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 name derive from the Middle Iranian variants of "Zarϑošt", which, in turn, all reflect Avestan's fricative "-ϑ-". In Middle Persian, the name is 𐭦𐭫𐭲𐭥𐭱𐭲 "Zardu(x)št", in Parthian "Zarhušt", in Manichaean Middle Persian "Zrdrwšt", in Early New Persian "Zardušt", and in modern (New Persian), the name is زرتشت "Zartosht". There is no consensus on the dating of Zoroaster, the Avesta gives no direct information about it, while historical sources are conflicting. Some scholars base their date reconstruction on the Proto-Indo-Iranian language and Proto-Indo-Iranian religion, and thus it is considered to have been some place in northeastern Iran and some time between