Mazdeism begins in a society without kings and survives in a society without (Mazdean) kings. Between the two lies the long period of imperial Mazdeism, which begins with Darius and ends with the last Sassanid king, Yazdegerd III. Between the VIᵉ century BC and the viiᵉcentury AD, four dynasties can be distinguished: the Achaemenids, (Alexander and) the Seleucids, the Arsacids (Parthians) and the Sassanids. The Seleucids, of Macedonian origin, were not Mazdeans, but the Mazdeanism of the Achaemenids, Arsacids and even the Sassanids has also been questioned. This is only possible when we approach them with a strict definition of religion, which is always based on a combination of the information provided by the Avesta with the data from the Pehlevi books. This combination ignores the role that the kings themselves played in the development of religion. As a result, the balance of power between kings and religion has been fatally reversed: royal activities are judged as if they were determined by religion, while we must (also) reconstruct how kings exercised their power in the religious sphere.
11:00 - 12:00
Guest lecturer
Mazdaism, the imperial religion
Albert de Jong
11:00 - 12:00
