Kartīr’s Smiting of Religious Minorities

Kartīr’s Inscription at Naqsh-e Rustam 11

3rd Century

And from province to province, place to place, and throughout the empire, the services to Ohrmazd and the gods increased. And the Mazdayasnian [Zoroastrian] tradition and the magi received great honor in the empire. And great satisfaction came to the gods, water, fire, and cattle1 in the empire. And great blows and harm came to Ahreman and the demons. And the belief of Ahreman and the demons exited the empire and was made untrustworthy. And Jews and Shamans [Buddhists] and Brahmans [Hindus] and Nazarenes and Christians and Baptists and Manichaeans were struck in the empire. And idols were destroyed, and the dens of the demons were disturbed and made into thrones and seats of the gods.

Notes

[In Zoroastrianism, water, fire, and cattle are considered to be yazata, that is, beneficent spirits.—Ed.]

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 2: Emerging Judaism.

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Judging from the placement of Kartīr’s inscriptions alongside contemporaneous royal Sasanian inscriptions and references to him in connection to the king in Manichaean writings, Kartīr was one of the most powerful Zoroastrian priests in Sasanian history.

While recounting his accomplishments, Kartīr refers to the “smiting” of Jews, along with other religious communities. His reference to the disruption of the “dens of demons” that were “made into thrones and seats of the gods” may refer to the houses of worship of these religious minorities—perhaps including Jewish synagogues—being repurposed for Zoroastrian worship.

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