More on the Achaemenid Zoroastrian elements in the Elephantine papyri etc.

IRANIAN-INFLUENCED ARAMAIC: Researcher uncovers Zoroastrian 'ripples' in Jewish documents from ancient Egypt (Sandee Oster, Phys.org).

In a study published in the journal Iran, researcher Gad Barnea has uncovered new evidence suggesting that Zoroastrian religious practices were more prevalent and left a deeper imprint on surrounding communities than previously recognized. The study complements the current body of knowledge on Achaemenid-era Zoroastrianism (AZ) with data gathered from Jewish sources outside Iran. These include documents referencing the building of a Zoroastrian-style temple, Zoroastrian magi priests, and a fire altar located in a Jewish temple.

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Many of the Achaemenid Zoroastrian elements that appear in the fifth-century BCE Aramaic Judean papyri from Elephantine Island in Egypt are well known to Aramaists and specialists in ancient Judaism. But apparently less so to specialists in ancient Zoroastrianism, at least until recently. This article covers them and explores the evidence more fully.

I already noted open-access underling article in Iran Volume 63, 2025 - Issue 2 here. But here it is again:

Some Achaemenid Zoroastrian Echoes in Early Yahwistic Sources

Gad Barnea
Pages 234-243 | Published online: 02 Sep 2025
Cite this article https://doi.org/10.1080/05786967.2025.2494602

ABSTRACT

In her magnum opus, A History of Zoroastrianism, Mary Boyce perceptively noted that often, in the history of this Iranian religion, “developments within Iran itself have to be deduced from the ripples which they caused abroad”. This is certainly true of the history of Achaemenid-era Zoroastrianism, the characteristics (and in some circles even the existence) of which, continue to be a matter of debate even as more and more information regarding its possible features continues to emerge. This article aims to complement the current body of knowledge with data gathered from Yahwistic sources outside of Iran to enhance and solidify our understanding of Achaemenid-era Zoroastrianism and its contours. It reviews the current state of scholarship and the significant progress that has been made in the recent decades and studies some Zoroastrian/Avestan echoes preserved in Yahwistic sources in Upper Egypt, mostly at Elephantine, which provide first-hand documentation of Zoroastrian devotion.

For a related article by Gad Barnea, see here.

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