Sykes' History of Persia - Heritage Institute

IX RELIGION OF MEDES & PERSIANS 117
In the pages of Herodotus ^ there is a most interesting
passage which bears upon this topic. Cambyses, who has
heard of the rising in favour of the supposed Bardiya,
whom he had put to death, reproaches Prexaspes, who
had been ordered to carry out the sentence. The latter
defends himself by saying that there is no truth in the
"
If of
news, and then makes the following statement :
a truth the dead can leave their
graves, expect Astyages
the Mede to rise and fight against
thee but if ;
the course
of nature be the same as formerly then be sure no evil
will ever come upon thee from this
quarter." A truly
remarkable passage.
The Iranian Paradise,—The Paradise of the Zoroastrians
lay far away in the east, on the mountains of Hara-
Berezaiti or " Lofty Mountain," known in the Pahlavi
period as Alborj, the modern Elburz. This mysterious
mountain rises from the earth above the stars into the sphere
of endless Light, to the paradise of Ahura Mazda, " the
Abode of Song." It is the Mother of Mountains, with
its summit bathed in everlasting glory, where there is no
night, no cold, and no sickness. Surely this poetical
idealization of the peerless peak of Demavand may appeal
to us all, and perhaps with special intensity to those who,
like myself, have watched the glory of a sunset
shining
upon it in midwinter. When the setting sun has left the
main range deadly white, the cone of Demavand is suffused
with rosy- coloured light, which gradually recedes until
only the summit is touched with the flame. Suddenly the
sun sets and all is dead. No sight I have witnessed is
more beautiful or more impressive.
It is one of the recollections
which I shall cherish most, when my connexion
with Iran is severed.
The Influence of Zoroastrianism on —To Judaism. go
deeply into the question how far Zoroastrianism influenced
Judaism, and is thereby Christianity, beyond the scope of
this work ; but it is worth pointing out that the Ahriman of »^
Zoroastrianism is almost identical with Satan. In both re-
ligions alike they are malignant demons, whom the Supreme
God cannot destroy, as obviously he would if he could.
1 iii. 62.