[kingu]

Hard to follow how old this religion is... 6th century BC, 1500 BC, he was a Kurd, he was Iranian... Has Islam so totally destroyed the region so many times that basic history has been lost? A 7-8 hundred year spread for when someone lived is a pretty wide gap.

All that said, kudos to those who have somehow kept the faith alive after hundreds of years of Islamic oppression.

[cripplecreek]

The Jews speak well of one of the Persian Zoroastrian kings who ruled over them in Baghdad.

[odds]

No one knows for certain during which century Zoroaster lived or where exactly he came from.

Most scholars think he lived around 5th to 6th century BC, based on the language used in the Gathas (17 hymns believed to be spoken by Zoroaster himself), as well as some historical evidence later pointing to King Vishtaspa (Kianian or spelled Keyanian dynasty).

King Vishtaspa is actually mentioned in the Gathas and the other Zoroastrian holy book the Avesta, for being the first King, who formally accepted Zoroaster’s teachings.

The language used in the Gathas is old Aryan, so it is believed Zoroaster was an Aryan himself and probably came from today’s Tajikistan.

He wasn’t Kurdish, but it really doesn’t matter :) - the Kurds were once mostly Zoroastrians too. Many Kurds have retained *cultural & traditional* aspects of Zoroastrianism over the centuries. So this isn’t too unfamiliar to them. Better a Zoroastrian than a follower of ISIS.