The Queen Mother and the Persian Empire's Trinity.

EXISTENTIALIST MEETUP - Melbourne, Australia.

Our monthly online Meetup presentation on the History of Religion.
The presentations are followed by questions, comments and discussion.
All viewpoints welcome.

Early Religion: An Alternative History.
What do the historians and archaeologists think of the veracity of religious legends? Legends are an amalgamation of history and mythology. But how much of each?

"THE QUEEN MOTHER AND THE PERSIAN EMPIRE'S TRINITY"

The Persian Empire (549-330 BC) had swallowed Babylon (539 BC) and Egypt (525 BC). The culture and religions of those ancient civilisations influenced the Empire.
During the reign of Artaxerxes II (404-358 BC) major changes occurred in the Empire's Zoroastrian religion. Temple-worship commenced, and a Trinity was formed:
The Holy Family - Mazda the Father, Anahita the Mother and Mithra the Son.
Were those changes provoked by the Queen Mother, Parysatis, who worshipped the Babylonian Goddess, Ishtar?

And what about the Zurvanite 'heresy'? Zurvan (Time, Infinity, Eternity) has similarities with the Hindu concept of Brahma (Father of the gods; a god beyond the gods).

We will be looking at A History of Zoroastrianism Vol.2 by Mary Boyce,
Emeritus Professor of Iranian Studies, University of London.

David Miller will present the topic and lead the discussion.

Background information for those interested:
Wikipedia's entry on Artaxerxes II

(A question we will deal with at a future date: - Was it the Egyptian or the Persian Trinity which influenced Christianity? Or both? And if so, why did the Christians neuter the Holy Mother into becoming the male Holy Ghost/Spirit?)

The Zoom link will eventually appear for those who RSVP.
Meeting ID: 810 7493 7019 - - Passcode: 269351

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