Power In His Presence

 

 

TITLE OF BOOK: PERSIA AND THE BIBLE

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: DR. EDWIN M. Yamauchi began language studies at the University of Hawaii but then transferred his candidacy to studying Biblical languages at Shelton College, Ringwood, New Jersey, and received his B.A. degree there. He then enrolled in Mediterranean studies for his M.A. degree at Brandeis University, and then pursued studies in Mandaean Gnostic texts as part of his Ph.D. dissertation at Brandeis University. At Brandeis he studied under the late Cyrus Gordon, and expanded his linguistic studies in ancient near eastern languages, which included Hebrew, Aramaic, Akkadian, Ugaritic, Arabic, Syriac, and Coptic. In all he has immersed himself in 22 different languages.

Yamauchi taught for a time at Shelton College, before becoming an Assistant Professor of history at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey. He then received his professorial appointment at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

Yamauchi’s areas of expertise include: Ancient History, Old Testament, New Testament, Early Church History, Gnosticism, and Biblical Archaeology. He has been awarded eight fellowships, contributed chapters to several books, articles in reference works, and has published 80 essays in 37 scholarly journals. He has been a member and officer of the Institute for Biblical Research, an organization of scholars devoted to the research of the Bible.

Much of Yamauchi’s literary work has concentrated on historical questions of the interrelationship between ancient near eastern cultures and the biblical texts. This is reflected in his books on Greece, Babylon, Persia, and ancient Africa, as well as in various monographs on the archaeological discoveries related to biblical studies. Yamauchi has also contributed essays to various reference works in biblical studies and Christian history, and wrote commentaries on the books of Ezra and Nehemiah in the Expositor’s Bible Commentary series that was edited by Frank Gaebelein.

Other areas where Yamauchi has written include the social and cultural history of first century Christianity, the relevance of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls for New Testament studies, the primary source value of Josephus‘ writings, and the role of the Magi in both ancient Persia and in the nativity narrative of the Gospel of Matthew.

Yamauchi is also noted for several books and essays on ancient gnosticism. He has been highly critical of scholars, such as Rudolf Bultmann, who have used third and fourth century AD Gnostic texts as primary evidence for the existence of pre-Christian gnosticism.

In the 1970s he was a prominent critic of the late Morton Smith’s interpretation of an apocryphal text known as the Secret Gospel of Mark. Yamauchi revisited the corpus of Smith’s writings on the topics of the lost gospels and Jesus as a magician-healer in his lengthy essay on magic and miracles (1986). Yamauchi faulted Smith’s work on several points. One problem Yamauchi found was Smith’s anachronistic use of third, fourth and fifth century AD Greek magical papyri sources in his reinterpretation of Christ as a magus-magician. He argued that Smith’s “penchant for parallels with the life of Apollonius by Philostratus” was “historically anachronistic” (“Magic or Miracle?” in Gospel Perspectives, p. 96). Yamauchi also indicated that Smith had taken passages from the Greek magical papyri out of context to support his argument that Jesus and early Christians practiced magic.

Yamauchi formally retired from his duties as Professor of History in June 2005.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

FORWARD 9

PREFACE 11

ABBREVIATIONS 15

INTRODUCTION 19

1. THE MEDES 31

2. CYRUS 65

3. CAMBYSES 93

4. DARIUS 129

5. XERXES 187

6. ARTAXERXES 1 241

7. SUSA 279

8. ECBATANA 305

9. PASARGADAE 315

10. PERSEPOLIS 335

11. PERSIA AND THE GREEKS 379

12. ZOROASTRIANISM 395

13. THE MAGI 467

14. MITHRAISM 493

APPENDIX 523

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY 525

INDEX OF SUBJECTS 549

INDEX OF PLACES 557

INDEX OF AUTHORS 561

INDEX OF SCRIPTURE REFERENCES 577

LIST OF MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS 579

WHAT THE BOOK IS ALL ABOUT

This book stresses on the varieties of Kings who lived and ruled ad Persia and also throws much light on the cities which were prominent in those Persia. These kimgs and their renowned cities are as follows:

1. THE MEDES

This nation emanates from the descendants of Japheth. This fact can be attest by reading the following references in the pre-exilic prophets (Isaiah 13:17; Jer. 25:25; 51:11, 28) and many others from the exilic period (2 Kings 17:6; Dan. 5:28; 6:8, 12, 15). Darius in the bible is captioned as a Mede in Dan. 5:31; 9:1; 11:1 and this have indeed aroused many considerable discussions.

The Median homeland was situated in the east of the Chaine Magistrale of the northern Zagros Mountains in odern Luristan. A highland region three to five thousand feet above sea level.

Before the 1960’s no inscribed work of Median art was found until the late 1970’s where four Median sites were found. Baba Jan Tepe, which is the first site, was excavated in a series of seasons from 1966 on by Claire L. Goff.

The second important site is Godin Tepe, which was also situated about thirty miles southwest of Hamadan. This was excavated by T. Cuyler Young, Jr., from 1965 to 1973; he was a large fortified manor of the Median period.

The third and perhaps most interesting among all the others is a Median site called Tepe Nush-i Jan, forty miles south of Hamadan. This was excavated from 1967 to 1977 b y David Stronach.

The fourth and most significant structure was located in the center of the mound-the oldest fire temple yet uncovered.

2. CYRUS

Persia or also called Parsua. They were Indo-European Iranians who were closely related to the Medes. The name Parsua first occurs in inscriptions from the reign of Shalmaneser 111 in 844 B.C. A man called Roman Ghirsham stated that the Persians migrated from the Zagros first into Khuzistan, settling at Susa, Masjid-i Sulaiman, and Bard-i Nishandeh, before they proceeded eastward to Pasargadae.

Cyrus 11 was the son of Cambyses 1, a Persian, and Mandane, the daughter of the Median king Astyages. His mother was a Median. A suggested date for Cyrus’s birth dates around 590. His youth was preceded by a dream Astyages who was his grand-father had which according to the Greek folklore states that it forwarned Astyages that his grandson, if allowed to live would overshadow him.

Cyrus conquered the Media, Lydia, the east and the Babylon. Finally he restored the Jews by allowing them to return to their country.

3. CAMBYSES

Cambyses the son of Cyrus succeeded him. The name comes from the Greek etymology Kambuses which is disputed.

As a crown prince of Babylon, he bore his grandfather’s name Cambyses 1, the father of Cyrus. The youthful story of Cambyses is not known. He really accompanied his father during his conquest of Babylon in 539 B.C.

Cambyses invaded Egypt to annex the country that was the wealthiest area in the Near East. His expedition to Ethiopia proved futile because the Ethiopian king presented a bow to the Persian scouts warning Cambyses not to invade unless the Persians could draw such a bow.

His failure to outwit the Ethiopians, he returned to Memphis where he saw the Egyptians celebrating their festival which was the appearance of a new Apis bull. Cambyses misunderstood their festivities as their happiness over his failure to overcome the Ethiopians. The Egyptians shown him the calf and according to Herodotus, Cambyses stabbed the calf in the thigh.

The Apis bull according to the Egyptians is regarded as the incarnation of Ptah, the creator god of Memphis.

Cambyses met his death in time of spring in 522 after he received bad news from Persia about a coup d’etat and hastened home. Herodotus proves that Cambyses was traveling homeward in Syria, possibly in the area of Hamath, when, jumping onto his horse, the cap fell off the sheath of his sword causing him to accidentally stab himself in the thigh. He died some three weeks later. Classical writers view his death as a just punishment for his misdeeds.

4. DARIUS

This name comes from Greek form, Dareios, used meaning “he who sustains good thought”. It was name given to three Persian kings namely, Darius 1 or the Great, Darius 11 who was also known Nothus; and Darius 111 also known as Codomannus, he was the last Persian king whose kingdom was conquered by Alexander the Great.

With regards to Darius’s ancestry and Preaccession years, he was born around 550 and was at the age of twenty-eight when he acceded the throne. Apparently, he wasn’t a member of the family of Cyrus and Cambyses though, but he belonged to a collateral Achaemenid line. He served under Cambyses in Egypt as a spear bearer among immortals, an elite force of ten thousand royal soldiers. He had this inscription on his tomb at Naqsh-i Rustan (DNb) which he boasted that “trained am I both wit hands and with feet. As a horseman I am a good horseman. As a bowman I am a good bowman both afoot and on horseback”.

Solomon’s temple was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in 587 or 586 B.C. The Jews who had returned under Cyrus laid the foundation of a second temple in 536; work was apparently paused during the next twenty years in the face of opposition (Ezra 4:1-5). The renewed work was led by Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel from the line of David and Jeshua the high priest.

At a stage where the work of the building was very much opposed by the enemies, Darius solemnly warned those enemies of the Jews to desist from interfering with the rebuilding of the temple. The temple was completed on March 12, 515 a little over seventy years after its destruction.

In 492, Darius sent his son-in-law for an expedition to punish the Greeks but unfortunately for them, their fleet was wrecked off the peninsula of Mount Athos in the northern Aegean.

In 486 B.C, Darius took ill and he died at the Persepolis in November. He was 64 when he died and he reigned for thirty-six years.

5. XERXES

Xerxes was son of Darius I and Atossa, the daughter of Cyrus the Great. After his accession in October 485 BC he suppressed the revolts in Egypt and Babylon that had broken out in 486 BC and appointed his brother Achaemenes as governor or satrap over Egypt (Old Persian: khshathrapavan), bringing Egypt under very strict rule. His predecessors, especially Darius, had not been successful in their attempts to conciliate the ancient civilizations. This probably was the reason why Xerxes in 484 BC took away from Babylon the golden statue of Bel (Marduk, Merodach), the hands of which the legitimate king of Babylon had to seize on the first day of each year, and killed the priest who tried to hinder him. Therefore Xerxes does not bear the title of King in the Babylonian documents dated from his reign, but King of Persia and Media or simply King of countries (i.e. of the world). This proceeding led to two rebellions, probably in 484 BC and 479 BC.

6. ARTAXERXES 1

(Latin; Greek Ἀρταξέρξης; corruption of Old Persian Artaxšacā, “whose reign is through” arta (truth) was king of the Persian Empire from 465 BC to 424 BC. He was the son of Xerxes I of Persia.

He is also surnamed μακρόχειρ “Macrocheir (Latin =Longimanus)”, allegedly because his right hand was longer than his left. Via the Georgian house of Pahlavuni, the Russian Rurikid family Dolgoruki claimed descent from him.

After Persia had been defeated at Eurymedon, military action between Greece and Persia had come to a standstill. When Artaxerxes I took power, he began a new tradition of drawing off the Athenians by funding their enemies in Greece. This indirectly caused the Athenians to move the treasury of the Delian League from the island of Delos to the Athenian acropolis. This funding practice inevitably prompted renewed fighting in 450 BC, where the Greeks attacked at the Battle of Cyprus. After Cimon’s failure to attain much in this expedition, the Peace of Callias was agreed between Athens, Argos and Persia in 449 BC.

Artaxerxes I offered asylum to Themistocles, who was the winner of the Battle of Salamis, after Themistocles was ostracized from Athens.

Artaxerxes commissioned Ezra, a Jewish priest-scribe, by means of a letter of decree, to take charge of the ecclesiastical and civil affairs of the Israelite nation. A copy of this decree can be found in Ezra 7:13-28.

Ezra thereby left Babylon in the first month of the seventh year (~ 457 BC) of Artaxerxes’ reign, at the head of a company of Israelites that included including priests and Levites. They arrived to Jerusalem in the first day of the fifth month of the seventh year (Hebrew Calendar).

The rebuilding of the Jewish community in Jerusalem had begun under Cyrus the Great , who had permitted Jews held captive in Babylon, to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple of Solomon. A number of Jews had consequently returned back to Jerusalem in 536 B.C

7.SUSA

Susa (in Persian: Shush) is a city in the Khuzestan province of Iran. It had an estimated population of 64,960 in 2005. Susa is one of the oldest-known settlements of the region and indeed the world, possibly founded about 4000 BCE (See List of oldest continuously inhabited cities); although the first traces of an inhabited village have been dated to ca. 7000 BCE. Evidence of a painted-pottery civilization has been dated to ca. 5000 BCE.

In historic times, Susa was the primary capital of the Elamite Empire. Its name in Elamite was written variously Šušan, Šušun, etc. The city appears in the very earliest Sumerian records, eg. in Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta it is described as one of the places obedient to Inanna, patron deity of Uruk. Susa is also mentioned in the Ketuvim of the Hebrew Bible, mainly in Esther, but also once each in Nehemiah and Daniel. Both Daniel and Nehemiah lived in Susa during the Babylonian captivity of Judah of the 6th century BCE. Esther became queen there, and saved the Jews from genocide. A tomb presumed to be that of Daniel is located in the area, known as Shush-Daniel. The tomb is marked by an unusual white, stone cone, which is neither regular nor symmetric. Many scholars believe it was at one point a Magen David and the bottom half was remove because of anti-semitism.

Susa is further mentioned in the Book of Jubilees (8:21 & 9:2) as one of the places within the inheritance of Shem and his eldest son Elam; and in 8:1, “Susan” is also named as the son (or daughter, in some translations) of Elam.

8.ECBATANA

Ecbatana (Old Persian: Haŋgmatana, written Agbatana in Aeschylus, Agámtanu by Nabonidos, and Agamatanu at Behistun) (literally: the place of gathering) is supposed to be the capital of Astyages (Istuvegü), which was taken by the Persian emperor Cyrus the Great in the sixth year of Nabonidos (549 BC).

The Greeks supposed it to be the capital of Media, and ascribed its foundation to Deioces (the Daiukku of the cuneiform inscriptions), who is said to have surrounded his palace in it with seven concentric walls of different colours.

So far no evidence of Median existence in Hagmatana hill has been attested. Only evidence observed in the area belong to the Parthian era afterwards. ^[1] There is no mention of Hagmatana/Ecbatana in Assyrian sources at all. Some scholars have suggested the Sagbita/Sagbat frequently mentioned in Assyrian texts in fact has been an earlier form of the Ecbatana/Hagmatana mentioned in later Greek and Achaemenid sources, as Indo-Iranian /s/ turned into /h/ in many Iranian languages. Sagbita mentioned by Assyrian sources was located in proximity of cities of Kishesim (Kar-Nergal) and Harhar (Kar-Sharrukin)

Golden Rhyton from Iran’s Achaemenid period. excavated at Ecbatana. Kept at National Museum of Iran.

Under the Persian kings, Ecbatana, situated at the foot of Mount Elvend, became a summer residence. Later, it became the capital of the Parthian kings.

9.PASARGADAE

Pasargadae was a city in ancient Persia. According to the Elamite cuneiform of the Persepolis fortification tablets the name was rendered as Batrakataš, and the name in current usage derives from a Greek transliteration of an Old Persian Pâthragâda toponym of still-uncertain meaning.

Its ruins lie 87 km (54 mi) northeast of Persepolis, in present Fars province of Iran, and was the first capital of the Persian Empire. The construction of the capital city by Cyrus the Great, begun in 546 BCE or later, was left unfinished, for Cyrus died in battle in 530 BCE or 529 BCE. Pasargadae remained the Persian capital until Darius began assembling another in Persepolis. The modern name comes from the Greek, but may derive from an earlier one used during Achaemenid times, Pâthragâda.

The archaeological site covers 1.6 square kilometres and includes a structure commonly believed to be the mausoleum of Cyrus, the fortress of Tall-e Takht sitting on top of a nearby hill, and the remains of two royal palaces and gardens. The gardens provide the earliest known example of the Persian chahar bagh, or four-fold garden design.

Latest research on Pasargadae’s structural engineering has shown the Achaemenid engineers constructed the city to withstand a seven richter scale earthquake. Achaemenid engineers had laid its’ foundations by using “Base Isolation” method in their design. The Base Isolation system is being used today by many countries for the construction of the nuclear facilities, and countries with numerous earthquakes such as Japan.

The most important monument in Pasargadae is undoubtedly the tomb of Cyrus the Great. It has six broad steps leading to the sepulchre, the chamber of which measures 3.17 m long by 2.11 m wide by 2.11 m high, and has a low and narrow entrance. Though there is no firm evidence identifying the tomb as that of Cyrus, Greek historians tell us that Alexander the Great believed it was so. When Alexander looted and destroyed Persepolis, he paid a visit to the tomb of Cyrus. Arrian, writing in the second century of the Common Era, recorded that Alexander commanded Aristobulus, one of his warriors, to enter the monument. Inside he found a golden bed, a table set with drinking vessels, a gold coffin, some ornaments studded with precious stones and an inscription of the tomb. No trace of any such inscription survives to modern times, and there is considerable disagreement to the exact wording of the text. Strabo reports that it read:

Passer-by, I am Cyrus, who gave the Persians an empire, and was king of Asia.
Grudge me not therefore this monument.

10.PERSEPOLIS

Persepolis seems t be a contraction of Persia polis (Persian city). It was probably called Perseptolis (destroyer of cities) by Aeschylus in Persae as a reference to the burning of Athens by Xerxes.

The Gate of All Nations

The Gate of all Nations, referring to subjects of the empire, consisted of a grand hall that was almost 25 square metres, with four columns and its entrance on the Western Wall. There were two more doors, one to the south which opened to the Apadana yard and the other one opened onto a long road to the east. Pivoting devices found on the inner corners of all the doors indicate that they were two-leafed doors, probably made of wood and covered with sheets of ornate metal.

A pair of Lamassu’s,which are bulls with the head of a bearded man stand on the western threshold, and another pair with wings and a Persian head (Gopät-Shäh) on the eastern entrance, to reflect the Empire’s power.

Xerxes’ name was written in three languages and carved on the entrances, informing everyone that he ordered this to be built.

Apadana Palace

Darius the Great built the greatest and most glorious palace at Persepolis in the western side. This palace was named Apadana and was used for the King of Kings’ official audiences. The work began in 515 BC and was completed 30 years later, by his son Xerxes I. The palace had a grand hall in the shape of a square, each side 60m long with seventy-two columns, thirteen of which still stand on the enormous platform. Each column is 19m high with a square Taurus and plinth. The columns carried the weight of the vast and heavy ceiling. The tops of the columns were made from animal sculptures such as two headed bulls, lions and eagles. The columns were joined to each other with the help of oak and cedar beams, which were brought from Lebanon. The walls were covered with a layer of mud and stucco to a depth of 5cm, which was used for bonding, and then covered with the greenish stucco which is found throughout the palaces.

11.PERSIA AND THE GREEKS

The Greeks, the Lydians and the Persians

The Lydians of Western Asia Minor were the first nations to conquer the Asiatic Greeks. Alyattes II first made war on Miletus which ended with a treaty of alliance between Miletus and Lydia, which meant that Miletus would have internal autonomy but follow Lydia in foreign affairs. Thus they sent an army to aid him in his war against the Medes. During a battle between the Lydians and the Medes a total solar eclipse took place, believed to be that of May 28, 585 BC, which had been predicted by Thales the Milesian. The battle was suspended out of alarm, peace was signed that was strengthened by a royal marriage, and the river Halys was set up as the frontier between the Lydians and the Medes. Croesus succeeded his father in 560 BC and made war on the other Greek city states of Asia Minor. He conquered them and forced them to pay tribute but did not extend his realm to the islands of the Aegean.

Persian Empire in 490 BC

Cyrus the Great rebelled against the Medes in 554 BC/553 BC and after four years conquered the Medes and founded the Persian Empire. Croesus saw this as an opportunity to extend his realm and asked the oracle of Delphi whether he should make war. The Oracle replied with one of its more famous answers, that if Croesus was to cross the river Halys he would destroy a great empire.Croesus did not realise the ambiguity of the statement and marched to war but was defeated and his capital fell to Cyrus. The Greek city-states then sent messenger to Cyrus asking to have the same terms as under Croesus but, with the exception of Miletus, Cyrus refused, saying they should have asked while the outcome of the war was undecided, as had Miletus. Cyrus then conquered Assyria before he died. His successor Cambyses II

regarded the Ionians and Aiolians as slaves inherited from his father; and he proceeded to march an army against Egypt, taking with him as helpers not only the other nations of which he was the ruler, but also those of the Hellenes over whom he had power besides (Herodotus II,1 translated by G. C. Macaulay)

Persian satraps of Asia Minor installed tyrants in most of Ionian cities and forced Greeks to pay taxes for the “King of Kings.” The campaign against Egypt in 525 BC was successful when the Cypriot cities, Polycrates of Samos(both of whom had a fleet) and the leader of the Greek mercenaries of Egypt Phanes of Halicarnassus came to his side.This conquest increased discontent with the Persians due to a reduction in trade because Phoenicians, who had willingly joined the Persian empire earlier took part of the market. Furthermore the fall of the Greek colony Sybaris in Southern Italy in 510 BC closed the western markets for the Ionian city states. In the mean time Darius the Great, Cambyses’ successor conquered Libya and part of India, thus creating a massive empire.

Ionian Revolt

For more details on this topic, see Ionian Revolt.

In 513 BC Darius the Great ordered a campaign into the Balkans. He conquered Thrace and Macedon. Macedonian king Amyntas I became a tributary ally. However at that time his state was very small, composed of Pieria and Bottaia (see map below). Darius forces also crossed the Danube into Scythia as a show of force. In this campaign Miltiades, commander of the Athenian forces in the Thracian peninsula was forced to follow the Persians. While Darius was across the Danube suggested to the other Greeks to burn the bridges and trap Darius across, thus earning Persian ire. This plan was not followed.

In 499 BC, instigated by Aristagoras in Miletus, the Ionian Revolt broke out when a force of 200 triremes manned by Ionian crew that Artaphernes, satrap of Sardis, had sent to Naxos under Aristagoras’ command failed to overturn the democrats and restore the oligarchs. The Ionian cities threw out the “tyrants” that the Persians had set over them, formed a league, and applied for help from the other Greeks. Athens sent twenty ships because the Persian had asked them earlier to restore Hippias, former tyrant of Athens who had been recently been removed from power. Eretria sent five because Miletus had helped her in the Lelantine War. These ships joined the Ionian fleet and helped spread rebellion all along the coast and to Cyprus. They managed to defeat the Phoenician fleet in Pamphylia. The revolt did not have greater political aims, lacked unified leadership and, save for the Carians, non-Greeks did not rebel. In 498 BC the Greeks captured and burnt Sardis with ease, thereby provoking the Persian response.

The Persians raised three armies and mobilized their fleet. One army was sent to Cyprus. The fleet supporting it was defeated by the Ionian fleet but the army succeeded in subjugating Cyprus.The other army was sent to the Propontis and forced the revolted cities into submission. The third army first went to Caria, and after a series of battles negotiated Caria’s submission. After that Ionia was isolated. All three armies converged in Ionia and so did the new fleet. Initially unable to defeat the Ionian fleet at sea, the Persian land forces worked towards denying the Ionian fleet any safe harbours, leaving the fleet unable to repair, refit, or restock its supplies. The Greek fleet was finally crushed at the Battle of Lade in 494 BC, and the Ionian cities were sacked.

7. ZOROASTRIANISM

Zoroastrianism only enters recorded history in the mid-5th century BCE. Herodotus’s The Histories (completed c. 440 BCE) includes a description of Greater Iranian society with what may be recognizably Zoroastrian features, including exposure of the dead.

Perhaps more importantly, The Histories is a primary source of information on the early period of the Achaemenid era (648–330 BCE), in particular with respect to the role of the Magi. According to Herodotus i.101, the “Magi” were the sixth tribe of the Medians (until the unification of the Persian empire under Cyrus the Great, all Iranians were referred to as Mede or Mada by the peoples of the Ancient World), who appear to have been the priestly caste of the Mesopotamian-influenced branch of Zoroastrianism today known as “Zurvanism“, and who wielded considerable influence at the courts of the Median emperors.

Following the unification of the Median and Persian empires in 550 BCE, Cyrus II and later his son Cambyses II curtailed the powers of the “Magi” after these had attempted to seed dissent following their loss of influence. In 522 BCE, the “Magi” revolted and set up a rival claimant to the throne. The usurper, pretending to be Cyrus’ younger son Smerdis, took power shortly thereafter. Owing to the despotic rule of Cambyses and his long absence in Egypt, “the whole people, Persians, Medes and all the other nations,” acknowledged the usurper, especially as he granted a remission of taxes for three years.

The Behistun Inscription, carved into a cliffside, gives the same text in three languages, telling the story of King Darius’ conquests, with the names of twenty-three provinces subject to him. It is illustrated by life-sized carved images of King Darius with other figures in attendance.

Whether Cyrus II was a Zoroastrian is subject to debate. It did however influence him to the extent that it became the non-imposing religion of his empire, and its beliefs would later allow Cyrus to free the Jews from captivity (and allow them to return to Judea) when the emperor took Babylon in 539 BCE. Whether Darius I, though certainly a devotee of Ahura Mazda (as attested to several times in the Behistun inscription), was a follower of Zoroaster has not been conclusively established, since a devotion to Ahura Mazda was (at the time) not necessarily an indication of an adherence to Zoroaster’s teaching.

Darius I and later Achaemenid emperors, though acknowledging their devotion to Ahura Mazda in inscriptions, appear to have permitted religions to coexist. Nonetheless, it was during the Achaemenid period that Zoroastrianism gained momentum, and a number of the Zoroastrian texts (that today are part of the greater compendium of the Avesta) have been attributed to that period. It was also during the (later) Achaemenid era that many of the divinities and divine concepts of proto-Indo-Iranian religion(s) were incorporated in Zoroastrianism, in particular, those to whom the days of the month of the Zoroastrian calendar are dedicated. That religious calendar, which is still in use today, is itself (to some extent) an Achaemenid-era development. Those divinities, the yazatas, are present-day Zoroastrianism’s angels.

8. MAGI

The Magi (singular Magus, from Latin, via Greek μάγος ; Old English: Mage; from Old Persian maguš) were a tribe from ancient Media, who — prior to the absorption of the Medes into the Persian Empire in 550 BC — were responsible for religious and funerary practices. Later they accepted the Zoroastrian religion, not without changing the original message of its founder, Zarathustra (Zoroaster), to what is today known as Zurvanism, which would become the predominant form of Zoroastrianism during the Sassanid era (AD 226–650). No traces of Zurvanism exist beyond the 10th century. The best known Magi are the “Wise Men from the East” in the Bible, whose graves Marco Polo claimed to have seen in what is today the district of Saveh, in Tehran, Iran. In English, the term may refer to a shaman, sorcerer, or wizard; it is the origin of the words magic and magician.

9. MITHRAISM.

The term “Mithraism” is modern. In antiquity, texts refer to “the mysteries of Mithras“, and to its adherents, as “the mysteries of the Persians.”^[1] This latter epithet is significant, not for whether the Mithraists considered the object of their devotion a Persian divinity, but for the fact that the devotees were convinced that their religion was founded by Zoroaster.^[1]

The term ‘mysteries’ does not imply that the religion was mystical or mysterious, but rather, that members had been formally initiated into the order. As also for other mystery religions, the expression ‘mystery’ derives from Koine Greek ‘μυστήρια’ (mysteria) meaning “initiation”, which distinguishes such religions from others where affiliation is a matter of inheritance.

It is not possible to state with certainty when “the mysteries of Mithras” developed. Plutarch^[2] suggests that some prototypical form of the Mithraic initiation rites existed among the pirates of Cilicia in 1st century BC. Clauss asserts “the mysteries” were not practiced until a century later. Mithraism reached the apogee of its popularity around the 3rd through 4th centuries, when it was particularly popular among the soldiers of the Roman Empire. Mithraism disappeared from overt practice after the Theodosian decree of 391 banned all pagan rites, and it apparently became extinct thereafter.

Although scholars are in agreement with the classical sources that state that the Romans borrowed the name of Mithras from Avestan Mithra, the origins of the Roman religion itself remain unclear and there is yet no scholarly consensus concerning this issue (for a summary of the various theories, see history, below). Further compounding the problem is the non-academic understanding of what “Persian” means, which, in a classical context is not a specific reference to the Iranian province Pars, but to the Persian (i.e. Achaemenid) Empire and speakers of Iranian languages in general.

Mithraism is only documented in the form it had acquired in the Roman Empire, where it was evidently a syncretic development that drew from the practices of a number of different cultures. It was an initiatory order, passed from initiate to initiate, like the Eleusinian Mysteries. It was not based on a supernaturally-revealed body of scripture, and hence very little written documentary evidence survives. Soldiers and the lower nobility appeared to be the most plentiful followers of Mithraism, although it’s possible higher nobility practiced in private. Women were not allowed to join.