Re: [cybalist] Dating Zarathushtra and the Rig Veda

I was of the impression that Zarathustra was considerably older than 670BCE.
Anyway I found the following at http://www.avesta.org/

When did Zarathushtra live?
According to Bruce Lincoln,

"At present, the majority opinion among scholars probably inclines toward
the end of the second millennium or the beginning of the first, although
there are still those who hold for a date in the seventh century." (Death,
War, and Sacrifice, 1991, pg 150)
Humbach and Ichaporia seem to favor the Xanthos date of 1080 BC but mention
the 630 date also. (Heritage, 1994, pg 11).

A commonly given date is the seventh century B.C.E. I think Boyce has
convincingly shown the seventh century date to be an error. Humbach also
discounts the basis of this calculation in his Gathas 1991 (pg 30). Boyce
has wavered on an actual date: between 1400 and 1000 BC (1975), between 1700
and 1500 (1979), around 1400 BC (1988), between 1500 BC & 1200 BC "with the
latter more likely" (1992).

So maybe the Gathas are fairly contemporaneous with the older strophic
verses of the Rg Veda.

Cheers
Dennis

----- Original Message -----
From: John Croft <jdcroft@...>
To: <cybalist@egroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, 13 April, 2000 1:24 PM
Subject: [cybalist] Dating Zarathushtra and the Rig Veda

> Hi Folks
>
> The best I have been able to dig out on the dating of Zarathushtra is
> as follows
>
> The earliest Greek sources give very early dates. Xanthos of Lydia
> for instance gives 600 (or 6,000?) years before Xerxes. Other
> ancient
> Greeks are even more extravagant. It would seem that this is an
> ayyempt similar to that of the Jews, who when they came into contact
> with the Babylonian civilisation so much older than their own tried
> to
> invent truly ancient traditions out of rivalry with those of old
> Mesopotamia.
>
> Later Zoroastrian tradition, followed by Muslims such as al-Biruni,
> give a date of 258 years perior to the accession of Alexander from
> Darius III in 330 BCE. This date, said to be in Zarathushtra's 42nd
> year, marks the conversion of King Vishtaspa to the new faith. Thus
> the Zoroastrian religion may be said to date from 588 BCE, with
> Zarathushra born 670BCE and died when he was 77 in 553 BCE. Richard
> Frye gives a range from 628-551 BCE for the life of Zarathushtra.
>
> This would make him firmly of Karl Jaspers' Axial age, a rough
> contemporary of Isaiah, the early Greek Sophists, Siddhartha and Gung
> fu Dze (Master Confucius) (what a meeting that could have been!).
> Thus rather than contemporaneous with the Rig Veda, the earliest
> Gathas would have been at roughly the same time as the ealiest
> parts pf the Pala Canon on Buddhism.
>
> Has someone got access to similar datings for the Rig Veda?
>
> Hope this helps
>
> John
>
>
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