Zoroastrianism in Azerbaijan of the world`s oldest religions Zoroastrianism was also practiced in the territory of Azerbaijan in ancient times. Zoroastrianism, sharing its name with its founder Iranian prophet Zoroaster (also known as Zarathustra), was the first monotheistic belief in the world and the official religion in Persia from 600 BCE to 650 CE. Zoroastrians believed that a god called Ahura Mazda (Wise Lord) created the universe. Sacred book of Zoroastrianism Avesta consists of two main sections: the oldest section contains the Gathas including seventeen hymns and the younger Avesta containing commentaries to the older one. It also includes myths, stories and details
The Sacred Band of Stepsons by only one letter from Abaris, a priest from the North said by Herodotus (Book IV) to have visited Greece. In Tempus's Band, heterosexual Stepsons and Sacred Band pairs fight side by side. There is no requirement to be part of a couple to serve among the Stepsons, and single mercenaries initially outnumbered the Sacred Band pairs. The Stepsons are principally a cavalry (hippeis) squadron, not heavy infantry (hoplites) as the Theban Sacred Banders primarily were. While the three-hundred-strong Theban Sacred Band was constituted by Theban law-givers and maintained by the Theban state (according to Plutarch's "Life" of Pelopidas), the