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The Wiley Blackwell companion to Zoroastrianism / edited by Michael Stausberg and Yuhan Sohrab-Dinshaw Vevaina with the assistance of Anna Tessmann ; contributors Miguel Angel Andres-Toledo [and thirty two others].

Ebook Central Reference Available online

Format:: Book
Contributor:: Stausberg, Michael, editor.; Vevaina, Yuhan Sohrab-Dinshaw, editor.; Tessmann, Anna, editor.; Andrés-Toledo, Miguel Ángel, contributor.
Series:: Wiley Blackwell Companions to Religion
Language:: English
Subjects (All):: Zoroastrianism.
Physical Description:: 1 online resource (802 p.)
Edition:: 1st ed.
Place of Publication:: Chichester, England : Wiley Blackwell, 2015.
Summary:: This is the first ever comprehensive English-language survey of Zoroastrianism, one of the oldest living religions * Evenly divided into five thematic sections beginning with an introduction to Zoroaster/Zarathustra and concluding with the intersections of Zoroastrianism and other religions * Reflects the global nature of Zoroastrian studies with contributions from 34 international authorities from 10 countries * Presents Zoroastrianism as a cluster of dynamic historical and contextualized phenomena, reflecting the current trend to move away from textual essentialism in the study of religion
Contents:: Cover; Title Page; Copyright Page; Contents; Notes on Contributors; Acknowledgments; Aims and Scope; A Note on Transcriptions; Abbreviations; Introduction: Scholarship on Zoroastrianism; A Disintegrated Academic Landscape; Attempts at Mapping Main Approaches; Some Main Figures in the History of Zoroastrian Studies; Contributions of Zoroastrian and Iranian Scholars; The Impact of the Study of Zoroastrianism on Modern Zoroastrianism; Emerging Trends in Recent Scholarship; Part I Zarathustra Revisited; Chapter 1 Zarathustra's Time and Homeland: Geographical Perspectives; Zarathustra's Time and Homeland: Approximations and Dead Ends; The Location of the Legendary Zarathustra; The Geographical Horizon of the Young Avesta; Further Reading; Chapter 2 Zarathustra's Time and Homeland: Linguistic Perspectives; External Evidence for the Avesta; Linguistic and Literary Relationship between the Older and Younger Avesta; The Provenance of the Avesta; Conclusion; Chapter 3 Interpretations of Zarathustra and the Gāthās; Chapter 3aThe Gāthās; Chapter 3b The Gāthās, Said to Be of Zarathustra; The Gāthās within the Avesta; The "Edition" of the Old Avesta; The Young Avestan Exegesis of the Old Avesta; Zarathustra; Unity and Homogeneity of the Gāthās; The Doctrine of the Gāthās; The Sole Source of Zoroastrianism?; Concluding Remark; Chapter 3c Dimensions of the Gāthās as Poetry; Chapter 3d The Gāthās as Myth and Ritual; Summary; Background; The Historical Zarathustra in Western Scholarship; My Approach; The Gāthās as the Story of Zarathustra; The Gathic Ritual Myth; Chapter 4 Zarathustra: Post-Gathic Trajectories; Zarathustra as Author and Source; Zarathustra as Hero, Recipient of Revelation, and Prophet.; Narratives and Identifications; Visual Representations; Part II Periods, Regions, and Contexts; Chapter 5 Religion and Politics in Pre-Islamic Iran; Zoroastrianism before the Iranian Empires; The Achaemenid Empire; The Origin of Achaemenid Court Rituals; The Zoroastrian Calendar; The Judgment of the Soul; The Zoroastrian Story of Creation and the End of Time; Alexander and the Seleucids; The Parthian (Arsacid) Empire; The Rise of the Sasanians; Chapter 6 Zoroastrianism under Islamic Rule; Historical Periodization; Conquest and Settlement of the Arab Muslim Conquerors (7th CE); The Age of Conversion and "Heterodox" Movements; The Zoroastrian Dark Ages (11th-16th Centuries CE); Zoroastrians under a Shı̄'ı̄ Gunpowder Empire (16th-18th Centuries CE); Chapter 7 Armenian and Georgian Zoroastrianism; Armenia and Georgia: Geography and History; Languages and Sources; The Religion of Pre-Christian Armenia; The Religion of Pre-Christian Georgia; The Parthian Commonwealth; Chapter 8 Zoroastrianism in Central Asia; Sources; Calendars; The Kushan Pantheon; The Sogdian Pantheon; Temples; The Clergy and Its Literary Productions; Marriage Customs; Funerary Practices; After the Muslim Conquest; Conclusion: Central Asian Zoroastrianism in Perspective; Chapter 9 Zoroastrianism in the Far East; The History of Zoroastrian Studies in the Far East; Main Periods; The Advance of Zoroastrianism into the Far East (the 4th-9th Centuries); The Formation of "Sinicized" Zoroastrianism (the 10th-20th Centuries); The Parsis in the Far East (the 18th-21st Centuries); Conclusion: Studies on Zoroastrianism in the Far East; Acknowledgments.; Appendix: Chronological Table of Zoroastrianism in the Far East; Chapter 10 The Parsis; The Early Days; Colonial India; Parsis in Independent India; Final Remarks; Chapter 11 Zoroastrians in Modern Iran; The Amelioration Society, the Struggle against Discrimination and New Agencies; Constitutional Changes; Under the Pahlavı̄s; Nationalism: Ideological Reappraisal and Civic Zoroastrianism; Religious Boundaries and Modernization; The Islamic Republic; Some Conclusions and Prospects; Chapter 12 The Zoroastrian Diaspora; Zoroastrians in China; Zoroastrians in East Africa; Parsis in Pakistan; Zoroastrians in Britain; Zoroastrians in North America; Zoroastrians in Australia; Appendix: Chronological table; Part III Structures, Discourses, and Dimensions; Chapter 13 Theologies and Hermeneutics; "Religion" and the "Sacred Word"; Good and Evil, Truth and Falsehood; The Nature, Will, and Desire of God; The Nature of the Evil Spirit and the Demons; The Divine Plan, Predestination, and Time; Human Behavior, Religious Wisdom, and Life Practices; "The Problem of Evil" and Defenses of Dualism; Textual Taxonomies: The Ahunwar, the Twenty-One Nasks, and the Dēn; Sacred Wisdom, Priestly Authority, and the Teaching of Religious Knowledge; Religion and Polemics: Disciplining Selves and Critiquing Others; Conclusions; Acknowledgment; Chapter 14 Cosmologies and Astrology; The Cosmic Fight and the Double Dimension of Existence and of Creation; Unlimited and Limited Time; The Organization of the World and the Place of the Iranians in the Mazdean Cosmography; Early Iranian Astral Cosmology and Mythology; The Avestan Heaven and the Astral Bodies.; The Myth of Tištriia and the Astral Battle against the Falling Stars; Later Mazdean Cosmology and Astrology; The Planets, Their Names, and Their Demonization; Other Doctrines; Chapter 15 Myths, Legends, Eschatologies; The Beginnings; Zoroaster's Life; The End; Chapter 16 Gender; A Gendered Concept of the Divine?; "Priesthood of Believers"; Purity, Pollution, and Sexuality; Religio-Social Experience; Chapter 17 Law in Pre-Modern Zoroastrianism; Reconstructing Zoroastrian Law; Law and Religion; Law of Persons and Animals; Family Law, Marriage, and Succession; Law of Property and Obligations; Criminal Law; Legal Proceedings; Zoroastrian Law after the Muslim Conquest; Chapter 18 Law and Modern Zoroastrians; Reinventing Zoroastrian Law; Inheritance; Marriage; Religious Trusts; Beyond India; Cases; Statutes, Constitutions, and Related Papers; Part IV Practices and Sites; Chapter 19 Ethics; The Ritual or "Narrow" Morality; Morality in a General Sense; Chapter 20 Prayer; Introduction; Prayer Texts in Avestan; Prayers in Languages Other than Avestan; Prayer in Modern Zoroastrianism; Chapter 21 Purity and Pollution / The Body; The Source of Impurity and the Effects of Pollution; Analysis; The Removal of Pollution; Chapter 22 Rituals; Terminology; Reform and Change; Animal Sacrifice; The Art of Words; Priesthood and Laity; The Ritualization of Daily Life; Priestly Liturgies; Initiations and Weddings; Initiation into the Priesthood; Funerals and Post-Funerary Services.; Further Reading; Chapter 23 Festivals and the Calendar; The Earliest Zoroastrian Festivals; Zoroastrian Festivals in Sasanian and Early Islamic Iran; Festivals in the Modern Period; Chapter 24 Religious Sites and Physical Structures; Ancient Holy Structures; Institutions of Late Antiquity; Medieval and Pre-Modern Places of Piety; Modern Communities and Their Religious Sites; Part V Intersections; Chapter 25 Early India and Iran; The Indo-European and Indo-Iranian Heritage of Avestan; Linguistic Similarities between Avestan and Old Indic; The Old Indic and Avestan Literature; Time and Place of the Indo-Iranians; The Old Indic and Avestan Poets and Their Poetry; Shared Myths: Cosmology; Dragon-Killers and Other Myths; Mythical Geography; Poetic Formulas; Gods and Demons; Ahura Mazdā; Mitra/Miθra; Vāyu/Vaiiu; Apām Napāt/Apąm Napāt̰; Bhága/Baga (Baγa); Aryamán/Airiiaman; Evil Deities; Ritual; Soma/Haoma; Chapter 26 Judaism; Early Encounters: The Achaemenid Conquest of the Near East; Intersections with Zoroastrianism in Second Temple Times; Intersections during Late Antiquity: The Talmud and Zoroastrianism; After the Conquest: Medieval Intersections between Jews and Zoroastrians; Chapter 27 The Classical World; Early Greek Cosmologists: 540-450 BCE; Greek Historians of the East: 450-370 BCE; Plato and the Academy: 370-300 BCE; The Hellenistic Period: 300-30 BCE; The Roman and Early Byzantine Periods: 30 bce-600 CE; Chapter 28 From Miθra to Roman Mithras; Chapter 29 Christianity; The Wise Men from the East; Zoroastrian Elements in Early Christianity.; Zoroaster and Iranian Religion in the Church Fathers and Gnostic Literature.
Notes:: Description based upon print version of record.; Includes bibliographical references at the end of each chapters and index.; Description based on print version record.
ISBN:: 9781119867562; 1119867568; 9781118785508; 1118785509; 9781118785492; 1118785495; 9781118786277; 1118786270
OCLC:: 864418256

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The Wiley Blackwell companion to Zoroastrianism / edited by Michael Stausberg and Yuhan Sohrab-Dinshaw Vevaina with the assistance of Anna Tessmann ; contributors Miguel Angel Andres-Toledo [and thirty two others].

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