On the sacred Fires of the Zoroastrians

Abstract

The immense conservatism of Zoroastrisniam brings it about that, even where circumstances have forced a break in the continuity of particular observances, yet the maintenance of the main tradition of belief and practice is so strong that it leads in time to something very like these old observances coming back into being agin, in response to the continuing religious needs of the community. Thus the practices of latter-day Zoroastrianism are often of the greatest help for understanding diffcult points in the Pahlavi books. It is accordingly of interest to examine in their light those passages relating to the founding of sacred Fires which have been recently brought together by J.-P. de Menasce in his work Feux et fondations pieuse dans le droit sassanide; for, as the author points out, such juridical texts, embodying case-law, represent actual situations and practices, which can profitably be compared with those of to-day.