Zoroastrianism Viraf Namag. All Middle Persian texts written on Zoroastrianism during this time period are considered secondary works on the religion, and not scripture. Nonetheless, these texts have a strong influence on the religion. Zoroastrianism was founded by Zoroaster (or Zarathustra), later deemed a prophet, in ancient Iran. The precise date of the founding of Zoroastrianism is uncertain. Zoroaster was born in either Northeast Iran or Southwest Afghanistan. He was born into a culture with a polytheistic religion, which included animal sacrifice and the ritual use of intoxicants, quite similar to early forms of Hinduism in India. Zoroaster's birth and early
Zoroaster and myths. Zoroaster's name in his native language, Avestan, was probably "Zaraϑuštra". His English name, "Zoroaster", derives from a later (5th century BCE) Greek transcription, "Zōroastrēs" (), as used in Xanthus's "Lydiaca" (Fragment 32) and in Plato's "First Alcibiades" (122a1). This form appears subsequently in the Latin "" and, in later Greek orthographies, as Ζωροάστρις "Zōroastris". The Greek form of the name appears to be based on a phonetic transliteration or semantic substitution of Avestan "zaraϑ-" with the Greek ζωρός "zōros" (literally "undiluted") and the Avestan "-uštra" with ἄστρον "astron" ("star"). In Avestan, "Zaraϑuštra" is generally accepted to derive from