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Avesta -- Zoroastrian Archives
Zoroastrianism is a religion founded in ancient times by the prophet Zarathushtra, known to the Greeks as Zoroaster. Zoroastrianism was the dominant world religion during the Persian empires (559 BC to 651 AC), and was thus the most powerful world religion at the time of Jesus. It had a major influence on other religions. It is still practiced world-wide, especially in Iran and India.

To quote Mary Boyce,

"The prophet Zarathushtra, son of Pourushaspa, of the Spitaman family, is known to us primarily from the Gathas, seventeen great hymns which he composed and which have been faithfully preserved by his community. These are not works of instruction, but inspired, passionate utterances, many of them addressed directly to God; and their poetic form is a very ancient one, which has been traced back (through Norse parallels) to Indo-European times. It seems to have been linked with a mantic tradition, that is, to have been cultivated by priestly seers who sought to express in lofty words their personal apprehension of the divine; and it is marked by subtleties of allusion, and great richness and complexity of style. Such poetry can only have been fully understood by the learned; and since Zoroaster believed that he had been entrusted by God with a message for all mankind, he must also have preached again and again in plain words to ordinary people. His teachings were handed down orally in his community from generation to generation, and were at last committed to writing under the Sasanians, rulers of the third Iranian empire. The language then spoken was Middle Persian, also called Pahlavi; and the Pahlavi books provide invaluable keys for interpreting the magnificent obscurities of the Gathas themselves." - Zoroastrians, Their religious beliefs and practices, London, 1979, pg 17.

We provide the complete text of the extant Avesta, the most ancient scriptures of Zoroastrianism, as well as many Pahlavi scriptures. It also includes information about the Avestan language, and other useful information for students of Zoroastrian religion. Most of the texts in these archives are extremely rare.
http://www.avesta.org/

Zarathustra

ZARATHUSTRA
Wolfdietrich von Kloeden
(eigentlicher Familienname: Spitama) griech. Zoroaster, * um ca. 1000 v. Chr. südlich vom Aralsee, + wahrscheinlich in dem Gebiet von Baktrien/Turkmenistan; nach älteren Forschungsberichten mit Hinweis auf antike Schriftsteller wie Herodot, Xenophon, Plinius, Plutarch, * 630 in der Gegend von Balch, + 553 im Gebiet von Baktrien, Priester, Prophet und Religionserneuerer des Mazdaismus. - Z.s Leben ist von vornherein mit Legenden ausgeschmückt.
http://www.bautz.de/bbkl/z/zarathustra.shtml

Zarathustra
"Zarathustra," Microsoft® Encarta® Online-Enzyklopädie 2002
http://encarta.msn.de © 1997-2001 Microsoft Corporation. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.
Zoroaster (um 630 bis 550 v. Chr.), persischer Prophet und Begründer des Zoroastrismus . Zarathustra wurde als Sohn der Ritterfamilie Spitama im ostpersischen Land Airyana Vaejah geboren. Zarathustra wurde zum Priester (zaotar) ausgebildet, stand aber schon bald dem altiranischen Mithra-Kult mit seinen Stieropfern kritisch gegenüber. Seine Lehre lässt sich in zwei grundlegenden Glaubensaussagen zusammenfassen: die monotheistische Verehrung des Ahura Mazda („Gott Weisheit") und den ethischen Dualismus , in dem Wahrheit und Lüge, die einander gegenüberstehen, das gesamte Universum durchdringen. Diese Lehren wurden in den Gathas, einem Teil der heiligen Schrift des Parsismus, dem Avesta, überliefert.
http://encarta.msn.de/find/Concise.asp?z=1&pg=2&ti=761559360