=light and Mazda=knowledge

[@drakedorosh9332]

Babak Asad Thank you.

[@MatthewHenderson1]

Drake Dorosh Mazda, like its Sanskrit cognate medhās, likely means "intelligence" or "wisdom". Both the Avestan and Sanskrit words reflect Proto-Indo-Iranian *mazdhā-, from Proto-Indo-European *mn̩sdʰeh₁, literally meaning "placing (*dʰeh₁-) one's thought (*mn̩-s)", hence "wise". The root *dʰeh₁- is related to the English word "do" (remember that just as there can be sound change in languages there can also be semantic drift) and the *mn̩-s part is similarly related to English "mind". The word "Ahura" is analagous to the Sanskrit word "asura", a word for a demigod or demon who competes for power with the more benevolent "devas" in Hindu mythology. Notice that whereas Ahura Mazda is the benevolent spirit and the daevas are the malevolent spirits in Zoroastrian mythology, it is the reverse in Hindu mythology: the devas are good and the asuras are like demons. Presumably at an earlier date both these terms had a more morally neutral connotation and the polarization in meanings resulted after the split of the Indo-Iranian culture into the Iranians and the Indo-Aryans, respectively. (Indeed, in the earliest Vedic texts, the primary deities such as Indra and Agni are also referred to as asuras and only later does it come to mean an enemy of the gods or a demon.) Both of these are reflexes of the Proto-Indo-Iranian *ásuras. There are several possible etymologies for *ásuras. It is conventionally associated with asu- in the sense of "master of the house". Compare Avestan ahu2-, “lord” and ‎ahura, “lord”, Hittite ḥaššū, “king”, and Latin erus “lord”. Possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ems- ‎“to engender, beget” (whence the Old Norse Æsir, the principal group of benevolent deities in the Norse pantheon beside the Vanir). The Brahmanas and the Puranas derive asura from a different root asu-, "breath", a cognate of which is found in Avestan ahu-, "life, existence". Hope this post gave you what you were looking for! :)

[@davidjohndoch5846]

Great Lecture. Whole series was great. Would like to see more on Anient World. Maybe a Series on the Mysterious Bronze Age Collapse and the 'Sea People". Or the True Origin of the Indian Hindu/Aryan Peoples.

[@Contollership]

Aryan = Iran

[@9amaranu]

The illustrations are not clear. The speaker should have pointed to details with a light on the illustrations.

[@aryanyazdan]

thanx dude, you´re a wise man. God Bless you

[@donaldmoderational5338]

The term Angra Mainyu or Ahriman which in later Avesta has been construed as Satan in Abrahamic religions, is not even mentioned in the Gathas of Zarathushtra. In the Gathas no evil or destructive force stands equal and next to the constructive One, Ahura Mazda. Dualism of the Gathas is moral and ethical not cosmic and divine, the question is just the choice between good and evil at the great moment of decision. There is no mention of pre-Zoroastrian gods by names, but they are referred to as Daevas or false gods who are the creations of evil thinking. Donald Moderational

[@nomesa7374]

"The term Angra Mainyu or Ahriman [..] is not even mentioned in the Gathas of Zarathushtra. ": I Think it is mentioned. I remember I saw it. But even if it is mentioned, I think it does not make it a Dualistic religion. Because , say, light-darkness duality, are not separated from each other. Darkness is just an absence of light. "Dualism of the Gathas is moral and ethical": True. I think he also laid the foundations of Duality in far east philosophies (Taoism/Yin-Yang, and Zenism).

[@erickrueger2869]

They would never mention the Evil One by name. To mention is to invoke. That is a widespread taboo that anthropologists can confirm.

[@ramdaas1722]

Why almighty creator created religion on silk road and not antartica south of Cape Town or Cape comorin.

[@supatraminsch7432]

Thank for your great education..

[@resqdogs4me113]

Very interesting. Thanks

[@aryanyazdan]

so you have the faith that Zoroastrians birth was recorded (Balkh) Persian ----- Current Iran?

[@zedkhan4137]

Balkh is in Afghanistan

[@ramdaas1722]

Only religion to continue in orginal form in India. Preaching or practice.

[@protectinghistory]

It wouldn't be out of context to mention that Jews came to India in the same way. They were persecuted in Europe throughout European History - their temples being burnt down from time to time and The Jews being banished from everywhere. It was then that some Jews fled to the most tolerant country in the world - India. They have been in India ever since.

[@paurushbhatnagar8100]

Greek used to hate Persian & zorastrian priests. and we should not forget Kushans the architect of silk road. They protected, promoted & connected eastern Han Chinese with Western sassanid & Persians thru trade .

[@enkisonofanu2301]

old video, but many errors in what she says

[@EMan-cf8lv]

So in short the only texts you have of Zoroastrian writings are centuries after even the earliest gospel accounts.

[@EMan-cf8lv]

@Jerrylyn Shnoop doesn’t change the fact that the earliest Zoroastrian scripts are later then the earliest known Christian gospels.

[@jhake67]

nothing comes out of a vaccum. judaism's monotheism, the prophet ezra's making of the jewish laws under the instruction of persian king artaxerxes and the rebuilding of the second temple by order of cyrus the great , owes its concepts and teachings from zoroastrianism.. christianitys concept of the savior , end of times apocalypse duality of things etc comes from the teachings of zarathustra.seek the truth and it will set you free! persia influence the ancient world from greeks to egyptians,the jews and romans up to to the muslim world

[@EMan-cf8lv]

@@jhake67 you notice that Jerrylyn erased his or her comments because he/she obviously researched it and realized that the Torah and gospels were written and translated into different languages a lot long before any written works for Zoroastrianism. And the ancient Sumerians, Akkadian, Assyrians and Babylonians have influenced the world more than any Medes or Persians. I can simply point out to the code of Hammurabi which is still respected to this very day. And of course the depiction of the winged Ahura Mazda is simply nothing more than a knock off of the Assyrians deity Ashur. And I’d like to leave a little quote for you to ponder on. “The surviving texts of the Avesta, as they exist today, derive from a single master copy produced by collation and recension in the Sasanian Empire (224-651 CE). That master copy, now lost, is known as the 'Sassanian archetype'. The oldest surviving manuscript (K1)[n 1] of an Avestan language text is dated 1323 CE.[1] Summaries of the various Avesta texts found in the 9th/10th century texts of Zoroastrian tradition suggest that a significant portion of the literature in the Avestan language has been lost” You may have already worked it out in your own brain that you’re right and everyone is wrong, but the truth will not change that you’re simply wrong. Nighty-night my dear son. Daddy’s got to rise early and go to teach a class.

[@jhake67]

@@EMan-cf8lv the tanakh, with all its prophetic writings was finaLLY WRITTEN DOWN and redacted during the babylonian exile for sure you know that prof.. under the influence of persian culture, persian religion and persian philosophy

[@jhake67]

zarathustra lived long before judaism was monotheist, long before the myth of exodus, the davidian united kingdom and surely long before the torah and tanakh was finally written down.. all copy of religious writings we have are centuries after they were originally written

[@naushirwanpudumjee5686]

There's nothing not said not written now 're-vision & re-creation eliminating the hyphen.

[@protectinghistory]

Madam Speaker ! I don't know how you became a professor. I don't know which university you went to prior to becoming a professor. Zoroastrianism is not the oldest living religion in the world. According to western christian scholars, Hinduism is 6000 years old and has 1 billion followers today. According to Hindu scholars - both western & Indian - Hinduism is even older. The reason why Hinduism is considered 6000 years old by the West is because West has recorded history for that long.

[@babakasad5929]

civilization started from middle east on present iraq/iran border. so naturally it grew north,East,south&west-which in turn means no culture ,relegion,language is more ancient than those came front the above region. just common sense

[@srebalanandasivam9563]

She says Buddha was born in Southern Nepal??? She doesn't know where Lumbini was...

[@syruseye]

Sre Balananda Sivam the Lumbini narrative is a total fabrication

[@syruseye]

Herodotus places Zarathustra 6000 years before Plato and 4000 years before the Trojan war. Sorry to burst your bubble. Also, Avestan is older than Sanskrit.

[@kparsi4919]

You guys lie and don’t know about the real Zoroastrian

[@mehrankaramshahi4033]

درود بر زرتشتیان

[@Quantumanandha]

Welcome Saint Lord Jesus Christ Germaine 🔥

[@sandeeppatilhosting]

today is iran zorastian then Iran may be $10 trillion usd economy...islam destriy the country