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More information at: http://www.universidadpopularc3c.es/i... Speaker: Mr. Juan Antonio Álvarez-Pedrosa Núñez, Professor of Indo-European Linguistics at the UCM Topic: Conference on Zoroastrianism Date: November 22, 2016 Location: Carmen de Michelena Popular University in Tres Cantos Summary: Zoroastrianism is a religion practiced by some 200,000 people around the world today, although estimates are complicated by the difficult situation in the Middle East. It is an extraordinarily ancient religion and its origins can be traced back to a modification or specialisation of the traditional Iranian religion, of Indo-European origins, which could have occurred around 1200-1000 BC. Its foundation is traditionally attributed to the prophet Zoroaster (in its Greek adaptation) or Zarathushtra (in its original Iranian name), although in the conference we will explain that the most recent academic analyses see Zoroaster as a mythical figure. It is probably not a monotheism in its origins either, but an adaptation of a traditional Indo-Iranian polytheism. However, there are two elements that make it a very important religion from the point of view of the history of religions of humanity: it is a revealed religion, probably the first in which divinity entrusts its message to an axial character as transmitter of its message to men, and it is possibly the first religion of salvation, in which the main goal is not only the social cohesion of the group, but also to seek a transcendent destiny for men through rigorous ethics that will be subjected to judgment in the Hereafter.