What Zoroaster said. History of the Zoroastrian religion

general courses

(in Polish) podstawowa wiedza i zainteresowanie kulturami starożytnymi,

Classroom

Zoroastrianism is the oldest monistic religion, whose origins date back to the 2nd thousand BC. For

centuries Zoroastrianism, recognised as the official religion of successive ancient Iranian dynasties,

was one of the most powerful religions of the ancient world. Few groups of followers of Ahura Mazda

can still be found today, mainly in Iran, India and the USA. The lecture will present the basic stages of

the development of Zoroastrianism from the time of the prophet Zarathushtra to modern times based

on written and archaeological sources.

The lecture will discuss the basic concepts of Zoroastrianism based on its holy book, the Avesta, its ceremonies

and rituals. Like any religion, Zoroastrianism has undergone changes, hence much attention will be paid to the

history of the religion: - Iranian beliefs before Zoroaster, Zoroaster and his teachings, Zoroastrianism during the

Medes and the Achaemenids, Zoroastrianism after the conquests of Alexander the Great, the Parthian and

Sassanid periods, the Arab conquest, Zoroastrianism on the Silk Road, Zoroastrianism in modern times.

M. Boyce, A History of Zoroastrianism, vols. I-II, Leiden, 1975-82.

M. Boyce, F. Grenet, A History of Zoroastrianism III: Zoroastrianism under Macedonian and Roman Rule,

Leiden, 1991.

M. Boyce, Zaratusztrianie. Wiara i życie, Łódź 1988

J. Rose, The Image of Zoroaster: The Persian Mage through European Eyes. (Persian

studies series 21.) New York 2000.

J. Rose, Zoroastrianism: An Introduction (Introductions to Religion), London 2011

P.O. Skjarvo, Introduction to Zoroastrianism http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~iranian/

Knowledge: the student knows and understands

K_W06, K_W11, K_W12,

basic knowledge of connections between archaeology and other fields and scientific disciplines in the area of

humanities, social sciences, natural sciences and exact sciences

knows and understands the basic methods of analysing ancient, medieval or modern texts

Abilities: student will be able to

K_U02, K_U12, K_U15

to search for, analyse, evaluate, select and use information from various sources

to recognize, analyze, use and classify archaeological sources

to cite current research theses, formulate conclusions and select argumentative strategies on elementary level and

construct arguments and counterarguments

Social competences: the student is ready to:

K_K01, K_K02, K_K05, K_K06

use knowledge and skills he/she possesses and is aware of the necessity to confront them with opinions of

experts

recognize the importance of material remains, ancient languages and written sources as part of the cultural

heritage of humanity

use his/her knowledge of the complex nature of culture and its complexity, with an awareness of the need to

analyse different categories of sources in order to reconstruct the human past

stress the importance of the cultural heritage of humanity for understanding the process of economic, social and

cultural change from the earliest times to the present

written exam