The course studies the pre-Islamic Zoroastrian doctrines on individual and universal eschatology, and the texts describing these doctrines. It principally focuses on the Zoroastrian apocalyptic texts in Middle Persian, which present divine beings disclosing to human recipients the future developments of history, and the structure of the netherworld. The course also compares the Zoroastrian eschatological doctrines with Jewish and Christian eschatological doctrines, and discusses the question of the relationship of Zoroastrian apocalypses with Jewish and Christian apocalypses.
The Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations (History, Religion)
St. George
Room: BA B026
Enrico G. Raffaelli