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Long before Christ, the prophet Zoroaster, who lived in Persia around the 7th century B.C.E., preached a monotheistic faith inclucing many features -- a battle between good and evil, devils and angels, and concepts of heaven and hell, redemption, resurrection, and a last judgment -- that influenced the Abrahamic faiths of Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. As a state religion, Zoroastrianism also played a crucial role in the history of the great Persian empires.
Zoroastrianism is still practiced in Iran today, though by less than 1 percent of the population. Pictured here is a Zoroastrian man praying in a temple in Chak Chak, near Yazd, as part of a religious pilgrimage in June 2001. Like other revealed, monotheistic religions that predate Islam, Zoroastrianism is tolerated in Iran, though not without some prejudice, and the community has a representative in the Majles (parliament).
CREDIT: Damir Sagolj/Reuters
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