Persian+Culture+By+Kalisha+Townsell

How would the Kings and Zarathustra of Zoroastrianism be part of the culture?.In Persian Culture, The Persian kings and nobility were Zoroastrians, a religion named after its founder, Zarathustra, called Zoroaster in Greek. Zarathustra conceived his religion around 600 BC, and it had great influence later on Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The powers of good and evil worked on humans who had to choose constantly between the two. These concepts of monotheism, good versus evil, will, and posthumous __reward__ or punishment were a departure from the polytheistic religions prominent in ther area previously. These concepts greatly influenced religions that followed. The head of the Persian government was the king whose word was law. His authority was extended by a bureaucracy led by Persian nobles, scribes who kept the records, a treasury that collected taxes and funded building projects and armies, and a system of roads, couriers, and signal stations that facilitated mail and trade. Much of the empire was divided into provinces called satrapies, ruled by a satrap. They ruled and lived like minor kings in their own palaces. But some satraps became strong enough to threaten the king. And strong kings kept their satrapsin check by holding close the reins of the armies and the treasury. "First our own emperors."(Pg.11)
 * __Topic__ question:**
 * Background information:**

The Persian economy was based on herding because the land was so poor for agriculture. The sudden acquisition of the Median Empire, Lydia, Babylon, Egypt, and gold-__rich__ areas in India made Persia an economic powerhouse. It controlled the __rich__ agricultural areas of Mesopotomia, the grasslands of Anatolia, the trade routes in every direction, and __rich__ deposits of metals and other resources.

Persian Culture traces some thousands of years from prehistoric mythic times to the present. The national epic chronicles the struggles of heroes from the coming of man's use of fire and minerals, from philosophical teachings of Zoroaster, the tolerance of Cyrus and Alexander, and revival of learning. Zoroaster's original concept of Ahura __Mazda__ is found in what are believed to have been his own discourses, the "Gathas", which form the opening section of the "Avesta", the holy book of Zoroastrianism. "The First three rules came from Zarathustra. He was the first prophet in my country before the Arab invasion."(Pg.7)  Ever since the first big Persian empire of the 500s to 300s BC, the Persians and their Zoroastrian faith were dominant social forces across the Near East. And though Judaism than the reverse. The Persians set a stamp on Judaism when they crushed Babylon, and released Israel from captivity. The post-exile Jewish leaders then increasingly emphasized a vision of cosmic salvation which was first articulated in the Zoroastrian scriptures.
 * Zoroastrianism:**

As we read Persepolis in class, it's like, Zarathustra was trying to send a message to all the people in Iran to alert and give main information about what was about to come or specific details before the invasion. And "Behave well", "Speak well", "Act well" means, he's just saying be yourself but in a positive way of your age.

**Sources:**

www.angelfire.com/empire2/unkemptgoose/**Persian**.html

www.irpedia.com/iran/**culture**/

www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global.../iran-country-profile.ht...