Zarathushtra's Time

There are a number of approaches to dating Zarathushtra’s time, which are presented below. These are:

Mythic:
Based on Persian mythology, mainly the Shahnameh Ferdowsi, and other mythic stories passed down the generations.

Greek:
Based on Greek mythic stories, mainly alluded to at the time of Plato. These stories generally date Zarathushtra some millennia before the fall of Troy and the Trojan wars.

Archeological & Philological
These approaches generally look at the various archeological excavations and try to find references to Zarathushtra and Zoroastrianism. Others use a philological approach to compare the Gathas with the Rig Vedas, since Sanskrit and Gathic languages are the offshoots of the same mother language. One other fact taken into account is the Aryan migration from the northern lands towards the Persian plateau and the Indian sub-continent. While these approaches are not accurate in placing an exact date, perhaps they can be considered the best approximations that can be obtained.

Historical:
These scholars generally try to compare the social aspects of life during Zarathushtra (as can be deducted from the Gathas) and compare it with the first accurately known times, namely, the Achaemenian era, and then place a date.

Traditional:
The Pahlavi of the Bundahishn, one of the Zoroastrian scripture written around the time of the Arab conquest of Persia, (either in the Sassanian era, or after the Arab attack), states that Zarathushtra was born in 588 BC, stating that this was 258 years before Alexander’s conquest of Persia.

Other:
Some scholars have adopted other methods and generally come up with post Achaemenian dates, which are now proven to be inaccurate.

The following table presents a fairly detailed map of some of the scholarly attempts at fixing the date of Zarathushtra.

Type	Date (BCE)	Source
Mythic	10^th-1^st millenium	Manly Palmer hall – Twelve World Teachers
	7129	H.S. Spencer – The Aryan Encyclopedia
	6600	J.K Katrak – based on Shahnameh Ferdowsi
	6312	Pithawala
Greek	6480	Xanthus of Lydia (5^th century BC)
	6350	Eudoxus & Plinus quoting Aristotle, 6000 years before Plato (4^th century BC)
	6200	Hermodorus (3^rd century BC)
	>6000	Plutarch
	>6000	Hormazdyar Mirza – Outlines of Parsi History – quoting Greeks
Archeological & Philological	6000-4000	Kavosji & Bharucha
	3500	Firouz Azargoshasb – Chicago lecture 1981
	2000	Asgarov – based on excavations in Uzbekistan, 1984
	2000-1500	Based on Rig Veda and Aryan migration 1700-1500 BC
	2^nd millenium	Hippel & Lassen
	1800-900	Moulton
	1767	Zabih Behrooz – Through various astrological techniques
	1700-1400	J. Ashtiyani – based on the age of the Gathas and the Rig Veda
	1500	Mills (first 900 BC, later changed to 1500 BC)
	1400-1000	Mary Boyce – A History of Zoroastrianism, 1989
	1200-1100	Thomas Burrow – based on Farvardin Yasht & other post Zarathushtra scripture plus Aryan migration, 1973
Historical	1080	Shapur Shahbazi – based on post Alexandra Persian historical records.
	1080	Pour Davoud – The Age of Zarathushtra, Journal of KR Cama Institute, 1935
	>1000	B.C. Hummel – based on Assyrian inscriptions & Kuiper
	1000	Lommel – based on Egyptian papyri
	1000	Dastur M.N. Dhalla – history of Zoroastrianism, 1938
	1000	Rudolph and Duncker, Geldner and Jackson
	1000-900	Wesendonk
	1000-600	Gherardo Gnoli – based on the difference between the Gathic and Achaemenian societies
	900	Bartholomae and Widengren
Traditional	660-583	E.W. West – Pahlavi Text, part 5, Oxford, 1897
	650-541	W.B. Henning – Zoroaster, Oxford, 1947
	570-550	Herzfeld - Zoroaster and his World, Princeton, 1947
	589-512	Anquetil du Perron – Zend Avesta, Paris 1971
	588	Bundahishn – traditional date, based on the Bundahishn, related to the date of Alexander's conquest of Persia
Other	<458	H.S. Nyberg – Die Religionen des Alten Iran, 1938 & F.A. Bode, Songs of Zarathushtra
Other	100	Darmesteter

It is important to be able to determine when and where Zarathushtra lived, since we will then be able to consider his life and choices in the context of his environment and the socio-economic structure of his time. However, from a spiritual point of view, the important issue is to understand and practice his teachings.