animism

The ancient Indo-Iranian religion of Zoroastrianism – stated to date back to the 2nd millennium BCE – emerged in its existing version from the teachings of the reforming prophet Zoroaster , who historians contend lived at some point in between the 10th and 6th centuries BCE . Exceptionally influential more than the development of the Abrahamic tradition, it was the state religion of several Persian empires until the Muslim conquest of the 7th century CE, and survives in components of Iran, India, and Iraq to this day, reportedly followed by some 200,000 persons. Indigenous and Animist perspectives illustrate that there...