PAVASTÂ: Clay Tablet

Mazdeans, People of Ahura Mazdâ

Dâriuš the King said:
         “I am King by the will of A^huramazdâ^h. 
... The will of A^huramazdâ^h for this earth is not chaos, but peace, prosperity and good government.”

Mazdaism, more commonly known as Zoroastrianism, worship of Ahura Mazdâ by the followers of the Prophet Zoroaster (Zarathuštra),
was the imperial religion of the Persian Achaemenid.

Mazdaism was truly the religion of the Iranians and was never forced on others.
The People of the Persian Empire were left alone and at times even encouraged to worship their own ancestral gods.
     
To the imperial Achaemenids,
Ahura Mazdâ and the Bounteous Immortals were pitted against Angra Mainya and the Evil Daevas.
The world and the soul of men were the battlefields of the two opposing forces.
Men had the free will to choose between Good and Evil, between the right order of the world and chaos.
But it was believed that at the end of the world, truth will prevail upon the lie;
the world and mankind will be restored; man will never die.
He will be ever living and ever increasing...

Zoroaster was the Philosopher-Poet-Prophet of Ahura Mazdâ, the Wise Lord,
poetically preaching the path of righteousness and 'Good' life:
Good Thoughts, Good Words, and Good Deeds...

"May women and men by the leadership of just and righteous leaders enjoy peace and well-being.
May hypocrisy and deceit be vanished and may the Great Wise Lord come to us.
The greatest are those who restrain from violence and bloodshed.
May killing and wounding be prevented, tribulation and hardship be ended
and the righteous meek and poor enjoy a better life in the chosen dominion."  

And when death came, the soul stood on the Bridge of Chinvât (Bridge of Judgment)
to hear the judgment of the Wise Lord.

The divine glory of the Wise Lord crowned the head of the Great Kings.

Mazdaism was patronized by the Achaemenids (Hakhâmanišians), maintained by the Parthians (Aškâniâns), 
and fully embraced by the Sasanians (Sâsâniâns). 

But like the imperial Achaemenids, Mazdaism has left meager records of its past splendor.

Ravaged, first during the Macedenian invasion and persecuted centuries later during the Arab invasion of Persia,
it has continuously declined in numbers throught time.

According to Mazdeans,
a rare copy of the holy scripture of Gathas, stored at the Royal Library of Persepolis, was reportedly burned during the Macedonian invasion; another copy was taken to Greece and disappeared.
Mazdean priests were executed.
Mazdeans were killed or converted to Islam at the point of the sword during the Arab invasion.

However, Mazdaism left a strong footprint on other great religions of the world.

Old Mazdean beliefs and practices were slowly reborn within the "Iranian Islam",
just as older Aryan deities, Ânâhitâ and Mithrâ, had made their way back into Mazdaism as angels during the Achaemenid era.

Life was not just a road to travel quickly on the way to heaven;
but a crossroad to choose the path to righteousness or wickedness.

The greater Iranians continued to believe in the battle between good and evil, 
light and darkness,
truth and lie,
heaven and hell,
and in a savior who would rise one day among them to punish the wicked,
and fill the world with justice.

It was still an act of worship to plant a tree,
to water a field, and to make barren land bloom and bear fruit.

Earth and waters were kept clean;
sacred shrines were visisted;
spirits of the ancestors were honored; 
prayers were uttered with hands raised upward;
pieces of white cloth were knotted around sacred trees for blessings;
and sacred words were uttered under lips when candles and lights were lit...