The Traditional Date of Zoroaster Explained

The date of Zoroaster has always been one of the controversial issues, which have attracted the attention of the great scholars and orientalists. Some orientalists hold that Zoroaster lived around 600 B. C. Some others reject this view and maintain that he lived much earlier. Dr. Alireza Shapur Shahbazi has written this article based on historical facts. Having rejected Herzfeld, Taqizadeh, and Henning as regards this date, in this article he puts forward his view based on the Zoroastrian traditional calendar, holding that Zoroaster lived around 1000 B.C. This writing has attracted the attention of the Italian great expert in Iranian studies, Gherardo Gnoli; and, his invaluable book entitled Zoroaster’s Time and Homeland is concerned with a critical examination of Shahbazi's views.