Forgot to mention: Ahura Mazda (Lord Wisdom), the good god of Zoroastrianism who opposes the evil forces of Angra Mainyu, is to be interviewed on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart next week. There was a sneak peak last night in connection with the “This Week in God” segment, and it looks promising.

Zoroaster (or Zarathustra) was a prophet in Iran in the sixth century BCE or perhaps much earlier (c. 1400-1200 BCE according to some). Zoroastrianism was characterized by a thoroughgoing dualism (two-ism) of good and evil. Writing in the early second century CE, the Greek philosopher Plutarch summarized Zoroastrian teachings thus:

“Oromazes (Ahura Mazda), born from the purest light, and Areimanius (Angra Mainyu), born from the darkness, are constantly at war with each other. . . But a destined time shall come when it is decreed that Areimanius, engaged in bringing on pestilence and famine, shall by these be utterly annihilated and shall disappear; and then shall the earth become a level plain, and there shall be one manner of life and one form of government for a blessed people who shall all speak one tongue” (Plutarch, Isis and Osiris 370; trans. by Babbitt in Loeb Classical Library)

Scholars are generally agreed that there is an important relationship between Zoroastrian dualism and Jewish (and Christian) apocalypticism, but they disagree on precisely what that relation is. The Jewish (and Christian) apocalyptic worldview also speaks of an ongoing battle between a good force (God) and an evil one (Satan), ending in an ultimate punishment for evil and bliss for those on the right side, who will live in an eternal, wonderful kingdom (in Zoroastrianism this end-time situation is often called the “making wonderful”, by the way). Part of the problem in determining a relation is that although Zoroaster himself pre-dates our earliest cases of the Jewish apocalyptic worldview (which begin to appear in a full-blown sense from about 200 BCE), the vast majority of the writings associated with the teachings of Zoroaster–at least in the form we have them–date significantly later (check out Mary Boyce’s collection of Zoroastrian texts: Textual Sources for the Study of Zoroastrianism).

For those of you who have not yet heard, or like me need to be reminded, there are numerous excellent maps–free for educational use–at the The Ancient World Mapping Center (associated with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill). They also have a frequently updated “features and news” page which provides information relating to geography and cartography of the ancient world (and happened to refer to the CSBS Travel and Religion in Antiquity seminar, which is what reminded me about the maps). The Center was and is directly involved in the Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World project and continues to do work in revision and updating. Now that I have the Barrington Atlas–the most detailed map of the ancient world ever, I don’t know how I did without it.

The organization summarizes its aims:

The Ancient World Mapping Center promotes cartography, historical geography and geographic information science as essential disciplines within the field of ancient studies through innovative and collaborative research, teaching, and community outreach activities.