Cyclopedia universal history : embracing the most complete and recent presentation of the subject in two principal parts or divisions of more than six thousand pages . he ear-lier parts of the Avesta proceeded fromZoroaster himself; that he Relation of Zo- was, in brief, the primitive roaster to ira- . ? J 1 i r nian theology. lawgiver and prophet ofthe Iranian race. It is evident, more-over, that he held his career while theIndo-Iranic peoples were still a singledivision of mankind. So that the schemeof religious thought which we have herepresented belongs rather to the Old Bac-trians than to
Cyclopedia universal history : embracing the most complete and recent presentation of the subject in two principal parts or divisions of more than six thousand pages . he ear-lier parts of the Avesta proceeded fromZoroaster himself; that he Relation of Zo- was, in brief, the primitive roaster to ira- . ? J 1 i r nian theology. lawgiver and prophet ofthe Iranian race. It is evident, more-over, that he held his career while theIndo-Iranic peoples were still a singledivision of mankind. So that the schemeof religious thought which we have herepresented belongs rather to the Old Bac-trians than to either of the branches ofEastern Aryans that proceeded there-from. It will be of interest, therefore,to consider briefly what may be calledthe Bactrian deities, or those objects of 586 GREAT RACES OF MANKIND. adoration which were deemed by the an-cient people of the highest order amongthe supernal powers. In so far as one supreme being wasrecognized above the rest, his name wasAhura-Mazdao. The nameAhura is associated withlife and light. As the sunis the supreme object of the visible uni-verse and illuminates the whole, so Place and of-fices of FIRE ALTARS OF THE OLD Magazi7tc of A rt. Ahura-Mazdao was the highest andbrightest. The concept did not rise tothe level of monotheism. Mazdao wasthe great god of the race, and was re-garded as the living creator of all. Ingeneral, he was the giver of blessings,both temporal and eternal. Such bless-ings as earthly honor, preferment, andsuch subjective good as wisdom and in-telligence came from this immortalsource. Health and virtue, wealth and good fortune were given by Ahura-Maz-dao. These good gifts were withheldfrom the evil-mindedand the was a spirit, and approximated inhis attributes to the Hebrew Elohim, forwhich reason there M^as always a reli-gious affinity between the later Medesand the Hebrews. The careful readerof the Old Testament will note that thetwo races were in syrapathy, even
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecad, booksubjectworldhistory, bookyear1895
