This seminar will focus on the distinct Zoroastrian groups from the early Islamic period (ca. 8th–10th CE). We will discuss the varied reactions each group had to the current situation, in which the Zoroastrians were being ruled by non-Zoroastrians. Some looked to the past, when there were glorious Zoroastrian kings, while some others looked to the future, when a savior would come and restore righteous kingship. We will discuss these various groups in terms of political myth, or the theoretical domain that analyzes the practical import of myths and mythic narratives. We will try to understand the different mythic manifestations of their reaction to the Islamic period by contextualizing the groups into their different socioeconomic and political contexts.
- Kursleiter/in: John Theodore Good
- Kursleiter/in: Or Rubin