The Greek historian Herodotus, who referred to Gaumata as Smerdis, also called him a magos whom Cambyses had appointed as the “steward of his household” (Herodotus: 3.63). Herodotus stated that the magi were one of the six tribes in Media and constituted a hereditary priestly caste. They had to be present when sacrifices were made to gods, and they uttered incantations over the sacrificed animal in words, which recounted “the Birth of Gods” (Herodotus: 1.132). In the documents unearthed in the Achaemenid palace complex of Persepolis in southern Iran, the magi are mentioned as recipients of wine and barley. These documents written in Elamite refer to the magi as makush. The magi played an important role in the daily life of the Achaemenid kings. The Achaemenid monarchs sought their opinion on a variety of issues and important decisions. When the king had a dream, the magi were consulted regarding its meaning and significance. They also accompanied the monarch and his armies on military campaigns, praying for the victory of the troops, singing hymns, and making libations to the sea and offering sacrifices of white horses to propitiate rivers (Herodotus: 7.113).
As the cultural elite of their time, the magi served as educators and teachers of the royal family. Even after the passing of a king, they continued to safeguard his tomb. When Alexander the Macedon arrived at the tomb of Cyrus the Great, he found a group of magi guarding it, “a duty which had been handed down from father to son ever since the time of Cyrus’s son, Cambyses” (Arrian: 6.29.4–11). They had “a grant from the King of a sheep a day, with an allowance of meal and wine, and one horse a month to sacrifice to Cyrus” (Arrian: 6.29.4–11). But the activities of the magi were not confined to religious and spiritual functions. They also acted as administrators. Their presence was indispensable in legal and economic transactions.
During the reign of the Arsacid dynasty, the magi continued to play important religious as well as political roles. The Greek author Strabo wrote that in Cappadocia, in present-day central Turkey, a large sect of magi kept many temples to the Persian gods. Each temple featured an enclosure, and within these were altars on which lay a large quantity of ashes. Upon these altars, the magi kept fires continuously burning. Around these on a daily basis, the magi chanted incantations for about an hour, “holding before the fire their bundle of rods and wearing round their heads high turbans of felt,” which reached down “over their cheeks far enough to cover their lips” (Strabo: 15.3.15). The role of the magi, however, was not confined to the domain of religious activities. They also figured prominently in the political life of the empire. Strabo wrote that in selecting their kings, the Parthians (Arsacids) consisted of “two groups, one that of kinsmen, and the other that of wise men and Magi, from both of which groups the kings were appointed” (Strabo: 2.9.3–10).
In 224 CE Ardashir, the governor of Istakhr and a former vassal of the Arsacid dynasty, defeated and killed the Arsacid king Artabanus IV on the battlefield. The death of Artabanus IV signaled the end of Arsacid rule. Ardashir founded the Sasanian dynasty, which ruled from 224 to 651 CE. The ancestor of Ardashir I, Sasan, had served as the custodian of the temple of Anahid, the Iranian goddess of waters, in the district of Istakhr in the province of Fars. According to the Byzantine historian Agathias, Ardashir “was a devotee of the magian religion and an official celebrant of its mysteries. Consequently the priestly caste of the magi rose to inordinate power and arrogance. This body had indeed made its influence felt on previous occasions in the course of its long history, though it had never before been elevated to such a position of privilege and immunity, but had hitherto been officially accorded what in certain respects amounted to an inferior status” (Agathias: 2.26.2).
In the Christian tradition, the magi appear as three wise men, members of the learned class of astronomers and astrologers in ancient Persia who arrive in Bethlehem shortly after the birth of Jesus. The Gospel of Matthew refers to them by the Greek term magoi, which denotes wise men in general, and had them declare that they had seen the star at its rising (Matthew 2:1–2:12).
See also: Ancient Cities: Bisotun Inscription; K&Q, Achaemenid: Darius I
Further Reading
Agathias. The Histories. Translated by Joseph D. Frendo. Berlin: Walter De Gruyter, 1975.
Arrian. The Campaigns of Alexander. Translated by Aubrey De Sélincourt. Revised with an introduction and notes by J. R. Hamilton. New York: Dorset, 1986.
Boyce, Mary. A History of Zoroastrianism, Vol. 1, The Early Period. Leiden: Brill Academic, 1996.
Boyce, Mary. Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices. London: Routledge Kegan and Paul, 2001.
Herodotus. The Histories. Translated by Aubrey De Sélincourt. Revised with introduction and notes by John Marincola. New York: Penguin, 1996.
Kent, Roland G. Old Persian. New Haven: American Oriental Society, 1950.
The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha: An Ecumenical Study Bible. New Revised Standard Version. Edited by Bruce M. and Roland E. Murphy. New York: Oxford University Press, 1991.
Strabo. The Geography of Strabo. Translated by Horace Leonard Jones. London: William Heinemann, 1930.
Yamauchi, Edwin M. Persia and the Bible. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 1990.
Zaehner, R. C. The Dawn and Twilight of Zoroastrianism. London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1961.
Mithra
Mithra was a deity worshipped in ancient India and Iran. He is mentioned over 200 times in the Hindu scriptures Rig Veda. It is not clear when Mithra joined the pantheon of ancient Iranian gods. In the oldest remaining segment of the Zoroastrian scriptures, the Gathas, the prophet Zarathustra (Zoroaster) does not mention Mithra. This omission has led some scholars to conclude that Zarathustra, who had called on his people to worship the one god, Ahura Mazda, had discarded Mithra and other pagan gods as deities worthy of veneration. Among the 21 Yashts, or collection of Avestan hymns, each paying homage to a particular Zoroastrian deity, however, one Yasht is dedicated to Mithra, the protector of oaths, contracts, and covenants who was created by the supreme god, Ahura Mazda, to protect wide cattle pastures and waters. In Mihr Yasht, Mithra appears as “the lord of wide pastures, who has a thousand ears and ten thousand eyes, a yazata [a god or angelic deity worthy of veneration] invoked by his own name” (The Zend-Avesta, Part II: Mihr Yasht, 1). Ahura Mazda informs the prophet Zarathustra that he had created “Mithra, the lord of wide pastures as worthy of sacrifice, as worthy of prayer as myself, Ahura Mazda” (The Zend-Avesta, Part II: Mihr Yasht, 1). Originally “Mithra was the god of heavenly light and in that character” he knew the truth as he saw everything; he was “therefore taken as a witness of truth” and was “the preserver of oaths and good faith,” and he chastised those who broke “their promises” and lied to Mithra, destroying their houses and killing them in battle (The Zend-Avesta, Part II: 119). It is not clear how and when Mithra emerged as the deity representing the sun. The Persian Achaemenid king Artaxerxes II mentioned Mithra in his inscription but did not identify the deity with the sun (Kent: 154–155). According to Athenaeus, the Persian Achaemenid kings could only get drunk in public on the day they sacrificed to the god Mithra. During this great festival, dedicated to the worship of Mithra, the king drank and danced to his heart’s content (Athenaeus: X.434e). The Greek geographer Strabo, who lived in the first century BCE and was a contemporary of the Arsacid (Parthian) dynasty, wrote that the Persians called the sun Mithra. Strabo also wrote that the satrap (governor) of Armenia “used to send to the Persian king twenty thousand foals every year at the time of Mithracina,” the annual festival in honor of the Persian sun god Mithras (Strabo: 11.14.9–10). Sometime during the Seleucid period, Mithra became associated and at times equated with the Greek god of light and the sun, Apollo. Mithra was so widely and popularly venerated that the names of several Iranian, Armenian, and Anatolian dynasts contained Mithra. Four kings of the Arsacid (Parthian) dynasty as well as several rulers of Armenia and Pontus on the southern coast of the Black Sea in present-day northeastern Turkey were named Mithridates (Gift
of Mithra). Mithra was also depicted on Parthian and Kushan coins. The Persian Sasanians, who overthrew the Arsacid dynasty in 224 CE, continued to venerate Mithra. The image of Mithra appears on the relief of Shapur II (r. 309–379 CE) at Taq-e Bostan near the city of Kermanshah in western Iran. Here, Mithra stands behind the Sasanian monarch as he celebrates his victory over the Roman emperor Julian the Apostate in 363 CE. In the Zoroastrian calendar, the 16th day of each month and the seventh month of the year were both named after Mithra. In 1925 when the Zoroastrian names of the months in the Iranian calendar were restored, the seventh month was named Mehr, the name for Mithra in New Persian.
After the fall of the Sasanian dynasty in 651 and the introduction of Islam by Arab Muslims, Iranians continued to celebrate many of their ancient festivals, including Jashn-e Mehrgan, or Mehregan. Rich and poor, men and women, boys and girls participated in joyous celebrations. Dressed in new clothes, families prepared sumptuous meals and celebrated Mehregan by playing songs and dancing to joyous music. The authors of the Islamic era, including the scholar Abu Rayhan Biruni and the historian Gardizi, linked the celebration of the ancient Iranian feast of Mehregan to the story of the legendary blacksmith Kaveh and his revolt against the tyrannical king Zahhak (Biruni: 207–208; Gardizi: 520–521). Gardizi wrote that Mehregan was celebrated because on this day, Fereydun (Afaridun) triumphed over Zahhak, captured the tyrant, and dragged him in chains to a cave at the summit of Mount Damavand (Gardizi: 520). According to Biruni, the Sasanian kings of ancient Iran celebrated Mehregan on the 16th day of the Iranian month of Mehr by wearing a special crown upon which was engraved an image of the sun and of the wheel upon which it turned (Biruni: 207, 40). Biruni goes on to explain that the Persians believed that the day of Mehregan was especially important because it celebrated the joy of the people when they heard the legendary hero Fereydun coming forth to rule after Kaveh had revolted against the evil king Zahhak, calling on the people to rally around Fereydun as their legitimate king (Biruni: 207, 40–208, 1). Biruni also reminded his readers that the Persian kings had adopted as their own standard the gold- and jewel-encrusted leather apron of the blacksmith Kaveh, the Derafsh-e Kavyan, and considered it a good omen (Biruni: 208, 1). After the fall of the Sasanian dynasty in 651 CE and the conversion of the majority of the population to Islam, Iranians continued to celebrate Mehregan. Today, Zoroastrians continue to celebrate Mehregan by wearing new clothes, setting up a colorful table, and preparing sumptuous meals.
The ancient Indo-Iranian god Mithra (Mitra) depicted on a rock relief at Taq-e Bostan, near the city of Kermanshah in western Iran. Originally designated as the god of contracts, covenants, agreements, and treaties, Mithra was identified also as the sun deity. (DeAgostini/Getty Images)
See also: Religion: Ahura Mazda; Anahita; Avesta; Primary Documents: Document 40
Further Reading
Athenaeus. The Deipnosophists. Translated by Charles Burton Gulik. London: William Heinemann, 1927.
Biruni, Abu Rayhan. Athar ul-Baqiya [Vestiges of the Past]. Translated by C. Edward Sachau as The Chronology of Ancient Nations. London: W. H. Allen, 1879.
Gardizi. Tarikh-e Gandizi. Edited by Abdolhay Habibi. Tehran: Donya-ye Ketab, 1985.
Gershevitch, Ilya. The Avestan Hymn to Mithra. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1959.
Kent, Roland G. Old Persian. New Haven: American Oriental Society, 1950.
Malandra, William. An Introduction to Ancient Iranian Religion. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1983.
Schmidt, Hanns-Peter. “Mithra.” Encyclopaedia Iranica, 2006, http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/mithra-i.
Strabo. The Geography of Strabo. Translated by Horace Leonard Jones. London: William Heinemann, 1930.
The Zend-Avesta, Part II: The Sirozahs, Yashts, and Nyayish. Translated by James Darmesteter. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1965.
Sacred Birds
Ancient Iranians believed that the great god Ahura Mazda (Ohrmazd) had created every creature for a reason and a purpose (Bundahishn: 9.157). Among Zoroastrians, many birds were held in great deference and esteem. They were generally believed to be wise, intelligent, crafty, and cunning creatures (Bundahishn: 9.155). No bird was as wily and conniving as the crow. There were several birds that were viewed as sacred creatures in the Avesta and the Pahlavi texts. One such bird was the owl. In Bundahishn we are told that the Avesta, the Zoroastrian holy book, was composed in the hooting of the owl. When the owl hooted, the demons fled. Owls lived on the plains and deserts and preferred to reside in ruins, forcing demons out of such sites (Bundahishn: 9.154–155). Another was the white eagle who killed the snakes. Vultures and crows were also praised and revered as old and wise creatures that were created to kill and eat reptiles as well as the corpses and the carcasses of animals, including deer, elk, and zebras (Bundahishn: 9.155). Another holy bird was the rooster, which was viewed as an enemy of demons and evil spirits. The rooster was a companion of the dog, and together they assisted Sraosha (Sorush), the deity of obedience and observance, in his struggle against the lie. Without the dog and the rooster, no house could be properly organized and protected. The crowing of the rooster at the break of dawn welcomed the rising of the sun and the arrival of a new day. He also sat on a high perch to look out for his family, sounding a distinctive alarm call when predators approached him and his family.
Sculpture of a bird identified by some as the sacred bird Homa, at Persepolis in Fars province in southern Iran. (Jasmina/Dreamstime.com)
See also: Religion: Avesta
Further Reading
Biruni, Abu Rayhan. Athar ul-Baqiya. Translated by C. Edward Sachau as The Chronology of Ancient Nations. London: W. H. Allen, 1879.
Boyce, Mary. History of Zoroastrianism, Vol. 1, The Early Period. Leiden: Brill Academic, 1996.
Boyce, Mary. Textual Sources for the Study of Zoroastrianism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990.
Boyce, Mary. Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices. London: Routledge Kegan and Paul, 2001.
Bundahishn. Edited by Mehrdad Bahar. Tehran: Tus Publications, 1991.
The Zend-Avesta, Part I: The Vendidad. Translated by James Darmesteter. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1965.
The Zend-Avesta, Part II: The Sirozahs, Yashts and Nyayish. Translated by James Darmesteter. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1965.
Saoshyant
An Avestan term that originally referred to a savior; to an individual of exulted status; a helper or a benefactor, such as a learned, intelligent, and wise prophet; or a spiritual leader, such as Zarathustra (Zoroaster) himself, who should be emulated. In late Zoroastrian eschatology the term referred to the last of the three saviors of the world. According to Pahlavi texts, three sons will be born from Zarathustra’s seed at 1,000-year intervals. These three sons are Hushedar, Hushedarmah, and the Soshyans (Saoshyant) (Pahlavi Texts, Part I: Bundahishn, 32.8). In Bundahishn, we read that Zarathustra copulated with Hvovi/Hvov three times, “and each time the seed went to the ground; the angel Neryosang [the Nairyosangha of the Avesta, the angel who is believed to be Ahura Mazda’s messenger to mankind] received the brilliance and strength of that seed, delivered it with care to the angel Anahid [the goddess of waters], and in time will blend it with a mother” (Pahlavi Texts, Part I: Bundahishn, 32.9). Each son and savior will be born after a young maiden bathes herself in the waters of the sea of Kasaoya and is impregnated by the seed of Zarathustra, which has been preserved and protected in those waters by the goddess Anahid along with 9,999 “guardian spirits” so “that the demons may not injure it” (Pahlavi Texts, Part I: Bundahishn, 32.9). The arrival of each son and savior will usher in a new era of progress among humanity. For example, in the “millennium of Hushedarmah, the strength of appetite (āz) will … diminish, … and men will remain three days and nights in superabundance … through one taste of consecrated food. Then they will desist from meat food, and eat vegetables and milk; afterwards, they abstain from milk food and abstain from vegetable
food, and are feeding on water; and for ten years before Soshyans comes they remain without food, and do not die” (Pahlavi Texts, Part I: Bundahishn, 30.2–4). With the arrival of the Saoshyant, the dead are prepared for their resurrection (Pahlavi Texts, Part I: Bundahishn, 30.4). First the bones of the first man, Gayomard, “are roused up,” then those of Mashi and Mashyani, and then the rest of mankind; “in the fifty-seven years of Soshyans they prepare all the dead, and all men stand up; whoever is righteous and whoever is wicked, every human creature, they rouse up from the spot where its life departs” (Pahlavi Texts, Part I: Bundahishn, 30.7). After “all material living beings” have assumed their bodies and forms, then they will be assigned to “a single class” (Pahlavi Texts, Part I: Bundahishn, 30.7–8). This may imply that the appearance of Soshyans was expected to usher the abolition of all class and caste distinctions (Pahlavi Texts, Part I: Bundahishn, 123n2).
See also: Prophets: Zarathustra (Zoroaster); Religion: Avesta
Further Reading
Boyce, Mary. A History of Zoroastrianism, Vol. 1. Leiden: Brill Academic, 1996.
Bundahishn. Edited by Mehrdad Bahar. Tehran: Tus Publishers, 1991.
Insler, S. The Gāthās of Zarathustra. Acta Iranica 8. Leiden: Peeters Publishers, 1975.
Malandra, William. “Saošyant.” Encyclopaedia Iranica, 2013, http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/saosyant.
Pahlavi Texts, Part I: The Bundahishn. Translated by E. W. West. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1965.
The Zend-Avesta, Part II: The Sirozahs, Yashts, and Nyayish. Translated by James Darmesteter. Delhi: Molital Banarsidass, 1965.
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