Zoroaster

Zarathushtra Spitama, widely known as Zoroaster, was an Iranian religious reformer who questioned the beliefs of the ancient Iranian religion of his time and became the founder of Zoroastrianism. The Gathas, the oldest Zoroastrian scriptures he is traditionally said to have written, describe him as a preacher and a poet-prophet. Some scholars, though with significant debate, have suggested his ideas influenced thinkers like Heraclitus, Plato, and Pythagoras, and, with less controversy, the Abrahamic religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—especially through ideas of cosmic dualism and personal morality.

Zoroaster spoke Avestan, an old Iranian language named after the Avesta, the collection of Zoroastrian religious texts written in it. Based on this, scholars tentatively place his homeland in the eastern regions of Greater Iran, possibly Bactra (in modern-day Afghanistan). His life is traditionally dated to around the 7th and 6th centuries BC, but most scholars, using linguistic and socio-cultural evidence, suggest an earlier date near the end of the 2nd millennium and start of the 1st millennium BC.

Zoroastrianism became the dominant religion of Greater Iran from about the 6th century BC, receiving official support under the Sassanid Empire until the 7th century AD, when it faced persecution after the Arab-Muslim conquest of Iran. Zoroaster is credited with writing the Gathas, a series of hymns in Old Avestan that outline core Zoroastrian beliefs. Little is known about his life, with most details coming from these sparse texts. By modern historical standards, no evidence places him in a fixed period, and the historicization around him may be part of a trend before the 10th century AD that turned legends and myths into history.

His name likely means "he who manages camels," though its etymology has multiple interpretations. The Greek form "Zoroaster" comes from later transliterations. According to Zoroastrian tradition, Zoroaster was trained as a priest from a young age and, around age 30, had a divine revelation introducing him to Ahura Mazda, the Wise Lord, and the dualism of truth (asha) versus deception (druj). He is said to have gained royal patronage from King Vishtaspa, spread his teachings, founded a community, married three times, and had six children. Zoroastrian texts portray his philosophy as emphasizing free will, ethical responsibility, and aligning with asha through good thoughts, words, and deeds.

**Name and etymology** Zoroaster’s native Avestan name was likely Zarathustra. The Greek adaptation "Zoroaster" appears in the 5th century BC works of Xanthus and Plato, and later in Latin and other Greek forms. This Greek version seems based on a phonetic or semantic substitution of the Avestan name with Greek words meaning "undiluted" and a substrate term. In Avestan, Zarathustra is generally thought to derive from an Old Iranian form, with the second component meaning "camel," so the full name means "he who can manage camels." Reconstructions from later Iranian languages, like Middle Persian, suggest the name may have had a zero-grade form. Several interpretations exist: it could mean "with old camels," "with angry camels," "who drives camels," "who fosters camels," "who desires camels," or "with yellow camels." The phonetic irregularity in the Avestan form has sparked debate, but later attestations confirm it as a real form. In Middle Persian, the name appears as Zardusht, in Parthian as Zarhušt, in Manichaean Middle Persian as Zrdrwšt, in Early New Persian as Zardušt, and in modern New Persian as Zartosht. Classical Armenian sources record it as Zradašt or Zradašt, with some scholars suggesting an anti-Zoroastrian reinterpretation by Armenian Christians, though this is disputed.

**Date** There is no consensus on Zoroaster’s exact date.