Ancient Persia - from tribe to empire. Greek names of Persian gods History of ancient Persia

Zoroastrianism, a religious doctrine that arose in Central Asia around the 7th century, played a large role in the ideology of Ancient Iran. BC e. and named after its founder Zarathushtra (in the Greek transmission Zoroaster).

Soon after its origin, Zoroastrianism began to spread to Media, Persia and other countries of the Iranian world. Apparently, during the reign of the last Median king, Astyages, it had already become the official religion in Media. The priests of the Zoroastrian cult were magicians - experts in ritual and rites, guardians of the religious traditions of the Medes and Persians.

In Persia, the masses worshiped the ancient deities of nature - Mithra (god of the sun), Anahita (goddess of water and fertility) and other gods, in which they revered light, moon, wind, etc. Zoroastrianism began to spread in Persia only at the turn of the 6th century. V centuries BC e., i.e. during the reign of Darius I. The Persian kings, appreciating the advantages of the teachings of Zoroaster as their new official religion, nevertheless did not abandon the cults of the ancient gods worshiped by the Iranian tribes. In the VI-IV centuries. BC e. Zoroastrianism had not yet become a dogmatic religion with firmly fixed norms, and therefore various modifications of the new religious teaching arose. One such form of early Zoroastrianism was the Persian religion starting from the time of Darius I.

It is the absence of dogmatic religion that explains the exceptional tolerance of the Persian kings. For example, Cyrus II in every possible way patronized the revival of ancient cults in conquered countries and ordered the restoration of temples destroyed under his predecessors in Babylonia, Elam, Judea, etc. After the capture of Egypt, Cambyses was crowned according to Egyptian customs, participated in religious ceremonies in the temple of the goddess Neith in the city Sais, worshiped and made sacrifices to other Egyptian gods. Darius I declared himself the son of the goddess Neith, built temples to Ammon and other Egyptian gods. In the temples of the gods of the conquered peoples, sacrifices were made on behalf of the Persian kings, who sought to achieve a favorable attitude towards themselves. According to documents from the Persepolis archive of the late 6th - early 5th centuries. BC e., in Persepolis and other cities of Persia and Elam, products (wine, sheep, grain, etc.) were released from the royal warehouses for the worship of not only the supreme gods Ahura Mazda (symbol of goodness, light, truth) and other Iranian gods , but also Elamite and Babylonian gods. And although Ahura Mazda is always mentioned in the first place in the list of gods, three times less wine is sold for his cult than was intended for one of the Elamite gods. In general, the gods of the Iranian pantheon appear in the Persepolis texts less frequently than the Elamite gods, and, judging by the size of the sacrifices and libations, they did not at all occupy a privileged position. Only the absence of dogmatic intolerance in ancient religions can explain the fact that in one Aramaic inscription of the 4th century BC. e., found in Asia Minor, speaks of a marriage between the Babylonian god Bel and the Iranian goddess Daina-Mazdayasnish ​​(“Mazdayasnian faith”, i.e. Zoroastrianism). True, when an uprising broke out in Babylonia against Persian rule, Xerxes destroyed the main temple of this country, Esagila, and ordered the statue of the god Marduk to be taken from there to Persia. He also destroyed Greek temples. However, Xerxes resorted to these actions only as a last resort, trying to deprive the population hostile to him of the help of the local gods. In Iran, Xerxes carried out a religious reform aimed at centralizing the cult. With its help, he apparently wanted to destroy the temples of Mithras, Anahita and other ancient Iranian deities rejected by Zoroaster. However, this reform was doomed to failure, since after half a century these deities were again officially recognized.

Although the Persian kings did not infringe on the religious feelings of the conquered peoples, they sought to prevent excessive strengthening of the temples. In Egypt, Babylonia, Asia Minor and other countries, temples were subject to state taxes and had to send their slaves to be used in the royal household.

The Persian state was characterized by processes of intense ethnic mixing, syncretism of cultures and religious ideas of different peoples. This was primarily facilitated by more regular contacts between different parts of the state than in the previous period. Foreigners were easily included in the social and economic life of the country where they settled, gradually assimilated by the local population, adopted their language and culture, and in turn exerted a certain cultural influence. Lively ethnic contacts contributed to the synthesis of scientific knowledge, artistic techniques and the gradual emergence of an essentially new material and spiritual culture.

The Persians and other Iranian peoples borrowed many of the achievements of the civilization of the Elamites, Babylonians and Egyptians, developed them further and thus enriched the treasury of world culture. One of the major achievements of the Persians was the creation of a kind of cuneiform. Persian cuneiform, unlike Akkadian, containing about 600 characters, was almost alphabetic and had only a little more than 40 characters.

Majestic monuments of Persian architecture are the palace complexes in Pasargadae, Persepolis and Susa.

Pasargadae is located at an altitude of 1900 m above sea level on a vast plain. The city's buildings, the oldest monuments of Persian material culture, are built on a high terrace. They are faced with light sandstone, beautifully granulated and reminiscent of marble. The royal palaces were located among parks and gardens. Perhaps the most remarkable monument of Pasargadae, striking in its noble beauty, is the tomb in which Cyrus II was buried, still preserved. Seven wide steps lead to a burial chamber 2 m wide and 3 m long. Many similar monuments directly or indirectly go back to this tomb, including the Halicarnassus mausoleum of the satrap Carius Mausolus, considered in ancient times one of the seven wonders of the world.

Construction of Persepolis began around 520 BC. e. and lasted until approximately 450 BC. e. The area of ​​the city is 135,000 square meters. m. An artificial platform was built at the foot of the mountain, for which about 12,000 square meters had to be leveled. m of uneven rocky surface. The city built on this platform was surrounded on three sides by a double wall made of mud brick, and on the eastern side it adjoined an inaccessible mountain cliff. One could go to Persepolis along a wide grand staircase consisting of about 10 steps. The ceremonial palace (apadana) of Darius I consisted of a large hall with an area of ​​3600 square meters. m, surrounded by porticoes. The ceiling of the hall and porticos was supported by 72 thin and graceful stone columns about 20 m high. The apadana was used for large state receptions. It was connected to the personal palaces of Darius I and Xerxes. Two staircases led to the apadana, on which reliefs with images of courtiers, the king’s personal guard, cavalry and chariots are still preserved. On one side of the stairs stretches a long procession of representatives of the 33 nations of the state, bearing gifts and tribute to the Persian king. This is a real ethnological museum depicting all the characteristic features of various tribes and peoples. Persepolis also housed the palaces of other Achaemenid kings.

Three kilometers from Persepolis, in the rocks called Naqsh-i-Rustam, are the tombs of Darius I and several other Persian kings, decorated with reliefs.

Under Darius I, great construction was also carried out in Susa. Materials for the construction of palaces were delivered from 12 countries. Craftsmen from many areas were employed in construction and decorative work. About the construction of one of the Susa palaces, the inscription of Darius I reports the following: “The earth was dug deep, gravel was filled, mud brick was molded - the Babylonian people [all this] did. The cedar came from Mount Lebanon. The Assyrian people brought it to Babylon, and the Carians and Ionians brought it to Susa. The wood was brought from Gandhara and Karmania. The gold used here came from Lydia and Bactria. Gems, lapis lazuli and carnelian, which are used here, were delivered from Sogdiana. The turquoise used here came from Khorezm, silver and ebony from Egypt, wall decorations from Ionia, ivory from Ethiopia, India and Arachosia. The stone columns used here were brought from the village of Abi-radu in Elam. The workers who cut the stone were Ionians and Lydians. Goldsmiths... were Medes and Egyptians. The people who inlaid the wood were Medes and Egyptians. The people who molded the baked bricks were Babylonians. The people who decorated the wall were Medes and Egyptians."

Colossal palace complexes, created by the labor of conquered peoples, symbolized the power and greatness of the new world power. Ancient Persian art arose as a result of an organic synthesis of Iranian artistic traditions and technical techniques with Elamite, Assyrian, Egyptian, Greek and other foreign traditions. Despite some eclecticism, it is characterized by internal unity and originality, since this art as a whole is the result of specific historical conditions, original ideology and social life, which gave borrowed forms new functions and meaning.

Among the objects of ancient Persian art there are metal bowls and vases, goblets carved from stone, ivory rhytons, jewelry, lapis lazuli sculpture, etc. Persian craftsmen were especially successful and were very popular in artistic products that realistically depicted domestic and wild animals (rams, lions, wild boars, etc.). Among works of art, cylindrical seals carved from agate, chalcedony, jasper, etc. are of significant interest. Decorated with images of kings, heroes, fantastic and real creatures, they still amaze the viewer with the perfection of their forms and the originality of the plot.

“All their gods are planets of passions” -
Astrology said so...
If knowledge is the power of people,
That ignorance is a terrible power!

Pythagoras spent a whole month visiting Zarathushtra. During this time he learned a lot about the Prophet and his religion. Pythagoras did not agree with all the provisions of Zoroastrianism, but he liked the pantheon of gods of 3aratushtra, led by Ahura Mazda. Zarathustra had the supernatural ability to go into the world of incorporeal entities and could deliberately plunge into the inner world of another person so that he would become a witness and eyewitness to the reality of the spiritual world.

Zarathushtra's teaching about the Divine is directly related to his mystical experience. His philosophy is nothing more than an attempt to convey to the uninitiated in verbal form evidence of the world of incorporeal existence.

Using the Aryan mythology that existed before him, Zarathushtra created a completely new theological structure, unprecedented before him. The names that Zarathushtra gave to the entities of the incorporeal world are not new for the Aryans, but before they only designated concepts, and occasionally minor tribal deities.

The highest incorporeal essence known to Zarathushtra was called by him the Aryan common name Mazda - “thought, memory, wise”, derived from the complex verb “ma(n)z-da” - “to establish a thought, direct one’s attention, mind.” Compare: in India the word “manas” means mind. The Prophet used the name Mazda to designate the psychic energy of thinking.

My dears, in order to make the name of the supreme deity closer and more understandable to the uninitiated, Zarathushtra added to it the word “ahura” (asura - god), thus classifying him in the Aryan category of deities corresponding to the ancient Greek titans, that is, the energies and forces of celestial bodies and luminary

By classifying Mazda among the ahuras, Zarathushtra was forced to determine his place among other ahuras (asuras). He did this by placing the planet Jupiter under the supervision of Mazda Ahura, replacing its former ruler, the Guru - the “Enlightened Teacher”, corresponding to the Hindu Brahma and the Titan Iapetus in the Greek tradition. The rest of the system of divine essences in Zarathushtra is constructed in a similar way.

According to the myths and legends of the ancient Greeks, Iapetus had a Titan sister, Themis. Themis was the female personification of his function as a heavenly judge. And Iapetus had four sons from the Oceanid Asia, in whom the Lydian goddess Asvi is seen. Asvi is the personification of intuitive pre-experimental knowledge about the past, present and future states of the world.

The two twin sons of the titan Iapetus: Prometheus-Epimetheus and Atlas-Menoitius correspond in the Zoroastrian system to the two sons of Ahura: Spenta-Manyu and Angra-Manyu. Spenta-Manyu is the Greek Prometheus and Atlas rolled into one. And the Evil Spirit Angra-Manyu corresponds to the Greek titans Epimetheus and Menoitius.

The esoteric Zodiac home of Ahura-Mazda, like that of the Titan Iapetus, was the constellation Aquarius, dominated by the star Big Fish, or Fomalhaut (Satawesa). This is why Ahura-Mazda-Iapetus is so closely associated with the myth of the Flood and the only saved ancestor of the modern race of people. In the ancient Indian tradition this is Manu Vaivasvata, and in the ancient Persian tradition it is Yima Khshaita, the son of Vivahvant. In the post-flood era, rains, floods and torrents were controlled by Tishtriya, the bright and glorious triple star created by Ahura Mazda. The esoteric color of Ahura Mazda is green, which hints at the special favor of Ahura Mazda for the green color of plants. Myrtle and white jasmine were considered the bodily embodiments of Mazda.

Man and humanity were also the bodily embodiment of Mazda Ahura.

The components of the divine name Arta-Vahishta, or Asha-Vahishta - “Best Judgment, Justice, Richest Truth” - were taken by Zarathushtra from ancient Aryan legends. Before Zarathushtra, the concept of Art denoted the most general law of the universe, the laws and patterns of the nature of the physical world.

Arta governs the movement of the Sun and Moon, the rising and setting of the luminaries, the change of seasons, the cyclical dying and rebirth of all nature, the birth, growth and death of man, his ages of life, his place in the social division of labor, social hierarchy, fidelity to contracts, fairness and justice. .

Vahishta in pan-Aryan mythology is one of the seven divine sages. Compare with the ancient Indian sage named Vasishtha - translated as “The Richest”. Zarathushtra, not to mention the family ties of Arta Vahishta, nevertheless placed him next to Ahura Mazda, which gave him the place that in Greek mythology was occupied by the Titanide Themis, sister of Iapetus. And Themis personified the universal Law, the laws of the Universe. She was considered the mother of three Oras, three Seasons and three Moiras, three mistresses of Karma who decide human destinies. As Urvatatnar's story progressed, Pythagoras compared the Zoroastrian gods with the ancient Greek inhabitants of Olympus and immediately received a harmonious and familiar picture of the heavenly hierarchy. And the Greek philosopher liked it.

In the teachings of Zarathushtra, the moral meanings of the concept of Arta became dominant; with this name, Zarathushtra most often denoted not so much the laws of nature and society, but rather posthumous reward for good deeds in human life. For Zarathushtra, Arta-Vahishta had a masculine nature and was only the male aspect of Ahura-Mazda, and not a separate deity.

The esoteric constellation of Arta-Vahishta was considered the constellation Leo, as the supreme judge in the kingdom of animals.

The color spectrum, like that of Mazda, is green, the plant embodiment of Arta-Vakhishta is mouse peas.

Spenta-Manyu, identical to Vohu-Mana, the Aryan Prometheus and Atlas in one person, also received from Zarathushtra the significant two-part name Vohu-Mana - “good providence, or thought.” Compare with the ancient Greek word “Prometheus,” which translates as “forward thinker, provident.”

The name Vohu-Mana denotes in the theology of Zoroaster the good aspect of mental energy. Vohu-Mana is the patron of good thoughts, rewarding them at the posthumous judgment of the soul.

The close connection of the name Vohu-Mana with the soul of the bull is also explained with the help of the ancient Greek image of Atlas, who was appointed by the Titans to rule the Moon. The Moon in esoteric teachings is directly connected in earthly nature with the white Taurus, and in the zodiacal circle with the constellation Taurus. This is where the constant epithets of Vohu-Mana and Maha come from - “Creator of the Bull”, “Soul of the Bull”, “Seed of the Bull”. Maha is a month.

Vohu-Mana, like Atlas, has a semantic connection with the color white. After all, the energy of good thoughts is symbolically closely associated with the white color spectrum of light. Sometimes the symbol of Vohu-Mana was called white jasmine, that is, the sacred plant of Ahura Mazda himself.

The change in theology brought about by the Prophet becomes more obvious when compared with previous pan-Aryan counterparts.

The name Angra-Manyu (Angromainyu, Ahriman, Areiman) consists of two roots: “evil, unkind” and “spirit”. This image, created by Zarathushtra, also absorbed the meanings of the ancient Greek names of the Titanides Menoitius, a furious and angry, violent and raging warrior, cast into the underworld, and Epimetheus, “strong in hindsight,” cunning, short-sighted, who through his wife Pandora and daughter Pyrrha let into the world of people all kinds of diseases, disasters, sorrows and suffering.

Angra Manyu is closely associated with the deva of drought Apaoshe, the destructive spirit of death and decay Nasu. Apaosha, as follows from the Aryan legends about Tishtriya, had a physical embodiment in the form of a black horse with the marks of death. In this regard, it would be useful to recall that Menoitios, cast down from heaven, is found in the kingdom of eternal darkness and, perhaps, guards the herds of black bulls and black horses of Helios in the underworld.

Angra Manyu is in darkness, he comes out at night, under the cover of darkness he carries out his evil deeds in the physical world. In the darkness of the underworld, in gloomy Erebus or Tartarus, the defeated Menoitios drags out his days.

In the tradition of Zoroastrianism, Angra Manyu created the harmful wig Mush. Mush is translated as “mouse” and is the result of a folk reinterpretation of the Sumerian word “mush”. In Sumer, Mush is “The Serpent, the constellation of the Serpentine Dragon,” that is, the constellations Hydra and Cancer. Mush strives to eclipse Maha and Khvarkhshet - the Moon and the Sun. Esoterically, this is the constellation Hyperion, where Menoitius resides - Scorpio, the symbol of death. Scorpio, like the snake, belongs to the category of harmful creatures of the hrafstra.

Angra Manyu is related to the ancient Greek titan Epimetheus and the ill-fated invasion of the human world by diseases, bodily ailments, suffering and other evils.

3arathushtra composed prayers and prayed only to the Immortal Saints. In the gathas he mentions his own hymns and praises in honor of Ahura Mazda and Vohu-Mana, his prayers for help to Arti-Vahvi and the heavenly lights, that is, the stars. He repeatedly promised to become a protector for the soul of the Bull and condemned all bloody sacrifices of cattle.

Zarathushtra, first of all, considered the Seven Immortal Saints worthy of veneration and praise: Ahura-Mazda, Vohu-Manu, Arta-Vahishta, Khshatra-Varyu, Spenta-Armaiti, Kharvatat and Amertat, Arti-Vahvi and Sraosha.

According to Zarathushtra, the creations of Ahura-Mazda are as follows: Heaven (Asman), Sun (Hvarhsheta), Moon (Mach) and Stars (especially Tishtriya, Satavesa, Vanant, Haftaringa, Nail of the Midheaven), Water (Apoahuni), Earth (Zam), Fire (Atar), Soul of the Bull (Geush Urvan), Souls of People (Fravarti). All of them are classified by Zarathushtra as good essences.

Zarathushtra prescribed to honor these divine essences with bloodless sacrifice, spiritual mood and songs of praise.

All creations of Angra-Manyu: devas and spirits - Aka-Mana, Druj, Aishma, Zaurva and others; devas of the heavenly bodies - Mithra, Urvana Gaochitra, Thira, Ardvi-Sura Annahita, Veretragva, Zrvad; wigs, especially Mush; dev Nasu - Death and Decay; Sukhovey Apaosha; Violence - sacrifice of a bull; Evil people and harmful animals - hrafstra - are not worthy of honor and worship.

Moreover, Zarathushtra called for fighting the rituals of bloody sacrifices to these devas in the most decisive manner: destroying idols and sanctuaries, and persecuting and exterminating the sorcerers who served them - the Yatu, Karapans and Kaviyas.

Pythagoras rode away on a two-humped camel.
The vacation is over - it's time to go to work...
People stood along the boulevards, saying goodbye to him.
And they threw flowers and shouted “Hurray!”

For a whole month Pythagoras talked with the Prophet Zarathushtra and his son Urvatatnara about their new faith. Pythagoras did not accept everything in Zoroastrianism, but he understood everything. And I received answers to all my questions about the Zoroastrian religion from the very founder of this religion - Zarathushtra. The time has come to part. At parting, Zarathushtra hugged Pythagoras and said: “I know that in the south of the Apennine Peninsula you will create your own School and your own religion. And then you will agree with those provisions of my religion that you did not agree with now.”

Pythagoras rode on a two-humped camel from the gates of the royal palace of Vara to Babylon. Many residents of the righteous city took to the streets and boulevards to greet the Initiate and say goodbye to him, to throw white flowers at his feet and pay tribute to the Son of Apollo of Hyperborean. And for a long time outside the city, a crowd of barefoot boys saw off the unusual guest, kicking up roadside dust with their yellow heels...

Another story of the Middle Ages. From antiquity to the Renaissance Kalyuzhny Dmitry Vitalievich

Greek names of Persian gods

The ancient religion of Iran has differences from other religions in the region. They call her Mazdaism named after the main god Agura-Mazda, Zoroastrianism named after the legendary founder of this teaching, Zoroaster (Star Gazer, in Greek), Avestism by the name of the main holy book of the Avesta, parsism by the name of the modern group of followers; supporters of this religion are also called fire worshipers. One of the directions of this religion is Mithraism.

Chief God Ahura Mazda(in Greek spelling Ormuzd) - the god of light, he is opposed by the god of darkness (evil) Angro Mainyu(Greek Ahriman). These gods have a retinue of spirits of light and goodness Agurov and spirits of evil and darkness devas. This division into light and dark is a very unusual phenomenon for ancient religions.

The teaching contains the idea of ​​the coming before the end of the world of either a son or an incarnation of the god Ormuzd. He must be born of a virgin. It is he who must put the final point in the struggle between good and evil, after which hell and the souls of sinners in it will be destroyed.

It is interesting that the founder of the religion, Zoroaster (otherwise spelled Zarathustra or Zoroaster), just like Buddha in India, over time began to be perceived by believers as God himself.

But how old is Zoroastrianism?

The oldest known text of the religion dates back to the 13th century AD. e. (the crusaders “disappeared” in Iraq a hundred years ago and, presumably, penetrated into Iran). Why are there no earlier documents? Historians believe that they, of course, were, but Alexander the Great and the Arabs destroyed them. A very convenient opinion, it can neither be proven nor disproved.

Please note that for some reason all (all!) ancient documents have disappeared. Library of Alexandria, papal archives, works of ancient authors, ancient texts of the Bible; texts of Buddhism, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism; Chinese and other ancient chronicles. They were burned, drowned, mice ate them, Alexander the Great destroyed them, the Arabs liquidated them, the Inquisition burned them, the emperor ordered them to be left to the winds. But such statements are nothing more than speculation, because there is no evidence of the increased gluttony of ancient mice or the hatred of A.F. Makedonsky for written texts.

Of the five sacred books of Zoroastrianism, four are written in a language close to Sanskrit, one is in the Middle Persian Pahlavi language. One of the books is called Zenda Vesta, which means Good News, Gospel in Greek.

Knowing where development actually came from and where it actually went allows us to take a fresh look at the features of Zoroastrianism. He appears as something like the Nicolaitanism of the Byzantine Empire.

It is traditionally believed that the pantheon of gods that came from India to Iran underwent the following changes in Iran: only the gods of the priests remained, and the patron gods of the military and peasants ceased to be gods, moving to the rank of devas, demons. This, historians believe, is the result of a reform carried out by the prophet Zoroaster, who founded a system similar to monotheism. Ahura Mazda - Lord Wisdom - not only separated from the other gods, but became incommensurate with them. All the Indo-Iranian deities were preserved, but a single master God appeared. Instead of many gods prone to excesses and rivalries, they were now all reduced to one Creator, with the functions and hierarchy of the saints largely preserved.

In Zoroastrianism, the usual Indo-Iranian and Indo-European scheme of a three-functional pantheon turned into a set of certain creatures Amesha Spenta(immortal saints). This Spenta Mainyo(spirit of holiness) Wohu Mana(good news, analogue of Mithras), Asha Vahishta(truth, analogue of Varuna), Khshatra Vairya(power), Armighty(piety), Aurvat(integrity), Amartat(immortality), who became bearers of certain qualities. Such a transition is not something unusual. Many gods, for example among the Indians, were previously simply epithets for the name of the main god, but over time they separated from him and acquired an independent existence - for example, the Ashvins Aryaman And Bhaga refer to Mithra (his epithets), and the Ashvins Daksha And Ansha– to Varuna, these are his epithets.

Here are some analogies between Indian and Iranian religious categories:

India – Iran

Soma – Haoma

Agni – Ataru

Varuna – Agura-Mazda

Mithra – Mithra

Indra - demon Indra

Nasatya - demon Nanhaitya

Devas (deities) – Devas (evil spirits, demons)

Asuras (evil spirits, demons) – Aguras (good spirits)

As we see, some deities became demons, and some demons became gods. This transition can be illustrated with an example from Russian history. Thus, the pre-evangelical Christian holiday of Ivan Kupala (John the Baptist) was at one time declared pagan and devilish. And very soon the goblins, brownies, mermans and other good guys “changed their sign” from plus to minus, from the gods of nature they turned into evil spirits. It is easy to understand that local gods remained in their rank where their admirers won, and moved to the rank of demons where their admirers lost. Among the Iranians, the agurs won a purely military victory over the devas, but in Indian mythology, on the contrary, the powerful but foolish asuras were defeated.

So such a reform could happen in Iran only in the event of fundamental changes in the social structure of society, or come from the outside, from the outside. We believe that Zoroaster’s reform is the result of the Crusades, that is, it was brought from outside. This is indicated, for example, by the famous inscription of Xerxes with anti-Deva content. He destroyed the sanctuaries of the deva worshipers and planted the cult of Ahura Mazda. This is how old beliefs were destroyed and new ones were planted, and this is the only way to understand the transition of gods to the rank of demons, and demons to the rank of gods. But India was too tough for the crusaders. That is, a certain system of beliefs came to both India and Iran from Europe at the same time, but in Iran it was later reformed by new newcomers from the same Europe, almost exactly the same as in Russia.

Therefore, Zoroastrianism is not an independent evolution of Hinduism in Iran. Indo-European gods came from Europe to both India and Iran independently, along with the settling peoples and their priests. Zoroastrianism is a local transformation of a religion that came from the West and was later revised under the Crusaders, the bearers of the new Western religious system. The fact that the original “homeland” of local gods was Europe follows at least from the fact that in German-Scandinavian mythology there are also aces; this is what they turned into in India asuras, and in Iran in Agurov.

A small group of followers of Zoroastrianism now exists in India, they are called Parsis. And those who remained in Iran are called Hebrians by Muslims. Etymology of the name gebra not precisely defined; in particular, they tried to derive it from Arabic kafir(incorrect), but it may also be that the word comes from the Greek hebraios, Jew. Are these not the remnants of the primary wave of immigrants from Italy during the campaign of Moses? This religion has a special relationship with fire, which becomes understandable if we take into account their exodus from the foot of Vesuvius.

The main occupation of the Parsis is trade. From among them came the largest capitalists in India. In the book “ZOROAASTRIANS. Beliefs and Customs" Mary Boyce writes about the Parsis: "They played an important role in the life of two states [Pakistan and India], since from their number came an amazing (commensurate with the size of the community) number of public figures, military men, pilots, scientists, industrialists, publishers newspapers." The followers of Zoroaster moved from Iran to India and Pakistan, and not vice versa.

In the mythology of the Turkic-speaking peoples of Asia Minor and Central Asia, Kazakhstan, the Caucasus, Western Siberia, the Volga region, the Gagauz devas(with different pronunciation: dev, dev, deo, dyau, deu, deu, diyu, tiv etc.) – evil spirits. This shows that these ideas came here directly from Iran, and not from India.

... We have already written about the most important direction of the Iranian religion, Mithraism, and we will not repeat it. Let us recall that, in our opinion, it appeared at the beginning of our era in Europe and spread to the East. Traditional historians believe that this religion went from East to West, and before our era; but the opinion of apologists of Christianity is also interesting, who believed that Satan himself inspired the Mithraists with the idea of ​​imitating the rituals of Christians in order to discredit the latter. It turns out that Christians admit that Mithraism is not that ancient at all. After all, the Mithraists of antiquity could not imitate what appeared in Europe only with the Nativity of Christ.

The headdress of the Mithraic high priest is the tiara, or miter. The headdress of the Pope also has this name; like the priests of Mithras, the Pope wears red shoes and also holds the keys of the “rock god” Peter.

We believe that Mithraism in the form as it is known is a sect of primary Christianity that included in its ritual the previous cult of the Sun God. On the territory of Iran, this belief was also “diluted” by local folklore.