CultureThe Middle East

Zoroaster

1,001 BCE

The world as a struggle between good and evil — an idea that spread

In depth

Datings span eight hundred years and remain unsettled. The influence is not in doubt: heaven and hell, a day of judgement, a saviour figure and angels against demons are all far clearer in Zoroaster than in early Hebrew texts, and appear in Judaism *after* Persian rule. Zoroastrianism became the state religion of Persia and survives today, with some hundred thousand adherents.

For children

Zoroaster taught that the universe is a struggle between a good and an evil power, that each person must choose a side, and that a judgement comes at the end. These ideas reappear in Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Connects to

The Persian Empire540 BCE
The Temple falls and exile begins587 BCE
Islam beginsJan 622

Part of Terra Saga — the story of Earth on a timeline. terrasaga.org