Zoroastrian Protection of Sacred Elements

Overall, there is little evidence of sustained religious persecution of the Jewish community in the Sasanian Empire. Still, we do find reference to harassment fueled by Zoroastrian religious sensitivities. The following passage from b. Yevamot refers to three such persecutions. Note that while the Talmud understands the “decrees” theosophically, as punishment for not adhering to the commandments, each persecution might be related to Zoroastrian religious practices of protecting cattle from slaughter, water from impurities, and the earth from the burial of corpses.

Some talmudic sources, including b. Shabbat 45a, mention Zoroastrian harassment of Jews concerning the proper treatment of fire, which Zoroastrians venerated.