1996/02/01 by Mary Boyce · 1 citation
Social Sciences · Arts and Humanities · #Eurasian Exchange Networks #Byzantine Studies and History #Ancient Near East History #Zoroastrianism #Orthodoxy #Christianity #Buddhism #Judaism #Midrash #Philosophy #Gnosticism #Aryan race #Period (music) #Ancient history #Religious studies #History #Islam #Literature #Theology #Art #Aesthetics
paper · doi:10.1017/s0041977x00028536
openalex publication_date 1996/02/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
It is some time since a book has been published which focuses entirely on Sasanian Zoroastrianism, and one from Professor Shaul Shaked, who has studied the religion at this period for many years, is sure of eager attention. The Sasanian epoch naturally attracts scholars approaching Zoroastrian studies from the Persian or Semitic fields; and the author points moreover to its interest for students of religions more generally, since this was a time when a number of other faiths were jostling for place within Iran, from Judaism, Buddhism and Christianity to the ill-fated but then vigorously expanding Manichaeism, and lesser ones of diverse hues. All this, and ‘an openness to Greek scientific and philosophical ideas’, made for as ‘lively and diversified a period of intellectual and religious activity as could ever be found in ancient Iran’ (p. 12).