Religion and Royal Ideology

Zoroastrianism is a religion attributed to the Iranian prophet Zoroaster (Zarathustra); its central sacred texts, the Avesta, include the Gathas, hymns attributed directly to him. The religion is organized around a cosmic dualism between Ahura Mazda, the "Wise Lord" and principle of good and truth ("asha"), and Angra Mainyu, or Ahriman, the principle of evil and the lie ("druj"). It is not historically clear to what extent the earliest Achaemenid kings were Zoroastrian in a strict sense, although they did worship Ahura Mazda as the supreme deity; Darius I explicitly invokes Ahura Mazda in the Behistun inscription as the source of his legitimacy and protection.