Witnesses to the Magi and Zarathustra: The Ancient Testimony, Compiled
A standalone piece The ancient testimony to the Magi and to Zarathustra is real, broad, and badly under-credited. It comes from Persian kings, Greek philosophers, Jewish scribes, and Roman naturalists — many of them with no stake whatever in the question, which is exactly what makes them credible. But the testimony speaks to two different things, and a compilation that holds has to keep them apart: the clock of the Magi , the priesthood, and the clock of Zarathustra , the prophet. They run roughly a thousand years apart.
What this resource contributes
A standalone piece The ancient testimony to the Magi and to Zarathustra is real, broad, and badly under-credited. It comes from Persian kings, Greek philosophers, Jewish scribes, and Roman naturalists — many of them with no stake whatever in the question, which is exactly what makes them credible. But the testimony speaks to two different things, and a compilation that holds has to keep them apart: the clock of the Magi , the priesthood, and the clock of Zarathustra , the prophet. They run roughly a thousand years apart. Kept distinct, and with the schematic figures read for what they are, the witnesses make a strong and fully citable case — the Magi a great power at the heart of the Persian world by the sixth century BCE, and Zarathustra regarded across the entire ancient world as immeasurably ancient.
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Primary sources detected
Gathas · Avesta · Behistun Inscription · New Testament · Bundahishn