358 INDO-IRANIAN LITERATURE 



Horace's Persicos odi, puer, apparatus or discuss his graphic image 

 of the Parthian horsemen turning to launch showers of deadly 

 arrows upon the Roman legions; or again, I might picture the fall 

 of the Sasanian power in the seventh century of our era and the 

 rude awakening from their dream of establishing once more a world- 

 empire. This was caused by the Arab conquest of Iran, the most 

 momentous event in Persia's history. I am compelled to pass over 

 the causes which led to this event and the far-reaching effects which 

 it produced, even if I tried to crowd the history of a thousand years 

 into a day, nor is there time more than to call attention to the 

 magnificence of the Persian capital at Isfahan under Shah Abbas, 

 the contemporary of Queen Elizabeth and of Henry IV of France, 

 whose munificent rule and the luxury of his successors are described 

 by the European travelers, Herbert, Olearius, and Chardin, who 

 visited his court. The centuries which followed, and likewise the 

 present, contain lessons for the statesman, historian, and philosopher. 



In the realm of religion Persia has played an important role a 

 role not wholly laid aside. Her ancient national creed, Zoroastrian- 

 ism, was one of the great religions of the East, and its remarkable 

 analogies to Judaism and Christianity have long engaged the atten- 

 tion of biblical students. Outside of these two faiths it would be 

 difficult to point to another religion which has a higher ethical code, 

 considering its antiquity, or a clearer grasp of the ideas of right and 

 wrong, than Zoroastrianism; or one which holds before its believers 

 a more exalted image of divinity than Ahura Mazda (Ormazd) 

 or inculcates a firmer doctrine of the responsibility of man to his 

 Maker, or so exalted a hope of the coming of a Saviour, a bodily 

 resurrection, a general judgment, and a future life with rewards 

 and punishments for the immortal soul, as taught in the Avesta, the 

 sacred book of ancient Iran. 



From the earliest times when King Shalmanesar of Assyria placed 

 colonies of Israelites in certain cities of the Medes, there have been 

 more or less close relations between the Jews and the Persians. The 

 prophet Isaiah calls Cyrus the Great "the anointed of the Lord" 

 and His "Shepherd," and Darius gave orders for the temple at 

 Jerusalem to be rebuilt. Xerxes and Artaxerxes, the former under 

 the name of Ahasuerus, are renowned as kings in the Bible, and the 

 scenes of the apocryphal books Judith and Tobit are laid partly in 

 Persia. No study of the infancy of our Saviour, either in theology 

 or in art, can be complete without a reference to the Magi, for one or 

 all of these Wise Men from the East came from Persia, according 

 to old-time traditions and legends. To-day, moreover, the gospel 

 of Christ is being preached within the borders of Persia by self- 

 sacrificing missionaries, one of whom this very year sealed his faith 

 with his blood. 



