Graham Hancock is researching the mysterious religious texts of the Zoroastrians (ancient Parsis) who once lived in the territory of modern Iran. In addition, the scientist is interested in the "underground cities" of neighboring Turkey. According to the expert, the Zoroastrian texts are much older than science suggests. In fact, the ancient writings date back to a period close to the end of the last Ice Age. Natural disasters have destroyed an advanced civilization. But they could not erase from human memory everything that is associated with the doctrine of the ancient Persians.
Who is the founder of Zoroastrianism?
One of the most ancient religions of mankind has its origins in the teachings of the ancient prophet Zarathustra. The main obstacle for researchers of Iranian history is conflicting data regarding the period of the sage's activity.
Zoroastrianism was first studied by ancient Greek thinkers
Ancient Greek historians were among the first to turn their attention to Zoroastrianism. Plutarch was interested in the person of Zarathustra. He believed that the prophet lived in the world five thousand years before the Trojan War. Unfortunately, the dating of this event is controversial. Most historians attribute it to the period 1200-1300 BC. If we adhere to these data, it turns out that Zarathustra lived in ancient Persia no later than 6,300 BC. Diogenes Laertius agrees with this chronology, claiming that the founder of the most ancient religion lived 6,000 years before the Greco-Persian wars (about 6480 BC).
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Discrepancy in dates
Later scholars have suggested other dates. Be that as it may, we will be able to find out the truth only by deciphering the ancient scriptures. The only thing we will not know about is whether Zarathustra existed in real life, or whether he is a mythological character. Whatever the truth, many historians agree that the person of the thinker may have been borrowed from earlier Persian traditions. Zoroastrianism, like many other religious movements, has roots stretching far back to prehistoric times.
Sacred texts of Zoroastrianism
The Zoroastrian writings, known as the Avesta verses, are recognized as symbols of ancient oral traditions. They tell about the father, the forefather of human culture, whose name was Yima. This is how Persia began its existence. He was the king and founder of civilization there. This figure appears in the introductory section titled Zend-Avesta. In another interpretation, the section is known as Wendidad, which consists of 22 chapters. It tells how the god Ahura Mazdav created the Earth by a good river. It felt like heaven. The great but just shepherd Yim was the first mortal with whom the Lord deigned to speak. However, the king, who was endowed with the powers of a preacher, at first refused these honors.
Increase of space
Ahura Mazda became angry, saying that his follower would be "the bearer of his law and make this world prosper." So Yim agreed to rule the state and watch over the heavenly creation of God. In this regard, the king was presented with a gift of a gold ring and a dagger - a long conical blade inlaid with gold. Note that in chapter 17 there are parallels close to this story: "He pressed the ground with a gold ring and drilled it with a dagger." We learn that the first land created by Ahura Mazda increased more than threefold, and spread as far as the Andes mountains in South America. “This is a feat that he repeated twice over the course of several thousand years. He did this again when he doubled the area of land suitable for cattle and small ruminants, for people, dogs and birds, who gathered to him of their own free will and desire. And there were as many of them as he wanted."
Parallels with real history
Physically, humans have existed for no more than 200,000 years. As far as historians know, the earliest ancient human skeleton recognized by science was discovered in Ethiopia and dates back to 196,000 years ago. From this time until recently, only one period was known, during which the parts of the Earth suitable for human life increased sharply in size. And that was the time of the last Ice Age, dating back to between 100,000 and 11,600 BC.
Indeed, previously flooded land with a total area of 27 million square kilometers (which is equivalent to the area of Europe and China combined) came out of the sea due to a decrease in sea level. This happened during the last glacial maximum, about 21,000 years ago. We cannot vouch for the fact that this particular event is described in the chronology of the scriptures about the Persian king Yima, but certain parallels can still be traced.
Further developments
After a long period of time, ancient Zoroastrian texts tell us how Yim was summoned to a meeting place near the Daitya River, where God Ahura Mazda appeared to him with an ominous warning of climate change. This should have happened suddenly and caused a global catastrophe. The Almighty warned his prophet about a fatal winter, about severe frosts, such as are observed on the tops of the highest mountains.
He ordered his follower to build a long, capacious underground arena on each side of the square. People, sheep and oxen, dogs and birds should get there. There must be some of the greatest of their kind, the very best of the finest species on earth. There should be the seeds of all existing plants, trees and fruits. The underground container must be filled with all sorts of fruits and cereals so that there is enough food for the whole winter. The only condition of Ahura Mazda was the exclusion of humpbacked, greedy, evil people prone to leprosy and mental disorders into the underground shelter.
Millennium
We get the idea of an underground bunker, a refuge that will shelter living things during the fierce winter. She was going to capture ancient Persia not for one season, but for a whole millennium, at the onset of which another Zoroastrian text says the following: “An evil spirit arose like a snake from the sky and fell to earth. He appeared at noon and scared the people like a wolf frightens a flock of sheep. He went under water, and from there he punched the ground. He crippled everyone he met on his way, and brought with him pitch darkness in the middle of the day."
Late dryas
A study of this text takes us back to two millennia of mild global warming during the Ice Age. It began about 15,000 years ago with a steady cool but pleasant weather. However, 12,800 years ago, there was a sharp climatic instability on Earth. This time, which geologists call Dryas, or Late Glaciation, was marked by massive deaths. This era has long been recognized as mysterious and unstable, but only in the last decade have scientists finally managed to establish its cause.
Science indicates that 12,800 years ago a comet invaded the solar system and disintegrated into many fragments. The fragments were so large that they exceeded two kilometers in diameter. Some of them fell to Earth and caused a global catastrophe. Areas that stretched from North America in the west to western Syria in the east were damaged. As a result, a huge cloud of dust was thrown into the upper atmosphere. It enveloped the surface, thereby preventing sunlight from entering. Thus began the Dryas, or later glaciation.
A global catastrophe was triggered by the fall of meteorite debris
During this period, 12,800 years ago, the Earth gradually emerged from the Ice Age. Global temperatures rose steadily, and ice drifts were melting. The impact of comet debris has made living conditions even more unbearable for humans compared to the peak of the Ice Age, dating back 21,000 years ago. This short but fierce glaciation lasted for about 1,200 years - a millennial night that the Zoroastrian texts told us about.
