Paragraph 49 from Mādiān Hezārdādestān and Mehr-Narseh's Problem

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Archeology graduate. Tarbiat Modares University

2 Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Humanity, Tarbiat Modares University

Abstract

Mehr-Narseh is one of the most important personalities of the middle of the Sasanian era, which is famous for its important political responsibilities and the negative image of Zoroastrian texts; on the one hand, he was for the long time the third most powerful person of the Sasanian Empire and the great king of the three kingdoms, On the other hand, in religious texts, he is a hated person who has long been condemned for his sin or sins to serve as a slave in fire temples. This situation is clearly stated in Paragraph 49 of the 42 important texts of the Mādiān Hezārdādestān. In this present research, information is gathered in a library method and a descriptive analytical method is a kind of "content analysis". Finally, this article concludes that the cause of this contradiction should be sought in the Iranian historiography and the shadow of the Zoroastrian religious system, given the continued existence of this device after the collapse of the monarchy. Accordingly, in view of the power of the clergy at the end of the Sasanian era and the predominantly religious view of history at this time, Zoroastrian clergy made a major distortion of existing historical information and set up history according to his wishes and goals.

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