Iranian religions in Achaemenian era

[Kitsunegari]

In the game you have the option of building temples of Ahura Mazda or the Daevas, but wasn't the condemnation of the Daevas (Indian deities) part of the Zoroastrian religion at this time? My understanding is that this marked the separation between the Iranians and the Indo-Aryans. That said, the west Iranians continued to worship lesser deities like Mithras.

[Blatta Optima Maxima]

There is also a temlple to Angra Mainyu - lolwut? Satanists in 559BC?

On topic - zoroastrianism was far from the only religion practiced by Iranians.

Finally, it's Mithra, the Yazata, not Mithras, a greco-roman god.

[Kitsunegari]

There wasn't a highly organized Zoroastrian creed yet, but i think the Iranian pantheon was clearly separated from the the Indian one at this point.

[Blatta Optima Maxima]

No, not entirely. I remember reading that the Persians, Scythians and Indian (IE) elites could communicate without interpreters.

Thus they were all pretty close still, and their polytheist cults were similar. What really set them apart was Zoroastrianism starting with Darius I's time.

[Kitsunegari]

If that's true, it would put the putative Zarathustra's life much later than previously thought. Maybe he could be a character in the game? xD

[Blatta Optima Maxima]

No. It's just that the religion only really became important with the Zoroastrian Achaemenid dynasty.
TBH the nomadic Persians still largely practised paganism.

[Kitsunegari]

So you think that Zoroaster wasn't a significant figure in his own time, but the reforms of the Achaemenid era were attributed to him out of convenience? There's some who believe he lived some time in the very distant past when the Indo-Iranians were still in central Asia, then others who place him in the early Achaemenian period.

[Blatta Optima Maxima]

IIRC he lived around 700BC.

[Spike]

There is also a temlple to Angra Mainyu - lolwut? Satanists in 559BC?

On topic - zoroastrianism was far from the only religion practiced by Iranians.

Finally, it's Mithra, the Yazata, not Mithras, a greco-roman god.

why are you think Satanists is solely modern phenomenon?

and keep in mind that one religion's "demon" can be other religion's "god", especially in Polytheism

[Blatta Optima Maxima]

Not Angra Mainyu, though, since his name means supreme enemy, and he is Zoroaster's invention.

[Anakarsis]

Zoroastrian may have put Daevas as Demons, but still they have a lot of godlike and supernatual powers that were seen as fighting on the side of Ahura Mazda, Mithra among them, so it is not so strange. Zoroastrism were monolatry, but not monotheistic.

[Blatta Optima Maxima]

The "daeva" or "yazata" were equivalent to angels.

[Anakarsis]

Then what is the problem? there are churchs dedicated to a particular archangel today