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 . is easy to note the process by whichthe high conceptof Ahura-Mazdaoand his court ofhierarchs wasbrought downagain to a coinci-dence with ma-terial first andgreatest of thesewas the sun. Itmay be frankl)^confessed that sunworship is thehighest and mostrational form ofidolatry. E\ enmodern sciencehas verified thatconception of theancients whichmade the sun thelord of day andthe origin of the dominantobject of t
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 . is easy to note the process by whichthe high conceptof Ahura-Mazdaoand his court ofhierarchs wasbrought downagain to a coinci-dence with ma-terial first andgreatest of thesewas the sun. Itmay be frankl)^confessed that sunworship is thehighest and mostrational form ofidolatry. E\ enmodern sciencehas verified thatconception of theancients whichmade the sun thelord of day andthe origin of the dominantobject of the ma-terial universe, hehas naturally at-tracted the won-der, the awe, andthe reverenceof all primitive =ipeoples. In a country suchas Iran the as-cendency of the orb of day would beespecially striking. The Zoroastrianidea that Ahura-Mazdao was the livingone, and that his prime angel, Sraosha,was the lord of light, brought both con- cepts into close affinity with the sun asthe king of physical nature. His warmthand radiance were qualities most sensi-ble and grateful to the bodies of men,and it was easy to ascribe to him theattributes of a godhead. The Old Ira-. PERSO-MOHAMMEDAN TYPES—ARAB CHIEF IN THE HOUSE OF A by E. Ronjat, after a photograph by Madame Dieulafoy. nian beliefs took this course, and thenext descent brought in the element offire. It was a symbol and analogue ofthe sun. It was the sun localized onthe hearthstone and the altar. One 612 GREAT RACES OF MANKIND. may easily perceive the wliole course ofdegeneration from Sraosha to the flameof fire. By the time of the Medo-Persian as-cendency under the Achsemenian kings,Wide preva- the transformation from^^^T^m^i original Zoroastrianism to and fire-idol- o a-i^iy- fire worship was complete. The great Persian armies which wereled by Darius and Xerxes to the West,except in so far as they had gatheredout of the satrapies on the hither sideof Mesopotamia, were all worshipers offire. The religious ceremonial
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecad, booksubjectworldhistory, bookyear1895
