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Re: orion Zoroastrian influence on DSS
Dr. Stone, how much contact with Zoroastrianism can we expect? And
could there have been indirect influences. I know it had an influence on
Christian Gnostics, as the Book of Zoroaster (if my memory serves me
correctly) was discovered amongst the Nag Hammadi manuscripts in Egypt.
And there were communities,though small, of Zoroastrianists in Anatolia
who kept an oral tradition until modern times. There certainly
was some contact, especially after the Persian Period since the Royal
family such as Cyrus is believed to have been Zoroastrian. But how much
contact and how much influence can we expect?
I suspect that there was at least a sense of mutual respect,
pluralism, amongst the Jews and Persians. Cyrus was seen as an almost
messianic figure. Cultural links and influences must have existed, but at
what level? Perhaps through Jewish Gnosticism? I do not know, all I know
is that perhaps I am asking too many stupid questions?
Harrison