"The Erasure: A 2,500-Year History of the Systematic Destruction of Zoroastrianism — Documented, Dated, and Named"
Here are the five acts of erasure, each one historically documented: Act 1: Alexander the Great (330 BCE) — Alexander conquered the Achaemenid Empire, burned Persepolis (the ceremonial capital), and according to Zoroastrian tradition recorded in the Arda Viraf Namag and the Denkard, destroyed copies of the Avesta. The Denkard states that Alexander "killed the Magi" and "quenched the sacred fires." Zoroastrian texts call him "Alexander the Accursed" ( gujastak ).
What this resource contributes
Here are the five acts of erasure, each one historically documented: Act 1: Alexander the Great (330 BCE) — Alexander conquered the Achaemenid Empire, burned Persepolis (the ceremonial capital), and according to Zoroastrian tradition recorded in the Arda Viraf Namag and the Denkard, destroyed copies of the Avesta. The Denkard states that Alexander "killed the Magi" and "quenched the sacred fires." Zoroastrian texts call him "Alexander the Accursed" ( gujastak ). This is documented in multiple Middle Persian sources and acknowledged by Western scholars including Mary Boyce. The destruction of the Avesta meant that the full Zoroastrian scriptural canon — reportedly 21 nasks — was lost, and only fragments survived through oral transmission and later reconstruction.
Topics and source signals
Primary sources detected
Avesta · Denkard
Scholars detected
Mary Boyce