Frashokereti: Restoring the Creation from a Zoroastrian Eschatological Perspective

Document Type : Original Article

Author

MA in Intercultural Theology, Faculty of Theology, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Germany

Abstract

The paper at hand deals with Zoroastrian eschatology. Frashokereti, as it is called, is the term which is used in Zoroastrianism in order to express the end of times. This being the main focus of the current paper, the topics that will be unfolded are the arrival of the Saoshyant, who is the central Zoroastrian salvific figure and Zarathustra’s biological descendant who has been miraculously born of a virgin, the resurrection of the dead, their last judgement and the final battle between the forces of good and evil. The general clash between good and evil acquires a more precise character and becomes personified in the deities of Ahura Mazda and Ahriman respectively, the fundamental sources of morality and immorality. Regarding the above, the interrelated themes of man’s salvation and the restoration of the universe to its primary undefiled state are presented as results of the victory of good over evil. It will also be displayed how the concept of universal renewal is viewed not merely as a countdown, but moreover as a stepping-backwards to the conditions of the first state of creation, Frashokereti becoming thus a mirror of the first things in terms of Zoroastrian cosmogony. At the same time, other aspects, namely the Zoroastrian story of creation, its corresponding cosmology, the dichotomization of the world into two opposite spheres and the dualism that penetrates the universe in relation to the free will of man are introduced to the reader, so that a deeper understanding may be acquired in regard to the ways, the quality and the content of universal purification and renovation.

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🔓 © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Tissaphernes Archaeological Research Group, Tehran, Iran. Open Access. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. The ethical policy of Ancient Iranian Studies is based on the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines and complies with International Committee of Ancient Iranian Studies Editorial Board codes of conduct. Readers, authors, reviewers and editors should follow these ethical policies once working with Ancient Iranian Studies. The ethical policy of Ancient Iranian Studies is liable to determine which of the typical research papers or articles submitted to the journal should be published in the concerned issue. For information on this matter in publishing and ethical guidelines please visit www.publicationethics.org.

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Ancient Iranian studies
Volume 3, Issue 8 - Serial Number 8
January 2024
Pages 43-56

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History

  • Receive Date: 07 September 2023
  • Revise Date: 13 October 2023
  • Accept Date: 13 October 2023

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